Freight Trains of the Clinchfield Railroad

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Clinchfield Railroad

Clinchfield Railroad Freight Trains

While known for coal, there were many years where Clinchfield’s manifest and non-coal freight revenue rivaled its coal revenue.

As decades passed, the tons of freight that the Clinchfield carried each year doubled, tripled, quadrupled. To manage the demand, the railroad lengthened trains, added centralized traffic control, lengthened passing sidings, or just ran more trains. On average, 30 or more train movements per day on the 277 mile line was the norm.

Manifest Freights

For many years, the Clinchfield’s premiere train was #97 the Florida Perishable.’ It carried food and other perishables north each day, leaving Spartanburg around 2PM and arriving Elkhorn City around 2AM. It was the only train on the Clinchfield timetable to carry a first-class designation.

Click here to read more about #97, the Florida Perishable.

The Clinchfield also listed four other daily manifest freights including #92, #93. #94, and #95. If business was brisk, second sections or extra trains would be added. (see freight timetable below)

Coal Freights

Coal was of course the genesis of the Clinchfield in the early 1900s. For decades to come, the demand for coal and the capacity for Clinchfield to move it provided a very profitable business.

For early decades, the flow of coal was fairly equal both north and south. But after more southern power plants were built and the unit coal trains became popular, the flow of coal southward became predominant.

Coal trains were designated as extras since the flow of black diamonds was a 24/7 business, it was never the same day to day, and the destinations were varied. Once there was enough coal to fill a train, it left for its destination.

As I look at a dispatchers report from 1980, on this day alone there were 35+ extras on the northern half of the Clinchfield from Erwin to Elkhorn. Not all of them were coal, some were local freights, but most of them were coal trains, coal turns, or mine runs.

(Clinchfield Railroad Ad from the 1960s)

Clinchfield Railroad Ad promoting Coal

Clinchfield’s Daily Double Freight Ad from 1941

Clinchfield Railroad Freight Schedule 1941

Clinchfield Freight Trains by Type/Class

Over the years, the trains on the Clinchfield remained very consistent. They were divided into first, second, and third class trains…..locals/shifters/4th class trains….. as well as a large number of extras which were mostly loaded coal trains and empties.

An easy of light-traffic day on the CRR might be 20-30 trains in a 24 hour period, a normal day might be 30-40 trains, and a heavy-traffic day 40-50 trains.

Extras

Most dispatcher sheets across the years show that 80-90% of the trains on the Clinchfield in a day were designated Extras. These trains were not on a schedule and were called and rolled based on freight levels. The extras included a wide range of freight types:

  • Loaded coal trains
  • Empty coal trains
  • Locals
  • Turns
  • Shifters (some were daily and had a designated number, but still were considered extras on the dispatcher’s report)
  • Mine Runs

First Class Trains – #97 Perishable

  • #97 Northbound Manifest (perishable) Freight – Spartanburg to Elkhorn City (12’15”)

Second Class Trains – Time Freights

If traffic and freight was heavy, these trains would run in two sections. For example, train #193 would be the first section and #293 would follow it slightly later.

  • #92 Southbound Manifest Freight – Elkhorn City to Spartanburg (16’30”)
  • #93 Northbound Manifest Freight – Spartanburg to Elkhorn City (13’45”)
  • #94 Southbound Manifest Freight – Elkhorn City to Spartanburg (15’45”)
  • #95 Northbound Manifest Freight – Spartanburg to Elkhorn City (15’15”)

Third Class Trains (train numbers varied across the decades)

  • #18 Southbound Through Freight – Dante to Erwin (7’20”)
  • #22 Southbound Through Freight – Erwin to Spartanburg (8’30”)
  • #24 Southbound Through Freight – Erwin to Spartanburg (8’45”)
  • #26 Southbound Through Freight – Erwin to Spartanburg (8’30”)

Fourth Class Trains (varied across the decades)

  • #6 Southbound Local Freight – Bostic Mainline Shifter – Bostic to Spartanburg
  • #7 Northbound Local Freight – Bostic Mainline Shifter – Spartanburg to Bostic
  • #15 Northbound Local Freight – Dante Mainline Shifter – Erwin to Dante
  • #16 (or #14) Southbound Local Freight – Dante Mainline Shifter – Dante to Erwin (6’30”)
  • #18 Southbound Local Freight – Mead/Marion Mainline Shifter – Erwin to Marion
  • #19 Northbound Local Freight – Mead/Marion Mainline Shifter – Marion to Erwin
  • Speers Ferry Mainline Shifter – Kingsport to Speers Ferry
  • Greenland Mainline Shifter – Kingsport to Greenland
  • Waycross Shifter – Erwin to Waycross
  • Miller Yard Turn – Erwin to Miller Yard – Sometimes 2X per day

Clinchfield.org Sources and Resources

The following are excellent resources for those of you wanting to explore and learn more about the Clinchfield Railroad. These sources of information also serve as reference and historical materials for Clinchfield.org. Much of the content on the website is verified across multiple sources.

Clinchfield Railroad

Contact Us at Clinchfield.org

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