Memphis, Clarksville and Louisville Railroad

Last updated
Memphis, Clarksville and Louisville Railroad
Overview
Locale Tennessee and Kentucky, United States
Dates of operation1852 (1852) (chartered)
1859 (1859)–1872 (1872)
Successor Louisville and Nashville Railroad (1872);
CSX Transportation;
R.J. Corman Railroad Group (1987)
Technical
Track gauge 5 ft (1,524 mm)
Length83 mi (134 km)

The Memphis, Clarksville and Louisville Railroad (MC&L) was a railway in the southern United States. It was chartered in Tennessee in 1852, and opened in 1859. The MC&L entered receivership after the American Civil War, and financial troubles led to an 11-day strike in 1868 that ended when Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N) leased the line. L&N finally purchased the MC&L in 1871 and operated it as its Memphis Branch. L&N was merged into CSX, and CSX sold the former MC&L line to R.J. Corman Railroad Group in 1987, becoming that company's Memphis Line.

Contents

History

The company received its original charter on January 28, 1852, [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] and amended its charter in 1854 to merge with the Nashville and Memphis Railroad [6] [7] and to build a line from Memphis through Clarksville to the state border in the direction of Bowling Green, Kentucky. [8] Construction began in Fall 1854. [1] [note 1] In 1855 the charter was amended to allow it to build into Kentucky to a point on the Tennessee River to connect with the Memphis and Ohio Railroad. [7] After construction had begun, William Andrew Quarles was appointed president, [10] succeeding William B. Munford. [7] [9] [11] [12]

The first train operated between Clarksville and Guthrie, Kentucky, on October 1, 1859, [2] becoming the first railroad to operate in Clarksville. [13] The line's extension to Bowling Green was completed on September 16, 1860, with the first regular train operating through to Bowling Green on September 24. [2] A ceremonial first train was operated on September 18, including a symbolic handshake between William Quarles and James Guthrie of the L&N at the Kentucky/Tennessee state line. [14] The 83-mile (134 km) line of 5 ft (1,524 mm) [15] [16] gauge track connected with the Memphis and Ohio Railroad and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N) between Memphis and Louisville. In Louisville, the railroad used the L&N Depot as the terminal for its passenger trains, and provided connections through to New Orleans via Humboldt, Tennessee. [17]

Sanborn Fire Insurance map of Clarksville in 1889 showing the locations of the freight and passenger stations in the city, then owned by L&N. Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Clarksville, Montgomery County, Tennessee. LOC sanborn08292 002-1.jpg
Sanborn Fire Insurance map of Clarksville in 1889 showing the locations of the freight and passenger stations in the city, then owned by L&N.

Its line was heavily damaged during the American Civil War, [18] and the MC&L entered receivership in July 1865 [19] under George T. Lewis. [20] Assistance to restore the line to service was offered by the L&N, [21] [note 2] which was declined by the MC&L. [19] The line was restored soon after the war, [23] reopening on August 13, 1866. [3] [21] Heavy rain again caused disruption in December 1866 through a landslide near Clarksville. [24] In 1868 the railroad was bankrupt and could not pay its wages; this led to an 11-day strike in February, [25] during which time through trains from Memphis to Louisville were routed on competing lines via Nashville and McKenzie. [19] The strike ended when the L&N leased the line on February 17. [2] [3] The railroad was dissolved on September 30, 1871, then purchased by the L&N. [3] [5] [26] Although the L&N's purchase was effective as of October 1, 1871, [27] the company's accounting was kept separate until October 1872. [19] L&N operated the line as its Memphis Branch, [16] but saw declining traffic through the early 20th century, with the last passenger train serving Clarksville in February 1968. [13] [note 3] L&N was merged into CSX, and CSX sold the former MC&L line to R.J. Corman Railroad Group in 1987, [13] becoming that company's Memphis Line.

