All Aboard! History of a Beloved Train

By Peter Morris

I remember when the only way a person could get to Boone was to be born there.” These words of a homespun philosophy were credited to an anonymous speaker at a railroad convention over a century distant, although the quote is debatable among avid railfans who enjoy fond remembrances.

“Hear that train a’commin through the valleys and up the mountain side?” Locals and visitors to the High Country of Western North Carolina have been able to answer in the affirmative since 1957, when the Tweetsie Railroad amusement park opened between Boone and Blowing Rock, and its high pitched horn signaled a limited 30-minute ride through the park. But the word “Tweetsie” wasn’t always associated with family fun and entertainment.

Old locomotive No. 12, also known as the Tweetsie train, was given life back in 1917 by Philadelphia’s Baldwin Locomotive Works of New Jersey, one of 13 narrow-gauge East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad’s (ET&WNC) steam locomotives. The Tweetsie name, however, was coined by regional mountaineers when the train made its way from Johnson City, Tennessee to Boone, North Carolina – its shrill whistle signaling its arrival through distant valleys and around mountaintops.

A second handle was given for the railroad during the Great Depression, referring to the abject poverty in much of the region served by the ET&WNC: “Eat Taters and Wear No Clothes.” The railroad employees often replied with “Every Trip with No Complaints” or “Exquisite Trains and What Nice Conductors!”

Back then, in what might be called regional railroading’s glory days, the Tweetsie train brought passengers to the mountains and hauled lumber and iron ore out, aiding the growth of agriculture in the previously remote Blue Ridge Mountains. The entire railroad operation was established in 1882 to connect Johnson City, Tennessee to Cranberry, North Carolina and other destinations.

The history of rail transportation in Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina is complex. So many trains, so many routes, so many passengers who loved riding the steam locomotives and enjoying the mountainous visuals! So many trains then, yet only one now – Tweetsie.

“When the ET&WNC closed in 1950, all the equipment was cut up for scrap except for locomotive No. 12 and two passenger cars. These were purchased in late 1952 by three railfans to form the Shenandoah Central tourist railroad in Penn Laird, Virginia, near Harrisonburg,” explained Johnny Graybeal, an acknowledged expert on Tweetsie Railroad’s history and author of seven books, all dealing with railroading. “It operated for two summers until Hurricane Hazel washed out the tracks in late 1954. Put up for sale, the equipment was almost purchased by cowboy legend Gene Autry, but transportation costs (to move it from Boone to Hollywood, California for use in films) caused him to back out of the deal. High Country local Grover Robbins then purchased the equipment in 1955, and the Tweetsie Railroad attraction opened in July 1957.”

Mechanics work on the trains in the maintenance shop. Photo courtesy of Tweetsie Railroad.

During the 60-plus years after the opening of Tweetsie Railroad, it has proven a valuable way-stop for rail enthusiasts young and old, providing special celebrations including Day Out with Thomas (the train), the Tweetsie Ghost Train, Railroad Heritage Weekend, and seasonal Fourth of July and Christmas celebrations.

According to Graybeal, “The East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad was founded in 1866 as a broad gauge (5-foot) railroad to run from Johnson, Tennessee’s depot to Cranberry, North Carolina. Finally completed in 1882 as a narrow gauge railroad (3-feet between the rails), the line to Boone from Cranberry was washed-out in the great Flood of 1940. Competition from trucks put the rest of the narrow gauge section out of business in 1950, but the section between Johnson City and Elizabethton, Tennessee continued to operate as a standard gauge line until 2005. One mile of the original ET&WNC in Johnson City continues to run as the East Tennessee Railway, doing switching for industries.”

Tweetsie’s journey to the High Country and the establishment of the Tweetsie Railroad attraction, which would become North Carolina’s first theme park, sparked a new entertainment offering for local families and visitors from throughout the United States. Prior to its inaugural run, the locomotive was fully restored on-site, where the attraction continues to maintain and provide meticulous upkeep for the train as well as other amusement park locomotives from several different attractions across the Southeast United States, including Walt Disney World, Busch Gardens, Six Flags Over Georgia, and the Dollywood Express.

The Tweetsie amusement complex can be credited with opening the High Country area to tourism and positioning Boone for the incredible growth it has experienced in the last 100 years.

Benjamin Livingston, a conductor at Tweetsie Railroad. Photo by Peter Morris & Shirley Hollars.

“The Carolina, Clinchfield & Ohio was built through the mountains from Johnson City, TN to Marion, NC as part of a larger system. It still operates on a limited basis as a part of the CSX system. Many railroads came close to Boone but did not quite get there. The Carolina & North-Western reached the community of Edgemont, in the shadow of Grandfather Mountain, but never succeeded in building up-and-over the mountain to reach the Watauga River Valley,” continued Graybeal. “The Watauga & Yadkin River Railroad made it all the way to Darby, below Bamboo Gap on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and to the Watauga County line, but then ran out of money. The Virginia-Carolina Railway made it all the way from Abingdon, Virginia to Todd, North Carolina, again to the Watauga County line, but never built on to Boone.” 

To see the actual Tweetsie locomotive is to fall in love with its longevity and history. You can walk up to it, chat a spell with its engineer and conductor, touch it, smell its soothing coal-fired smoke as it rises upward on High Country winds, check out its wheels and, of course, hop a ride! While 2023 might be a tad different from its route a hundred years ago, it’s none-the-less an invigorating experience.

As the attraction wonderfully states, Tweetsie Railroad is a blast from the past!

Enjoy!