Memphis
and the Tennessee Midland
by
Tom Parker
(Reprinted from the December 2007 Memphis Buff)
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Tennessee
Midland # 201 at Parsons, TN
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The
Richmond and West Point Terminal
To
understand the history of the Tennessee Midland, it's necessary to
know a little bit about the Richmond and West Point Terminal Company.
The “Terminal Company” was a holding company incorporated in 1880
to promote the interests of the Richmond and Danville Railroad. The
R&D was prohibited in its charter from owning stock in any
railroad with which it did not have a direct connection. The Terminal
Company was created to circumvent this restriction.
By
1887 the Terminal Company controlled 4,500 miles of railroad but by
1892 the company had gone broke and entered receivership. It was
re-incorporated in 1894 as the Southern Railway Company.
Both
the Virginia Construction Company, who constructed the Tennessee
Midland and the Tennessee Midland shared a number of officers and
directors with The Richmond and West Point Terminal Company and were
possibly separate entities only on paper.
For
example, when the Tennessee Midland was sold, the majority
stockholder was the Virginia Construction Company. James C. Pace a
wealthy Virginian, President of the Planters Bank of Richmond, VA
and tobacco company owner, was the President of the Virgina
Construction Company and a director of the Terminal Company. A. S.
Buford, a former president of the Terminal Company, was a director of
the Tennessee Midland and was later the president of Virginia
Construction. The Tennessee Midland was sold in 1892, the same year
the Terminal Company entered receivership.
The
Short History of the Tennessee Midland
The
New York Times reported that on December 21, 1886, the Virginia
Construction Company, under the auspices of the Pace Railway
Syndicate had dispatched surveying parties from Jackson Tennessee on
December 13, 1886, to map out the proposed Memphis and Nashville
Road, which Mr. J.C. Pace and other owners of the Richmond and
Danville intend to build. Two surveying parties left Jackson, one
going toward the Tennessee River, the other towards Memphis.
No
provision had yet been made to survey beyond the Tennessee River, but
it was expected that such work would be done as soon as the work in
West Tennessee was completed. Chief engineer was Mr. R.H. Temple of
Richmond, Va. It was the intent of the Case Syndicate to extend the
tracks as far as Knoxville, TN, thereby making direct connection with
their Atlantic roads. Mr T. C. Leake, Jr. was to be in charge of
construction.
On
December 29, 1886, the Tennessee Midland Railway received a charter
to build a railroad from Memphis, TN, to the Virginia state line.
A meeting of Memphis citizens was held on January 5, 1887, where it
was agreed that Memphis should agree to a subscription of $100,000 of
capital stock of the proposed “Memphis & Nashville” railroad.
The action was endorsed by the Merchants' Exchange and six prominent
men were selected to solicit subscriptions. Fifty percent of the
subscription was payable when the road was completed to the
connection with the Illinois Central at Jackson, TN, and the
remaining fifty percent when the road was completed to the Tennessee
River.
On
February 18, 1887, A meeting was held in Memphis concerning the new
railroad. Tennessee Midland President A. S. Buford said that the
railroad would extend 700 miles from Memphis to Bristol at a cost of
fifteen to twenty million dollars and would be completed in two
years. It would connect to the Atlantic seaboard via the Richmond and
Danville and the Baltimore and Ohio systems.
The
Tennessee Midland secured $350,000 in private, town and county money
and on July 19, 1887, contracted the Virginia Construction Company to
build the railroad. Virginia Construction issued $2,000,000 worth of
stock for this purpose.
On May 14, 1888, the Tennessee Midland was authorized to build a
bridge across the Tennessee River “on any point on a line between
the counties of Decatur and Perry” by the United States Congress.
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Tennessee Midland extended 135 miles from
Memphis to Perryville, TN. The Paducah, Tennessee
and Alabama Railroad built the connecting track
between Hollow Rock Junction and Lexington.
(1906 Railway Guide)
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The
track from Memphis to Jackson was completed on June 1, 1888.
The next year the track was completed to Perryville on the Tennessee
River and on June 30, 1889, the first train operated from Memphis to
Perryville. It consisted of a baggage car, two passenger cars and
three freight cars. Perryville's importance was due to the transfer
of passengers and freight between boats on the Tennessee River and
the railroad.
The
company continued to solicit financing from individuals and
government entities along its proposed route. The fledgling railroad
hit a brick wall, however, when, it sought subscriptions from
Davidson County. Powerful interests in Nashville blocked the
subscription, backed by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, who,
along with its subsidiary, the Nashville and Chattanooga (the future
NC&StL), held a monopoly on rail traffic to and from Nashville.
Advocates of the Tennessee Midland continued to seek a referendum on
the public subsidy of the railroad through 1892, but were
unsuccessful. Later, the Tennessee Central would also be thwarted for
many years by the L&N in their attempt to enter Nashville.
It
was reported in February, 1892, that the Illinois Central was in
negotiations with the Tennessee Midland to acquire the track between
Jackson and Memphis, TN. At the time the IC did not have tracks to
Memphis from the North but reached Memphis from the south through
Grenada, MS. While it had no interest in the forty five miles east of
Jackson, the IC offered to arrange through a third party to complete
the road beyond the Tennessee River to Nashville and to guarantee the
bonds for its construction.
The
deal with the Illinois Central evidently fell through and on April 2,
1892, the Tennessee Midland was sold for $2,350,000 to Mr. T. J. Mors
of St. Louis, the principal owner of the Paducah, Tennessee and
Alabama Railroad. The PT&A operated from Paducah, Ky., to Hollow
Rock, Tenn., with a connection under construction between Hollow Rock
to the Tennessee Midland at Lexington, Tenn.
In
1893 both the PT&A and the Tennessee Midland went into
receivership. The Trustee was the St. Louis Trust Company and John
Overton, of Memphis and W. L. Huse of St. Louis were named joint
receivers. There was no change in the operation of the two lines.
In 1895 both lines were sold at foreclosure to the L&N
Railroad. The L&N in turn leased both lines to its subsidiary,
the NC&StL, for 99 years.
Epilogue
With
the sale of the Tennessee Midland in 1892, the former mainline
between Lexington and Perryville became a branch line. Highway
improvements and the construction of the Alvin C. York Bridge over
the Tennessee River at Perryville in 1930 diverted traffic from the
railroad. Revenue suffered and service was discontinued on October
31, 1936.
Around
1968 the remainder of the Tennessee Midland was abandoned east of
Cordova with the exception of some track in Jackson, Tennessee. On
September 6, 2001, the line between Aulon and Cordova was embargoed.
The CSXT received discontinuance authority in 2002 and 2003 and has
now requested full abandonment authority from the Surface
Transportation Board. In the last couple of months the CSXT has had
brush removed from the right of way to facilitate removal of the
track when final approval is received. Except for trackage within
Memphis and Jackson, TN, what once was the Tennessee Midland will be
gone forever when this track is removed.