Notes

  1. ↑ According to the Nashville Daily Patriot, [9] the groundbreaking ceremony occurred in 1856.
  2. ↑ Additional records of the offer by L&N are held by the Filson Historical Society, in their collection of Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company Records, 1836-1912. [22]
  3. ↑ Despite the similarity in title, the 1966 song "Last Train to Clarksville" does not refer to this station or its passenger service. [28] But, the city of Clarksville later used the song in promotion of local industrial development. [29]

Related Research Articles

Clarksville, Tennessee City in Tennessee, United States

Clarksville is the county seat of Montgomery County, Tennessee, United States. It is the fifth-largest city in the state behind Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, and Chattanooga. The city had a population of 132,929 at the 2010 census, and an estimated population of 158,146 in 2019.

U.S. Route 79 Highway in the United States

U.S. Route 79 is a United States highway in the Southern United States. The route is officially considered and labeled as a north-south highway, but it is actually more of a diagonal northeast-southwest highway. The highway's northern/eastern terminus is in Russellville, Kentucky, at an intersection with U.S. Highway 68 and KY 80. Its southern/western terminus is in Round Rock, Texas, at an intersection with Interstate 35, ten miles (16 km) north of Austin. US 79, US 68, and Interstate 24/US 62 are the primary east–west access points for the Land Between the Lakes recreation area straddling the Kentucky/Tennessee border.

Monon Railroad Defunct American Class I railway

The Monon Railroad, also known as the Chicago, Indianapolis, and Louisville Railway from 1897 to 1956, was an American railroad that operated almost entirely within the state of Indiana. The Monon was merged into the Louisville and Nashville Railroad in 1971, and much of the former Monon right of way is owned today by CSX Transportation. In 1970, it operated 540 miles (870 km) of road on 792 miles (1,275 km) of track; that year it reported 1320 million ton-miles of revenue freight and zero passenger-miles.

Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway Railway company

The Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway was a railway company operating in the southern United States in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia. It began as the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, chartered in Nashville in December 11, 1845, built to 5 ft gauge and was the first railway to operate in the state of Tennessee. By the turn of the twentieth century, the NC&StL grew into one of the most important railway systems in the southern United States.

Louisville and Nashville Railroad

The Louisville and Nashville Railroad, commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States.

<i>Pan-American</i> (train)

The Pan-American was a passenger train operated by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N) between Cincinnati, Ohio and New Orleans, Louisiana. It operated from 1921 until 1971. From 1921 to 1965 a section served Memphis, Tennessee via Bowling Green, Kentucky. The Pan-American was the L&N's flagship train until the introduction of the Humming Bird in 1946. Its name honored the substantial traffic the L&N carried to and from the seaports on the Gulf of Mexico. The Pan-American was one of many trains discontinued when Amtrak began operations in 1971.

Georgia Railroad and Banking Company

The Georgia Railroad and Banking Company also seen as "GARR", was a historic railroad and banking company that operated in the U.S. state of Georgia. In 1967 it reported 833 million revenue-ton-miles of freight and 3 million passenger-miles; at the end of the year it operated 331 miles (533 km) of road and 510 miles (820 km) of track.

<i>Floridian</i> (train)

The Floridian was a train operated by Amtrak from 1971 to 1979 that ran from Chicago and–via two sections south of Jacksonville–Miami and St. Petersburg, Florida. Its route mainly followed that of several former Louisville & Nashville Railroad (L&N) passenger trains, including the Humming Bird. Originating in Chicago, the train served Lafayette and Bloomington, Indiana; Louisville and Bowling Green, Kentucky; Nashville, Tennessee; Decatur, Birmingham, Montgomery and Dothan, Alabama; and Thomasville, Valdosta and Waycross, Georgia.

Memphis Union Station was a passenger terminal in Memphis, Tennessee. It served as a hub between railroads of the Southwest, the Missouri Pacific Railroad and the St. Louis Southwestern Railway, and railroads of the Southeast, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway and the Southern Railway. The terminal, completed in 1912, was built in the Beaux-Arts style and was located on Calhoun Street, between south Second Street and Rayburn Boulevard. It was demolished in 1969. This location in south Memphis was approximately two blocks east of the other major Memphis railroad terminal, Memphis Grand Central Station.

