A History of the Smoky Mountain Railroad

This thesis is concerned with the history of a local enterprise, the Smoky Mountain Railroad.

The writer has had to rely on limited sources of information. Extensive use has been made of the newspapers with additional information coming from government documents, court records, interviews, and some records of the later years of the railroad. The writer has spent many long, hard hours reading and taking notes on this material. Much of the information available was of little use in writing a thesis and the writer has had to assume many things.

The writer found that the railroad began in 1907 as an undertaking of prominent local Knoxvillians. It was owned and operated by several men and firms over the years and had several different corporate names. Most of its owners were interested only in personal gain and therefore the railroad was neglected until it finally reached the point of no return and was abandoned in the mid-1960's.