Before
the biking trails and train rails were laid, Indians followed animal
trails out of the Blue Ridge through the area to create a footpath westward.
According to early records, Daniel Boone camped along the trail near
Damascus as he traveled on his way to Kentucky. (Historians generally
do not identify the current Creeper Trail as an Indian footpath.)
By 1907, W.B.
Mingea had constructed the Virginia Carolina Railroad from Abingdon
to Damascus. In 1905 the line was extended by Hassinger Lumber Co.
to Konnarock and Elkland, NC. It hauled lumber, iron ore, supplies
and passengers.
The locals referred
to the train that climbed eastward into the Iron Mountains as the
"Virginia Creeper", a name taken from the native plant that
grows along the route. A steam engine laboring up mountain grades
with heavy loads of lumber, iron ore, supplies, and passengers was
also a "virginia creeper" in every sense of the word.
Engineer
Hughes takes the train
up the mountain in 1965.
|
By 1918 the line
stretched 75 miles to Elkland, North Carolina, and included more than
100 trestles. Villagers out picking blackberries or elderberries along
the tracks watched as stacks of red spruce, freshly cut from virgin
forests high atop Mount Rogers, rumbled by on flatbed cars. Although
beset by flood damage as well as economic problems associated with
the Great Depression, the Virginia Creeper ran its last train on March
31, 1977.
Today thousands
of people from all over the world travel to the towns along the Virginia
Creeper Trail to experience an outdoor adventure biking, hiking, birding,
fishing, or just plain ol' relaxing. After a day filled with outdoor
adventures vacationers find solice in the many wonderful dining, lodging
and shopping opportunities in the area.
From Abingdon
to Damascus, the trail right-of-way belongs to the two towns, but
most of the actual land is private. While you do have the right to
use the creeper trail across their property, please respect landowners.
Stay on the Creeper Trail, close gates, keep your bicycles under control,
keep dogs under control, don't frighten livestock and be friendly!
The Virginia
Creeper Trail between Damascus and the North Carolina border, except
for a short stretch through Taylor's Valley, is part of the Jefferson
National Forest and is administered by the Mount Rogers National Recreation
Area staff.
(History courtesy
of creepertrailinfo.com.)
Virginia-Carolina
Railway
From
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Virginia-Carolina
Railway was an interstate railroad in southwestern Virginia and northwestern
North Carolina. It ran from Abingdon in Washington County, Virginia
to Todd in Ashe County, North Carolina. The line charted a complicated
course through the mountains of the area, crossing the Blue Ridge
not far from Mount Rogers.
Construction of
the railroad was begun in 1885 by the Abingdon Coal and Iron Railroad
but the company folded before the railroad became operational. Construction
was continued by the Virginia Western Coal and Iron Railroad, but
financial difficulties persisted. Norfolk and Western sponsored the
Virginia-Carolina Railway, which took over the line in 1898 and finally
completed construction to Damascus in 1900. In 1907, the line had
reached Taylor's Valley. The Hassinger Lumber Co., whose mill was
seven miles away in Konnarock, built the Virginia-Carolina & Southern
Railway to make this connection. Later, the V-C&S would be absorbed
into the V-C, which used it as a branch line to the mill. The V-C
was extended through the Blue Ridge to White Top in 1912 and to its
terminus by 1920. Norfolk and Western absorbed the line 1919 and operated
it as its Abingdon branch. Operations ceased in 1977 after flooding
damaged portions of the track.
White
Top Railway
From
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The White Top
Railway was chartered as a common carrier in the early 20th century
from a portion of the logging lines of the Hassinger Lumber Company
in Washington and Grayson Counties, Virginia. The move was born of
the lumber company's need to protect its rail operations at points
of intersection with the Virginia-Carolina Railway from possible condemnation
for the V-C's own, expanding line. (Both roads were vying for right-of-way
through the narrow confines of the Laurel Creek gorge.)
The length of
the WT was a scant 8 miles, covering the distance from the mill in
Konnarock to the mountain village of White Top. This mileage represented
a small percentage of Hassinger's 75 miles of logging line. The WT
was built as a standard gauge line, although a third rail was added
for two miles near the mill to accommodate narrow gauge trains acquired
with the purchase of the T.W. Thayer Lumber Co. in 1924. Operations
on the WT ceased upon or soon after the closing of the mill on Christmas
Eve 1928.