The L & N Train Station is a restored railroad station in Clarksville, Tennessee. It was opened by the Memphis, Clarksville and Louisville Railroad in 1859.

The Kingsport Subdivision is a 133.2-mile railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. It was formerly part of the Huntington West Division. It became part of the CSX Florence Division on June 20, 2016. Running from Elkhorn City, Kentucky, south to Erwin, Tennessee, it forms the north half of the former Clinchfield Railroad; the south half, from Erwin to Spartanburg, South Carolina, is now the Blue Ridge Subdivision. From Elkhorn City, the line continues north as the Big Sandy Subdivision to Catlettsburg, Kentucky, on the Ohio River; trains can then continue to Ohio and other Midwest points. From Spartanburg, trains can continue to Georgia, Florida, or other Southeast states.

The Memphis Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The line runs from east of Bruceton west and southwest to Memphis, where it terminates at CSX Leewood Yard, mostly along a former Louisville and Nashville Railroad line from Nashville towards Louisville, Kentucky.

<i>Humming Bird</i> (train)

The Humming Bird was a named train of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N). The train, inaugurated in 1947, originally ran from Cincinnati, Ohio, to New Orleans, Louisiana, via Louisville, Nashville, Birmingham, Montgomery and Mobile and later via a connection at Bowling Green, Kentucky, to Memphis, Tennessee. A connection to Chicago was provided by the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad. It had separate sections in the north and the south. The main northern part originated in Cincinnati; other sections originated in St. Louis and from Chicago. These sections linked with the main part of the train in Nashville. To the south, a connecting train option in Flomaton, Alabama offered train travel to Pensacola, Florida.

The Louisville and Nashville Depot, or Louisville and Nashville Railroad Depot or Louisville and Nashville Passenger Station, Louisville and Nashville Railroad Passenger Depot or variations, may refer to the following former and active train stations previously used by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Some of these are listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).

Historic Railpark and Train Museum

The Historic Railpark and Train Museum, formerly the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Station in Bowling Green, Kentucky, is located in the historic railroad station. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 18, 1979. Opened in 1925, the standing depot is the third Louisville & Nashville Railroad depot that served Bowling Green.

Hopkinsville L & N Railroad Depot United States historic place

The L & N Railroad Depot in the Hopkinsville Commercial Historic District of Hopkinsville, Kentucky is a historic railroad station on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built by the Louisville & Nashville Railroad in 1892.

<i>Dixie Flyer</i> (train)

The Dixie Flyer was a premier named passenger train that operated from 1892 to 1965 via the "Dixie Route" from Chicago and St. Louis via Evansville, Nashville, and Atlanta to Florida. However, the train persisted to 1969 as an Atlanta to Florida operation, solely run by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and its successor. The Flyer's route varied in early years, but by about 1920 was set as follows:

John J. Irvine was a railroad worker, engineer, and politician in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was clerk of the circuit court of Chattanooga from 1886 to 1890 and he ran for mayor of the town in 1891. In 1899, he was a noted leader of a movement to establish an African-American colony in the Western United States.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Clarksville, Tennessee, United States.

Whiteford Russell Cole was an American businessman. He was the president of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad from 1926 to 1934, and a director of many companies. During the railroad strike actions of 1921–1922, he threatened his workers with dismissal and loss of pensions. His mansion in Louisville, Kentucky is the official residence of the president of the University of Louisville.

