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Written by Paul D. Race for Family Garden Trains(tm) |
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Unique Features of the Little River RailroadThis page highlights the unique features of the Little River Railroad that make it an especially good candidate for modeling, including:
Unique EnvironmentMost model railroads that have logging operations or mountainous scenery model either the far North or the Rockies. The Smokies have their own character - the mountains aren't generally as steep as the Rockies but they get very high. If you've ever been to Clingman's Dome, so has the Little River Railroad, so you can imagine what that climb was like. Not to mention the Appalachian culture of many of the workers and of the communities that the LRRR served. The book Last Train to Elkmont should give you a wealth of ideas for "local flavor."Unique Business PlanAt first glance, the Little River Railroad might look like a hundred narrow gauge industrial railroads running Shay* locomotives deep in the mountains to bring back hard-to-reach resources. But the Little River Railroad ran on standard-gauge track, so it could exchange cars with the "big boys," and it was chartered as an independent company - a "common carrier." How many industrial railroads had locomotives custom-built just to serve its passenger business? On the other hand, how many common carriers had a fleet of Shays* dedicated to one company's logging efforts?
Unique Approaches to Getting the Logs Out of the HillsAs much as we like to talk about the trains, there wouldn't have been a railroad if it wasn't for the lumber company. The business opportunity of harvesting first-growth timber and selling the bark to Fisher's tannery for an additional income stream led to the first spike to be driven on the railroad.![]() Technically, the LRRR's responsibility for the logs didn't start until the logs were on the train. But the same engineers who planned the railroad also spent a great deal of time figuring out how to get the logs out of places where even the trains couldn't go. As described in our History article, the Little River Logging Company pioneered various uses of steam power. For a short time they used "skidders" that dragged the logs from the logging site to the railroad tracks, then they went to "overhead skidders" that suspended the logs completely in the air as they moved across difficult terrain. Imagine modeling a logging railroad that shows logs being moved through the air like skiers on an impromptu ski-lift.
Unique ConstructionAs we mentioned in our "History" article, the LRRR's founders violated "common wisdom" for lumber railroads when they chose to use standard gauge (4'8.5" between rails). This improved service and cut the cost of shipping to customers served by the "big" railroads. It also allowed passenger cars from the L&N to run on the LRRR's sightseeing excursion trains. But except for the gauge of the track, much of the LRRR's construction resembled that of many industrial, narrow gauge railroads, including steep climbs, tight curves, and rough trackage. And that forced some odd compromises in the LRRR's choices of equipment.Unique EquipmentBecause the LRRR was a standard gauge railroad that was largely built and operated like a narrow gauge railroad, it required some unusual locomotives to provide "full-service" railroading on its curves and climbs. Ironically, a railroad that ran some fairly large logging locomotives also ran some of the smallest standard-gauge passenger locomotives ever built.
Note: As the tourist business heated up on the LRRR, there was a demand for passenger/sightseer service over rails that were owned by the lumber company - rails that only the Shays could handle. So passenger trains pulled by Shays were very common in the summer months between 1909 and 1926 - another way in which the LRRR "broke the rules." Locomotive #1 - The first locomotive on the Little River Railroad was not a Shay, but a second-hand 0-4-0T Pennsylvania A-2. She had both a saddle tank and a slopeback PRR-style tender - a combination you would probably not have seen on the PRR. Trial and Error - When the LRRR decided they needed a larger locomotive to take the long hauls, they ordered a Mogul** from the Baldwin locomotive factory. But her fixed wheelbase (the distance between the first and last drive wheels) was too long to handle the LRRR's tight curves, and they sent her back. Then they ordered a Prairie*** type with a shorter wheelbase, and they had to send her back as well.
Like her big sisters on the L&N and other railroads, this Pacific was used mostly for passenger runs. She was the pride and joy of the LRR, running right up until the railroad was dismantled. For a few years toward the end, she also hauled some log cars to the mill. After the LRRR shut down, she ran for a time on another sight-seeing railroad in the Smokies. Then she was trapped by a crumbling bridge in the mountains, abandoned for a time, then rescued. Thankfully, she is in running condition now on the Little River Railroad near Coldwater, Michigan. Big Power on a Tiny Footprint - By 1906, the LRRR was looking for something that could pull big trains faster than their Shays or the little ex-PRR 0-4-0T that was still in service at that time. Most of the "big railroads" were using 2-8-2 "Mikado" locomotives to pull heavier trains. Some railroads were even experimenting with "articulated" locomotive like 2-6-6-2s. Those had hinged frames and two sets of drivers, each set with its own cylinders, pistons, and drive rods. But the LRRR's tight curves seemed to make anything with eight or more drivers impossible. Unless, perhaps, you could "articulate" a Mikado. Separate the eight drivers into two sets of four, the same way 2-6-6-2s were separating twelve drivers into two groups. Before the LRRR's next locomotive was designed, the whole reason for building articulated locomotives was to make them bigger, not smaller. But Baldwin was up to the challenge.
Even on loan, #148 did not outlast the LRRR - records show that she was scrapped about the time the railroad was closed down. For more information about #148, please check out her listing on the Logging Mallet web site. ConclusionThe LRRR's unique enviroment, business plan, and equipment combined to create a "spunky little railroad" that "violated common wisdom," "broke the rules," and "pushed the envelope" of what could be done by a railroad that was built to serve a logging company and provide common carrier functions at the same time. Though very little remains of the railroad's physical presence, its history reminds us that challenging "common wisdom" isn't all bad.Click here to learn more about the Shay locomotives on the LRRR. Click here to learn more about the other (side-rod) steam locomotives on the LRRR
**** Rick Turner, current president of the LRRR&LC museum has learned that while #148 was running for Alcoa, the LRRR's prize passenger locomotive #110 took over some of the log-hauling duties, "breaking the rules" once again.
Return to the Little River Railroad index page.
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