Financed by J.B. Hart and J.J. Holloway of Clarkesburg, West Virginia, both of whom had controlling interest in the North Carolina Timber & Land Company. This railroad was incorporated in Tennessee on March 6, 1900 and in North Carolina on March 6, 1903. The two separate charters were merged on June 27, 1911.

The line met the Southern Railway on the southeast side of Newport, Tennessee and continued in a southerly direction for roughly twenty-one (21) miles until it reached the town of Crestmont in September of 1902.

Eventually, Hart and Holloway sold their interest in the railroad to James Estate of Pennsylvania, who in turn sold the railroad to the Whitmer Company, which was owned by William Whitmer and his sons. At the height of operations, this railroad had five locomotives, three coaches, two mail/baggage cars, and other rolling stock.

On June 7, 1920 the Whitmer Company was forced to sell the line to pay creditors, and the new owners were C. Boice and J.W. Bell, owners of the Boice Hardwood Company in Hartford, Tennessee.

By the early 1930s, the western North Carolina forests had been largely depleted, and the railroad was no longer profitable. On July 12, 1937 the company filed for abandonment and the line was closed on January 1, 1938.

Towns on Route (in NC):

NC/TN State Line

Mount Sterling

Crestmont (1910-1919)