References

  1. 1 2 Herr 1964, p. 27.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Defeo, Todd (February 16, 2003). "Railroad strike 135 years ago left long tracks". The Leaf-Chronicle. Clarksville, TN. p. D1 – via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  3. 1 2 3 4 Defeo, Todd (February 16, 2003). "Strike (continued)". The Leaf-Chronicle. Clarksville, TN. p. D3 – via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  4. ↑ "Rail Road Convention". Clarksville Jeffersonian. Clarksville, TN. April 7, 1852. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  5. 1 2 Twelfth Annual Report of the Railroad and Warehouse Commission of Illinois. Springfield, IL: W. H. Rokker State Printer and Binder. 1883. p. 187 – via Google Books.
  6. ↑ Acts of the State of Tennessee Passed at the First Session of the Thirtieth General Assembly. Nashville, TN: McKennie & Brown, Book and Job Printers, True Whig Office. 1854. p. 755 – via Google Books.
  7. 1 2 3 Quarles, Wm. A. (October 22, 1858). "The Memphis Branch Railroad". Clarksville Chronicle. Clarksville, TN. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  8. ↑ "Railroad Convention at Clarksville, Ten". The Louisville Daily Courier. Louisville, KY. April 15, 1852. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  9. ↑ "(untitled)". Nashville Daily Patriot. XX (180). July 2, 1856. p. 3 – via United States Library of Congress. Ground was broken on the Memphis, Clarksville and Louisville Railroad on the 23d ult. Speeches were made by Mr. Munford, President of the Road...
  10. ↑ Warner, Ezra J. (2008) [1959, 1987]. Generals in Gray (second printing ed.). Louisiana State University Press. ISBN   978-0-8071-3150-3 – via Google Books.
  11. ↑ "Munford, William B. (1810 – 1859)". Tennessee GenWeb - Montgomery County Biographical Directory. submitted by Jill Hastings-Johnson, Montgomery County Archivist. Retrieved January 18, 2019.CS1 maint: others (link)
  12. ↑ Munford, W.B. (February 9, 1856). Poor, Henry V. (ed.). "Notice to Railroad Contractors. Memphis, Clarksville, and Louisville Railroad". American Railroad Journal. Vol. XII no. 6. New York, NY: J.H. Schultz & Co. p. 94 – via Google Books.
  13. 1 2 3 "History: City marked by impact meteors, fires, tornados, war (continued)". The Leaf-Chronicle. August 29, 2010. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  14. ↑ Herr 1964, p. 28.
  15. ↑ "Memphis, Clarksville & Louisville". Confederate Railroads.
  16. 1 2 Poor, Henry V. (1869). Manual of the Railroads of the United States for 1869-70. New York, NY: H.W. & H.V. Poor. pp. 56, 151–152 – via Google Books.
  17. ↑ "Memphis, Clarksville & Louisville Railroad". The Louisville Daily Courier. Louisville, KY. June 7, 1861. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  18. ↑ Davis, William C. (2014). Crucible of Command. Boston, MA: Da Capo Press. p. 182. ISBN   978-0-306-82246-9 – via Google Books.
  19. 1 2 3 4 Vernon, Edward, ed. (1874). "Memphis, Clarksville and Louisville Railroad Company". American Railroad Manual for the United States and the Dominion. New York, NY: American Railroad Manual Company. p. 446 – via Google Books.
  20. ↑ Impeachment Investigation - Testimony Taken Before the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives in the Investigation of the Charges against Andrew Johnson. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 1867. pp. 226–227 – via Google Books.
  21. 1 2 "Louisville And Nashville Railroad. Annual Report of Superintendent Fink - Condition and Progress of the Road - Its Connections and Extensions". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, KY. October 15, 1866. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  22. Cole, Jennie (October 29, 2014). "Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company Records, 1836-1912". Filson Historical Society. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
  23. ↑ "Mississippi Central Railroad Company". Clarion-Ledger. Jackson, MS. September 4, 1866. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  24. ↑ "Land Slide". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, KY. December 17, 1866. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  25. ↑ Defeo, Todd (January 15, 2003). "Clarksville, Tenn., Railroad Strikes After Money Tightens". Railfanning.org.
  26. ↑ "Clarksville and Princeton Railroad". Nashville Union and American. Nashville, TN. July 31, 1872. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  27. ↑ Reports and Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission. New York, NY: L.K. Strouse & Co., Law Publisher. 1888. p. 34 – via Google Books.
  28. "Just where was that train headed? Arizona". Green Bay Press-Gazette. Green Bay, WI. September 14, 1995. p. 73 – via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  29. Associated Press (February 21, 2002). "City hopes Monkees hit will boost industry". The Marion Star. Marion, OH. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.