Beaver Dam Railroad
| Locale | Virginia and Tennessee |
|---|---|
| Dates of operation | 1900–1920s |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
| Length | 10 miles |
| Headquarters | Damascus, Virginia |
The Beaver Dam Railroad was a short-line railroad that operated in the U.S. states of Virginia and Tennessee in the early 20th century between the towns of Damascus, Virginia and Crandull, Tennessee. The line was abandoned in sections beginning in 1918 with portions still remaining in operation into the 1920s. Today, much of the old route is followed by Tennessee State Route 133.
In the late nineteenth century, the Empire Lumber and Mining Company began logging operations in northeastern Tennessee. To transport finished lumber from the company's sawmill in Crandull, Tennessee, the Beaver Dam Railroad was incorporated on August 6, 1900, and constructed from Crandull to the Tennessee-Virginia state border (a distance of 8.52 miles (13.71 km)), where a connection with the Virginia-Carolina Railway would be made. Originally, the portion of the line from the Tennessee-Virginia border to Damascus, Virginia, was operated by the Virginia-Carolina Railway. The Tennessee Lumber and Manufacturing Company began its own operations near Sutherland, Tennessee, around 1900 and would soon come to use the Beaver Dam Railroad for its products. The line from Crandull to Damascus, a distance of about ten miles, was completed by 1902. A six-mile extension, the Crandull and Shady Valley Railroad, was incorporated on December 15, 1909, to extend the line from Crandull to Shady Valley, Tennessee. This railroad was leased by the Beaver Dam Railroad and operated under its control as one unit. In 1910, the 1.386 miles (2.231 km) long Virginia section previously operated by the Virginia Carolina Railway was leased to the Beaver Dam Railroad, which assumed its operations, at an annual rate of $300. In the early 1910s, the companies which had originally provided the need for the Beaver Dam Railroad began to pull out as timber supplies ran short. Thus, in 1918, the Tennessee section of the railroad was abandoned, leaving only the short Virginia section. However, this section would continue to operate under the Beaver Dam name into the 1920s by the Smethport Extract Company serving its plant near Damascus. At this point, the railroad only operated 1.386 miles (2.231 km) of single track mainline and 0.129 miles (208 m) of yard or siding track, yet it did not actually own any track or property (except for one steam locomotive and a passenger car).
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