Graham County Railroad
Engine #3229 (1926)
Overview
Reporting markGCRR
LocaleNorth Carolina
Dates of operation1925–1970
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

The Graham County Railroad was a logging railroad that began operations in 1925 and operated just over 15 miles of track.[1]

History

The Graham County Railroad was a logging railroad chartered in 1905 to connect Robbinsville, North Carolina, to the Southern Railway at Topton, North Carolina. Soon after the tracks were starting to be laid, the railroad purchased a used steam locomotive in need of repairs. The railroad sent the locomotive to Asheville, North Carolina, for repairs, but a flood hit the area and the locomotive was washed away and never found. The flood also washed away much of the existing track, halting all progress on the line. Then in 1925, the railroad finally became operational. Sometime in the 1960s, Shay #1926 lost its original number plate and it inherited the number plate from a scrapped narrow gauge Shay locomotive (serial number 3229).[2] The railroad began doing excursions in 1966 with shay #1926 while #1925 handled the freight traffic. In 1967, the Bemis Lumber Company mill burned to the ground and when it was rebuilt, the mill began using trucks. The railroad continued on with local freight. By this point, the railroad's track was in poor condition which caused a derailment at least every 3 days.

In late 1968, Shay #1925 was on a mixed train lost its air brakes and turned onto her engineer's side at Nantahala Gorge, damaging her cab and water tank. Over the winter, the railroad then took the cab and water tank of #1926 to repair #1925[3] and the Bear Creek operations continued in 1969 with another Shay they bought, the #1923, a 2-Truck-Shay. This Shay formerly worked for the Conasauga River Lumber Company as their #112 until it was sold to the Bear Creek Scenic Railroad in 1966.[4] On August 14, 1970, with freight traffic dwindling and the carpet mill closing, the railroad ceased all operations.

In 1973, the railroad reopened when Burlington Industries bought the line. #1925 took over the excursion runs of the Bear Creek Scenic Railroad.[5] while a General Electric diesel handled most of the freight operations,[6] but also ceased operations in March 1975 when a flood washed out a bridge.[7] In May 1975, #1925 ran the last steam-powered revenue freight train. In 1982, the railroad re-opened operations with an EMD SW8 diesel locomotive that originally worked for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.[8] The line finally shut down in 1983 and the tracks were taken up in 1987.

Motive Power

The railroad operated two C class shay locomotives numbered 1925 and 1926, which they were numbered the same years they were built. The railroad also had one other steam locomotive numbered 1923. Steam locomotive # 2147 was used for display. The Railroad at one time also owned a 2-6-2 Prairie.[9]

Shay Steam Locomotives
Number/NameWheel
Arrangement		BuilderSerial NumberBuiltRetiredNotes
2 "Junaluska"2-6-2 PrairieBaldwin Locomotive Works36045February 19111924Disposition unknown. Off the roster by 1925.
1923 "Old Cliffhanger"2-Truck-ShayLima Locomotive Works3241October 17, 19231970Built as Frost-Johnson Lumber Company #112. Sold to the Louisiana and Pine Bluff Railroad in 1926. Sold to Frost Lumber Industries in 1935. Then sold to the Conasauga River Lumber Company in 1950. The engine was sold to the Bear Creek Scenic Railroad in 1966 as their #1923 "Old Cliffhanger".[10] Operated as #1926's replacement in 1969. It was then sold to the Oregon, Pacific and Eastern Railway in 1972. Sold to the Center for Transportation and Commerce in Galveston, Texas in 1978. Now at the Galveston Railroad Museum.
1925 "Old Sidewinder"3-Truck-ShayLima Locomotive Works3256February 12, 1925May 1975Purchased new. Last ran in revenue service in May 1975. Donated to the North Carolina Transportation Museum in 1998, and was later restored to operation. Taken out of service in 2008 and currently on display.
19263-Truck-ShayLima Locomotive Works3299February 27, 19261968Built as Tallassee Power Company #10 of Calderwood, Tennessee. Later sold to the Knoxville Power Company as their #10. Sold to the Graham County Railroad as their #1926 on September 16, 1940. Sometime around the 1960s, the engine lost its original number plate and ended up taking the number plate of a scrapped narrow gauge shay (serial number 3229). In 1966, it powered the Bear Creek Scenic Railroad excursion trains, painted up in a red livery and named "Ole Sidewander". In 1968, its cab and water tank was used to repair shay #1925. In 1988, the engine was sold to a railfan by the name of Michael J. Miller. It was then sold to the Cass Scenic Railroad in 2010 as a source of spare parts. It is currently awaiting restoration.
21473-Truck-ShayLima Locomotive Works2147April 14, 19091966Built as Tellico River Lumber Company #2147 of Tellico Plains, Tennessee. The engine was later sold to the Babcock Lumber & Land Company. In 1927, Bond-Wold Lumber Company bought the shay. The unit was then sold to the Little River Lumber Company in 1932. Put up for sale in 1939 after the closure of the Little River Railroad. On July 31, 1940, the shay was sold to John J. Craig Company of Friendsville, Tennessee. In July 1960, the engine went to the Conasauga Lumber Company. In 1966, the locomotive was sold to the Graham County Railroad to be put on display at the Bear Creek Scenic Railroad as their #214.[11] In 1982, the locomotive was sold to the Little River Railroad and Lumber Company Museum and was christened "Dorothy". It is currently on display at Townsend, Tennessee on the museum property.
10270-tonnerGeneral Electric31725April 1953unknownBuilt as Georgia State Authority #102. Later became Savannah State Docks #102 and who sold it to Birmingham Rail & Locomotive in July 1973, who later sold it to the Graham County Railroad. Sold to the Gifford-Hill Company in 1982 and rebuilt in 1984.
17SW8Electro-Motive Division15956March 1952unknownBuilt as Atlantic Coast Line #57, later Seaboard Coast Line #57 in 1967. Sold to the Graham County Railroad in May 1982. Later sold to the Carolina Eastman Railroad #17 and then Atlantic Steel Corporation #17. Later to Armco Steel Corporation #17 and then Warren Consolidated Industries as their #830.

References

  1. ↑ Wrinn, James. "Graham County Railroad Company". Graham County Railroad Company. NCPEDIA. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Sn-3229". Archived from the original on 2018-04-13. Retrieved 2018-04-13.
  3. ↑ "Sn-3299". Archived from the original on 2017-06-15. Retrieved 2017-06-15.
  4. ↑ "HawkinsRails - Conasauga River Lumber Company".
  5. ↑ "Shays in the Great Smokies".
  6. ↑ "RailPictures.Net Photo: GC 102 Graham County Railroad GE 70-ton at Bear Creek JCT., North Carolina by Tom Sink".
  7. ↑ Lewis, JD. "NCRR-Graham County Railroad". NCRR-Graham County Railroad. North Carolina Railroads. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Pictures of GCRR 17".
  9. ↑ "Graham County 2-6-2 "Prairie" Locomotives in the USA".
  10. ↑ "Sn-3241". Archived from the original on 2017-06-12. Retrieved 2017-06-12.
  11. ↑ "Sn-2147". Archived from the original on 2016-10-16. Retrieved 2016-10-16.
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