Pigeon River Railroad

Pigeon River Railroad. . Pictured is locomotive # 20. It ran along Smoky Mountain Railroad tracks and possibly traveled into Pigeon Forge on the Pigeon River Railroad line just before the line was abandoned about 1929. The Pigeon River Railroad was incorporated in August 1916 and began operating circa 1919. The PRRR extended the line of the Knoxville, Sevierville and Eastern Railway from west Sevierville to the small community of McCookville, about a mile south of Pigeon Forge. Area residents jokingly referred to the line as the “Knoxville, Slow and Easy.” Logging in the mountains and the harvesting of tan bark for tanning leather were becoming big business. Trains were used in the transport of these resources. A depot was located across the street, slightly northwest of this marker, with the tracks running parallel to the road. After railroad operations ceased, the depot was moved to the opposite side of the street. Photo: Sevier County Public Library, [Captions] , (Above) This artist’s sketch by Norman C. Miller, Jr. appeared in Elmer G. Sulzer’s book, Ghost Railroads of Tennessee , (Left) Pictured at the Middle Creek train stop, about 1920, are Ulla Chance, Bertha Marshall and Jenella Ogle. The Pigeon River Railroad connected with the KS&E in west Sevierville, then traveled through A.J. King’s lumber warehouse on its way to Pigeon Forge. There was a PRRR depot at the lumber company in Sevierville, there were three depots along Lower Middle Creek Road, and there was one across this highway. Photo Courtesy of Jerry Loveday , Locomotives from the Smoky Mountain Railroad were among those used for display at Rebel Railroad, one of the town’s first attractions. Engine #107 remains in Pigeon Forge. Photo Courtesy of David Eppen , Pictured is a Sevier County leather smith in 1937. Esquire Blackburn Jones and A.S. Trotter operated a tannery on Mill Creek in Pigeon Forge. Cleason Emert and Ransom Sims were also tanners there. They made shoes, harnesses, saddles and horse collars for local farmers. Photo: Tennessee State Library and Archives , (Left) A spike from the Pigeon River Railroad and a Montgomery’s Vindicator advertisement 1924