ET&WNC Railroad
1920s Tourism Brochure


     
 

"You will search the world over for a country of greater natural beauty and for a more delightful and invigorating summer climate than that of the mountain resort region along the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad and the Linville River Railway. These lines, popularly known as "The Narrow Gauge," represent one of the most difficult engineering feats to be found in Eastern America. The trip from Johnson City, Tennessee to Boone, North Carolina compresses into about four hours the greatest variety of natural scenery to be found in the Western Hemisphere."

 

Click on each photo to see a larger view.
 
Cover - Doe River Gorge, TN

Cover

This early tourism brochure documents incredibly well the scenic beauty and highlights attractions along the fabled ET&WNC Railroad and its companion line the Linville River Railway during the 1920s.

"Starting at Johnson City, Tennessee, at an elevation of 1,624 feet above the sea, these lines make an ascent of about 2,400 feet within a distance of forty-four miles, attaining at Montezuma, North Carolina, the highest elevation of any passenger railroad in the eastern half of the continent."

 
Linville River, NC

Pages 1 & 2
Johnson City, Elizabethton

 

 
Linville Falls, NC

Pages 3 & 4
Doe River Gorge,
Linville Falls

"During the year 1916 the Linville River Railway extended its line from Montezuma to Linville and Shulls Mills, NC, giving an all-rail route with Parlor Car service from Johnson City to these well -known but hitherto off-line points, and bringing Blowing Rock, Valle Crucis and other places of interest in Watauga County within convenient driving distance."

 
Grandfather Mountain, NC

Pages 5 & 6
Grandfather Mountain

 

 

 
Roan Mountain, TN

Pages 7 & 8
Roan Mountain

"At the foot of Roan Mountain, overlooking the railway station and the picturesque Doe River, the Roan Mountain Inn is the key to one of the most attractive sections of the entire Appalachian system. Fishing, hunting, and mountain climbing are the chief diversions, and Roan Mountain (elevation 6.313 feet) is the point of greatest civic interest."

 
Eseeola Inn, Linville, NC

Pages 9 & 10
Eseeola Inn,
Linville

 

 
"On the Links" Linville, NC
Pages 11 & 12
Pineola, Boone
"The eastern terminus of the Linville Railway and the county seat of Watauga, Boone a substantial and progressive little city, is located in the center of a productive farming and stock-raising mountain section, noted for its delicious apples and other fruits and vegetables."
 
Beech Mountain, NC



 
"Roan Mountain near Roan Mountain Hotel"