This line began with private investments, then taken over by the Carolina, Clinchfield & Ohio Railroad around 1915. Construction began in 1907, and at the height of its operations the line stretched twenty-three (23) miles from Eskota to Kona.

Daily passenger service included a mixed train, which left Murchison at 9:30 am and picked up passengers along the route to Kona. Reversing its route, the train arrived back in Murchison around 5:20 pm. The round trip was approximately 46 miles long.

Around 1928, most of the timber in the area had been depleted, and the line from Eskota to Burnsville was removed. On the remainder of the line, traffic was reduced so steadily over the next twenty years that in 1951 the Clinchfield Railroad applied for abandonment with the Interstate Commerce Commission. Permission was granted with one stipulation - If local interests wanted to acquire and operate the line, the Clinchfield Railroad was obligated to sell the line at a fair market price.

Local interests did step forward and purchased the line for $22,000, then acquired a new locomotive. A small engine shed was erected in Burnsville, and the railroad was renamed to the Yancey Railroad in 1955.

Towns on Route:

Kona (1916)

Windom

Burnsville

Anatone (1912)

Vixen (1915)

Pensacola

Murchison

Eskota (1914-1922)

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 Black Mountain Railway:

Towns on Route (8 miles):
Black Mountain Junction
Backus
Micaville
Bowditch

The Fifteenth Annual Report of the North Carolina Commission for the Year Ending December 31, 1913, with Compilations from Railroad Returns for the Year Ending June 30, 1913, includes the route of the Black Mountain Railway:

Towns on Route (20 miles):
Kona
Kaneska
Backus
Lamonti
Micaville
Windon
Uganawa
Burnsville
Dellingers
Inata
Jesse
Low Gap
Pensacola