*1893 sold to Ohio River & Charleston Railroad.

Discussions of an Ohio River route to the Eastern Coast started in the 1830s, when representatives from North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Kentucky met at Gate City, Virginia. This meeting originated a plan which would allow for the construction of a railroad that closely resembled what was actually constructed over the next seventy years.

Prior to the Civil War, little more than talk and plans were made, however. In 1886, a group of financiers organize the Charleston, Cincinnati & Chicago Railroad - also well known as the 3-Cs or Triple Cs line. Their objective was to extend a rail line from Charleston, South Carolina to Ashland, Kentucky - with the intent of tapping the rich veins of coal in southwestern Virginia and eastern Kentucky, as well as the iron ore recently found near Cranberry, North Carolina.

Construction began at Rutherfordton, North Carolina and quickly proceeded south to Camden, South Carolina by 1888. In 1889, the line was extended northward 25 miles to Marion, North Carolina. Simultaneously, construction was proceeding southward from Ashton to Richardson, Kentucky.

In 1890, financial disaster struck the Triple C railroad. A major investor, Baker Brothers & Company, failed in the financial panic of the time, and the courts ordered that the railroad go into receivership. In May 1893, the railroad was sold to its bondholders and a new corporation was established - the Ohio River & Charleston Railroad.

Towns on Route (in NC):

Marion

Nealsville

Vein Mountain (1886)

Pescud (1888) > Thermal City (1891)

Union Mills (1892)

Gilkey (1893)

Forest City

Factory

Mooresboro

Lattimore (1886) > Delight (1887) > Lattimore #2 (1888)

Shelby

Swangs > Patterson Springs (1892)

Earl Station (1888) > Earl (1895)

NC/SC State Line