With Railbanking, Tweetsie Line Trail Project Steams Ahead

Lindsay Martin (RTC) — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 19:35:00 GMT

By Lindsay Martin

When I started at Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in 2009, one of the first Early Warning System notices I sent out was for a 10-mile corridor between Johnson City and Elizabethton in Tennessee. So I was especially thrilled when the city of Johnson City and East Tennessee Railway reached a railbanking agreement for the corridor, locally known as the Tweetsie Line. The nickname "Tweetsie" dates back to the early railroading days, referring to the sound of the trains' steam whistles.

Local officials view this rail-trail project as an enhancement to the area's tourism industry. In a recent news article, Johnson City Commissioner Jane Myron said, "I think [the trail project] is a great tourism piece...an economic development piece."

What's also exciting about this news is that the Tweetsie corridor is poised to be Tennessee's first rail-trail built on a railbanked corridor. Railbanking allows railroad companies and a trail management agency to preserve an out-of-service railroad corridor for potential future reactivation through interim use as a trail. There are currently rail-trails built on railbanked corridors in about 35 states, including the Katy Trail (Texas), the Flint Hills Nature Trail (Kansas), the El Dorado Trail (California) and the Carolina Swamp Rabbit Tram Trail (South Carolina).

Additionally, there are trail projects planned on railbanked corridors in at least three other states--and with this recent news about the Tweetsie Line, Tennessee makes four.

Photo of Carolina Swamp Rabbit Tram Trail from TrailLink.com.

RTC TrailBlog : tennessee, tweetsie line

With Railbanking, Tweetsie Line Trail Project Steams Ahead