North Carolina Railroads - Appalachian Railway




North Carolina Railroads - Appalachian Railway

Acronym	Year Chartered or Incorporated	Year Line Operational	Year Service Ended	Original Starting Point	Original Ending Point
AR	1906	1908	1935	Ela, NC	Ocona Lufty, NC
The Appalachian Railway was a standard gauge line construced through Cherokee tribal lands to join with the Southern Railway at Ela, North Carolina. J.C. Arbogast and B.M. Yeager went before the Tribal Council of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation in 1906 to ask for a right-of-way through reservation lands. A major concern of the Council was that the railroad would open up the reservation to possible encroachment by outside forces. After much discussion permission was finally given. Construction began in 1906 and the line was completed to Cherokee by 1908, when money ran out. The Parson Pulp & Lumber Company created a subsidiary - the Appalachian Railway - to resume construction and to take over operations. By 1912, the line was extended to Ravenford and to Ocona Lufty. By 1935, the federal government had acquired lands for the creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the railroad was taken by eminent domain. The track was removed and the roadbed was used to make State Highway 107.
The company was organized on July 30, 1908 under the laws of North Carolina.
The Author has not been able to locate the Articles of Corporation to prove the date of 1906 above.
From the Eleventh Annual Report of the North Carolina Corporation Commission, dated December 31, 1909, with Compilation of Railroad Returns for the Year Ending June 30, 1909: President ........................................................ Robert F. Whitmer .......................... Philadelphia, PA General Manager or Superintendent ................ J.C. Patterson ................................. Whittier, NC Secretary & Treasurer .................................... Martin Lane ..................................... Philadelphia, PA Property Operated - Ela, NC to Cherokee, NC ........................................................ 6.21 miles
Towns on Route: Foering (1907) > Ela (1910) Birdtown Cherokee Ravensford (1919) Ocona Lufty
The Thirteenth Annual Report of the North Carolina Commission for the Year Ending December 31, 1911, with Compilations from Railroad Returns for the Year Ending June 30, 1911, includes the route of the Appalachian Railway: Towns on Route (6 miles): Ela Birdtown Cherokee