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Nashville & Chattanooga |
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| The road was chartered in 1845.
Construction began in 1848 and was completed between the two cities in 1854. As with the
Orange & Alexandria Railroad in Virginia, this road supported both
sides' armies at the same time in 1863.
There appear to have been small railroads built in the Bridgeport, Tennessee area that were serviced by Nashville & Chattanooga Railroad rolling stock. Exact names, or even the existence, of these roads during the War is uncertain, but there appear to have been roads to the Aetna Mining Company; to mines 8 miles southeast of Shellmound, Georgia from a connection at that point (the Gordon's Mine Railroad); and to the Huntsville Coal Company, near Bolivar in northeastern Alabama, from a connection near Stevenson. All of these are mentioned in an 1858 annual report, the Jasper road is mentioned in a Union Officer's diary during the siege of Chattanooga, and the Shellmound road is on a map in the Atlas of the Official Records and in several dispatches in the OR.. |
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| Black's Number | 68 (map) |
| Track | 255 miles of 5 foot gauge, with 55# and 65# U-rail having been replaced by like weight T-rail on all but 39 miles. The U-rail had been laid on runners, like strap rail, but was being replaced by T-rail, laid on cross ties. The Shelbyville Branch was laid with 35# rail, type unknown. |
| Locomotives | 37; 37 names |
| Cars | 380 |
| Stations | 32 |
| Officers | Most for all years |
| Locomotive Usage | 1861 |
| Passengers | 1861 |
| Tredegar Purchases | All |
| Significant Documents | |