Clinchfield Railroad Passenger Trains
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- Related Websites: Appalachian-Railroads.org | Southern-Railroads.org
Clinchfield Railroad Passenger Trains
It goes without saying that the Clinchfield was primarily a coal and freight railroad. Initially, their passenger trains were a small, but significant portion of their revenue. But, by the 1950s, that income was below 1% of their total revenue.
For most of its history, the Clinchfield had two passenger trains running between Elkhorn City KY and Spartanburg SC. #37 was the northbound, and #38 was southbound.
Earlier in its history, Clinchfield ran two additional trains, #36 and #39 on the north end between Erwin TN and Elkhorn City KY.
In later years, there was only one train per day, alternating days going north and south. In the 1950s, the Clinchfield purchased one diesel with a steam generator the handled the passenger duties.
There were almost 100 stops, either by schedule or by flagging along the 277 miles. The journey from beginning to end was slightly over 10 hours.
The Clinchfield’s passenger service ended in 1954.
Clinchfield Passenger Trains By Number
- #36 Southbound Passenger – Elkhorn City to Erwin (6h 30m)
- #37 Northbound Passenger – Spartanburg to Elkhorn City (10h 20m)
- #38 Southbound Passenger – Elkhorn City to Spartanburg (10h 15m)
- #39 Northbound Passenger – Erwin to Elkhorn City (6h 30m)
Clinchfield Railroad Timetables
Click Here to see passenger schedules and timetables.
Clinchfield.org Sources and Resources
- Personal Maps & Memorabilia – Documents, maps and track charts that I have from the CRR, CC&O, and S&W
- Archives of Appalachia
- Book – Drury: The Historical Guide to North American Railroads
- Book – Goforth: ‘Building the Clinchfield’
- Book – Goforth: ‘When Steam Ran the Clinchfield’
- Book – Graybeal: ‘The Railroads of Johnson City’
- Book – Helm: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad in the Coal Fields’
- Book – Irwin & Stahl: ‘The Last Empire Builder: The Life of George L. Carter’
- Book – King: ‘Clinchfield Country’
- Book – Marsh: ‘Clinchfield in Color’
- Book – Poole: ‘A History of Railroading in Western North Carolina’
- Book – Poteat & Taylor: ‘The CSX Clinchfield Route in the 21st Century’
- Book – Stevens & Peoples: ‘The Clinchfield No. 1 – Tennessee’s Legendary Steam Engine’
- Book – Way: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad, the Story of a Trade Route Across the Blue Ridge Mountains’
- Article – Flanary: ‘The Quick Service Route, The Clinchfield Railroad‘
- Article – Flanary: ‘Men Against Mountains, Running Trains on the Clinchfield‘ October 2001
- Video – Ken Marsh on Kingsport area railroads and region’s history Video #1
- Video – Ken Marsh on railroads and region’s history Video #2:
- Articles – ‘Johnson City Comet‘
- Article – Scientific American: ‘The Costliest Railroad in America‘
- Article – Classic Trains: ‘Remembering the Clinchfield Railroad‘
- Article – Railway Age: ‘This Coal Road Is Also A Speedy Bridge Line,’ Sept 1, 1952 edition
- Article – ‘Railway Signaling and Communications‘
- Website – Carolana.com – North Carolina Railroads, South Carolina Railroads
- Website – StateOfFranklin.net which hosts Johnson’s Depot
- Website – RailFanGuides.us for Johnson City and for Erwin
- Website – The Radio Reference Wiki
- Website – SteamLocomotive.com
- Website – Clinchfield Railroad 1982 Track Chart at Multimodayways.org
- Website – Newspapers.com
Contact Us at Clinchfield.org
Would enjoy hearing from you if you have questions, suggestions, edits, or content that you are willing to share. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have similar interests in the Clinchfield or Model Railroads.
3Cs Websites
Appalachian-Railroads.org | Clinchfield.org | Southern-Railroads.org