Laurel Fork Railway

.

The Laurel Fork Railroad at its peak totaled no more than convert|17|mi of rail. Lines and spurs carried timber from 12,000 acres (48,000 km²) of the mountainous watershed of the Laurel Fork of the Doe River that was estimated to contain 150 million board feet (350,000 m³) of lumber.

A proposed interchange with the East Tennessee and North Carolina Railroad failed over inability to negotiate rates favorable to both companies. As a result, the Laurel Fork was incorporated as a common carrier and a six-mile (9.6 km) line into Elizabethton, Tennessee was built to carry finished lumber to an interchange with the Virginia and Southwestern Railway.

A June 13, 1924, flood on the Doe River washed away much track and roadbed along the floodplain. Coupled with diminished production from the mill, this led to a November 7 filing for abandonment that year with the Interstate Commerce Commission. Some operations continued after the flood, but all virtually all logging along the Laurel Fork ceased by 1927. Parts of the railroad grade are used by the Appalachian Trail in the Pond Mountain Wilderness Area through the Laurel Fork valley between Dennis Cove and Hampton. [cite web |url=http://www.ataeagles.com/trail%20description%202003.htm |title=Trail for 2003 |accessdate=2008-01-18 |date=2003-03-30 |work=Appalachian Trail Adventures |quote=Laurel Fork Valley was timbered from 1911 to 1925. In 1911, a railroad was built from Braemar up through the gorge into the valley, requiring three high trestles and 32 miles of track. Spur tracks were moved from place to place as the timber was removed. (The railroad bed now serves as the route of the A.T. for some distance through the gorge.)]

Laurel Fork Railway stock

on dump car wheels that was used for inspection trips. As a freight-only carrier, the Laurel Fork Railway owned no passenger equipment.

References

*Waskiewicz, Fred. "Logging Along the Laurel Fork." [http://www.nrhs.com/bulletin.htm National Railway Bulletin] . Vol. 63, No. 1, 1998.