This meandering thirty mile standard gauge shortline ran through the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, between Vestal and Sevierville, Tennessee. This region is a rich agricultural and timber area. This railroad started out as the Knoxville, Sevierville and Eastern Railway Co. , being incorporated on July 15, 1907 with a capital stock of  $500,000. Construction began in earnest in 1909 and the first portion of the road was opened between Vestal and Sevierville (27.8 miles of 56 and 60 lb. rail) on December 20th, 1909. On January 10th, 1910 the KS&E added 2.2 miles of trackage rights on the Southern Ry.'s Marysville branch between Vestal and Knoxville for a yearly rental of  $2,172. Sidetracks in Knoxville and depot facilities were also leased from the Southern for an additional $600 per year.
    The railroad was built by the Revilo Construction Company which was owned by W. J. Oliver, the Chairman of the Board of the KS&E. Other officers of the company included C. S. McManus as president, E.G. Oates as Secretary & Treasurer.  (Click here for the KS&E's 1910 timetable from the 1911 Official Guide) The roads funded debt included $500,000 worth of gold bonds in two mortgages with a yearly interest of $28,000. A gift of $150,000  of Sevier County 20 year 5 percent bonds were received in exchange for $150,000 worth of KS&E stock. The bonds were turned over to the construction company as payment.
    An affiliated line called the Pigeon River RR (incorporated August, 1916) was to build a line from Sevierville to Pigeon Forge, then on to Gatlinburg and the North Carolina line, which would have been on the crest line of the Great Smoky Mountains. Only a small portion of this line was built. (Click here for a map of all the railroads in the area)
    By end of 1919 the railroad owned 4 steam locomotives, 3 passenger cars, 1 combination passenger and baggage car, 6 flat cars, 13 box cars, 1 coal car, 1 stock car and 1 caboose. Operations  for 1919 included 16,810  of freight train miles and 40,330  of mixed service miles.  A total of 54,868 passengers were carried along with 48,317 tons of freight. While the net earning of the road was modest ( $5,142 for 1919 ), the funded debt was killing the road. The three years average deficit from 1917-1919 was $31,000. Fortunately they had a large surplus from earlier years profits to absorb these deficits, but the handwriting was on the wall, this couldn't last for very much longer as we shall see!
    Foreclosed in July of 1921 by the bank, the KS&E was purchased by L.C. Gunter for $50,000 on November 1st, 1921 at the foreclosure sale. Reorganized as the Knoxville and Carolina RR. on November 4th, 1921 and authorized by the ICC to issue new stock and bonds in 1922. This reorganization would reduce the yearly interest charges from $28,000 to $7,920! With this new money the railroad began rehabilitating its road and equipment. By 1923 new bonds were issued to help pay for these improvements. Things were looking up in 1923, passenger revenue was $43,296 and freight revenue was at $81,626. Net earning were $26,358 with a small surplus after fixed charges (rent and interest) of $1,795. Equipment for 1925 included 2 steam locomotives, 1 gasoline rail car, 2 passenger cars, 2 combination cars, 4 box cars, 2 flat cars, 1 stock car and 1 caboose. Then further progress came to the area in three forms: improved roads, the automobile and the truck. By 1925 passenger revenue was down to $10,568 while freight was down to $55,000.  The red ink for that year was  $20,888. Times were a changing.
    May 1st, 1926 the railroad was sold at auction to T. Asbury Wright, Jr. for $50,000 for the bond holders. The bondholders however attempted to sale the road for junk, but Seiver County (owners of KS&E stock) was able to convince the local court to delay the sale. A new company was formed, The Smoky Mountain Railroad Co. in August of 1926. Then an appeal to save the road was made by the local people to the Tennessee and North Carolina Railway Co. The T&NC appeared at the sale on October 18, 1926 and bought the property for $75,000. The Smoky Mountain RR charter was given to the new owners ($75,000 stock) and the old KS&E was operated by T&NC (under a $6,000 a year lease) along with two other separate  branches. The first ran from Newport, TN to Crestmont, NC, and the second ran from Andrews, NC to Haysville, NC.  Newport was 24 miles northeast of Sevierville and lcl shipments were handled between those two towns using motor trucks on the local roads. To help the new railroad out, taxes were waived for 5 years, and businesses pledge to use the SMRR instead of trucks.
    Seiver County at this time consisted of 587 square miles and a population of 25,000 with only the SMRR serving it. The principal traffic is lumber shipped from the mountanous sections east and south of Sevierville, a town of 776 persons. The territory crossed by the railroad is hilly and fertile, farms produce wheat, corn hay and livestock. Part of this area is underlayed by marble. Of the entire area, 75 percent is in timber, 15 percent is cultivated and 10 percent in pasture. Manufacturing includes a cannery, a textile plant, a flour mill and a small chair factory. Inbound coal is estimated at 300 carloads a year. The output of factories is said to range from 125 to 150 cars per year. ( Click here for a look at the 1927 timetable from that years Official Guide.)

Smoky Mountain 206 at Knoxville, TN on August 8, 1948
From the Collection of Donald R. Hensley, Jr.

    At the end of 1937, the T&NC sold their Smoky Mountain RR stock to the Midwest Steel Co. of Charleston, WV, a company that deals in scrap iron. These so called new owners shortly concluded that the terms of the lease were not being complied with by the T&NC, they then terminated the lease effected on March 6, 1938. But as these new owners did not want to operate the line themselves, a new amended lease was made with the T&NC for temporary operations pending a determination to its future. On April 11, 1938, the Smoky Mountain RR (by its new owners) applied for abandonment of its entire line with the new owners doing the honors of scrapping the line.
    From these 1938 ICC abandonment proceedings we learn a little more about the Smoky Mountain. Beginning at Vestal the railroad serves 14 small non agency stations, ranging in population from 2 to 30 each. Sevierville population was now at 882.

Smoky Mountain # 440 at Knoxville, TN on September, 27, 1957
From the Collection of Donald R. Hensley, Jr.