East Tennessee Railway at Johnson City, TN 04-27-2015
East Tennessee Railway is a shortline subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming that operates over former CSX (nee-Clinchfield RR) and East Tennessee & Western North Carolina trackage in Johnson City.
Several years ago CSX decided to give up switching the few remaining industries on the former Clinchfield RR (CRR) main line through downtown. The present main line of the Kingsport Subdivision skirts around the west side of town on the “high line”. The main line was relocated in the late ‘60s to relieve tonnage trains of the dip that required pushers. CSX based a Geep at the yard to work local industries. CRR had used an EMD switcher.
The fabled ET&WNC (“Tweetsie”) operated a standard gauge line east to Elizabethton to work the rayon plant. It has been closed for many years, and the ET&WNC retrenched to Johnson City. The roadbed east of Johnson City is now a walking path.
1. I have had no luck in finding the ET doing anything on the few visits I made to Johnson City after catching ET&WNC’s RS-3 at Elizabethton in the early ‘70s. I was shocked to find this beautiful SW-1200 switching the OmniSource metal recycling center on the former CRR and adjacent to the former ET&WNC engine house and yard. ETRY 214 Johnson City TN.
2. ETRY 214 Johnson City TN. View 2.
3. ETRY 214 Johnson City TN. View 3.
4. ETRY SD1200 214 Johnson City TN. View 4.
5. Former ET&WNC shop on right. ETRY 214 Johnson City TN.
6. Going around the former CRR Carnegie Spur to the NS interchange. ETRY 214 Johnson City TN.
7. ETRY 214 on former CRR Carnegie Spur. Johnson City TN. View 2.
8. ETRY 214 on former CRR Carnegie Spur. Johnson City TN. View 3.
9. Waiting to get out on NS’s Bristol Line. ETRY 214 Johnson City TN.
10. ETRY 214 Johnson City TN. View 2.
11. ETRY 214 Johnson City TN. View 3.
12. ETRY SW1200 214 Johnson City TN. View 4.
13. ETRY SW1200 214 Johnson City TN. View 5.
14. They went into A. O. Smith’s siding and gave the railroad back to NS’s Knoxville East End dispatcher.
The two man crew revealed that they worked five days a week and had started that morning at about 5:30 AM. They had made one run up to CSX and expected to make another.
Let’s hope G&W doesn’t repaint this beautiful locomotive in their system orange paint. ETRY 214 Johnson City TN.
15. Prior to finding the East Tennessee, NS 38Q (Knoxville – Enola) rumbled eastbound through town behind three UP units. UP 4919 Johnson City TN.
Train images used by permission of Everett N Young