A former Southern Railway depot in Bryson City, North Carolina, now serving as the main headquarter of the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad (GSMR). The Murphy Branch is a branch line operated by the Western North Carolina Railroad, later the Richmond and Danville, Southern Railway, the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) and today the Blue Ridge Southern Railroad.

With the increasing popularity of the automobile, passenger traffic on the Murphy Branch, then owned by the sprawling Southern Railway System, began to decline. Southern discontinued all passenger traffic on the Murphy Branch on July 16th, 1948, ending 64 years of service that had opened Western North Carolina to the outside world.

Aug 2, 2017 · There was no more traffic west of Andrews, so it was the Murphy Branch in name only. The only traffic was sand for a contractor and feed for Parker & Reichman, a chicken egg farm. Thus, this train of eight empties, split between the customers, tagging along behind the three high-nosed GP38-2s, all originally Southern Railway units.

The branch, which struck out westward from the Southern’s large yard at Asheville, NC, was loaded with great Appalachian industries such as pulpwood loading, paper mills, coal dealers, fuel oil dealers, furniture plants, etc. and even an interchange with the L&N’s own Murphy Branch at the line’s terminus in Murphy, NC.

Southern Railway's Murphy Branch. Join group. About this group. This group is dedicated to furthering the knowledge and the preservation of the heritage of one of Southern Railway's most storied branchlines, the Murphy Branch, which ran 114 miles from Asheville to Murphy in western North Carolina. The line was started by the Western North ...

Oct 7, 2024 · Southern Railway, Norfolk Southern Website Official Website: Contents. 1 Blue Ridge Southern Railroad Overview; 2 Blue Ridge Southern Train Symbols; ... (Murphy Branch) from Murphy Junction to Sylva. The railroad also formerly operated the TR Line from Hendersonville to Brevard. This line has since been abandoned and is being converted to a ...

Jan 14, 2021 · he Great Smoky Mountain Railroad is a popular tourist hauler and common-carrier freight shortline operating in the scenic mountainous region of western North Carolina. The railroad owns and operates 53 miles of the former Southern Railway's famous Murphy Branch, which by the turn of the century had connected rural mountain communities to Asheville and the larger rail network.

A former Southern Railway depot in Bryson City, North Carolina, now serving as the main headquarter of the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad (GSMR). I-40 from Asheville to Canton and US Route 74, also known as the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway, from Canton to Murphy, roughly parallel the railway.Grades on the Murphy Branch exceed 4.0% in two places. [1]

Feb 21, 2012 · The former Southern Railway's Murphy Branch runs from Asheville, NC about 100 miles roughly southwest to Murphy, NC. The first 50 miles to Sylva is now owned by Norfolk Southern, the line from Sylva to Andrews, NC is owned by the Great Smokey Mountains Railroad which is primarily an excursion railroad, and the line on to Murphy is owned by the ...

Southern Railway 722 is a Ks-1 class 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type steam locomotive built in September 1904 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works to run on the Murphy Branch, where it hauled freight trains between Asheville and Murphy, North Carolina for the Southern Railway (SOU). In 1952, it was purchased by the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad (ET&WNC), alongside its sister ...