Little River Railroad and Lumber Company Museum - Townsend, TN
N 35° 40.640 W 083° 45.136
17S E 250907 N 3951651
Museum dedicated to the Little River Railroad located on US Hwy 321 in Townsend, TN
Waymark Code: WM8VY0
Location: Tennessee, United States
Date Posted: 05/18/2010
Views: 7
The Little River Railroad and Lumber Company Museum sits on the site of the Little River Lumber Company mill complex. The LRR was established as a subsidiary of the Little River Lumber Company on November 21, 1901. It operated until 1939. At one time the LRR had a main line which connected the mill to Maryville, TN. Most of the trackage was in the mountains. Company parctice was to lay track into an area, log it out, take up the tracks and lay tracks to a new area. Elkmont and Tremont are two of the more famous areas logged. The river road from Townsend to Elkmont follows the former LRR roadbed today.
The museum consists of three buildings, a shop, gift shop (replica of the Elkmont Post Office), and the former Walland, TN LRR depot. Railroad equipment displayed includes number 2147, a 1909 Class C 70 ton Shay locomotive and a log loader. The log loader looks like a small crane. Logs were transported on cars with steel rails from end to end. The log loader was mounted on those rails and could move from car to car loading the adjacent cars.
Museum Website: [Web Link]
Train ride provided?: no
Actual railroad cars or locomotives on display?: yes
Admission fee?: None
Street Address: US Hwy 321 Townsend, TN
Gift shop?: yes
Café/restaurant?: no
Theater?: no
Other features?: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
1. Visit the museum. 2. Provide your thoughts/experience of this visit. 3. Provide a photograph of your visit to this museum. A GPSr photo is NOT required.