The Little River Railroad and Lumber Company Museum, Townsend, TN Museum

When you are in the area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, you will want to stop in and see The Little River Railroad and Lumber Company Museum in Townsend, TN. This small museum has a number of interesting items from the Little River Railroad that are worth seeing.

Although the railroad was small, it was responsible to bring tourists into the area in the early 1900's. In addition, it moved the lumber from many thousands of trees out of the area. It operated between 1901 and 1939.

The train would go from Maryville, Tennessee to Elkmont, Tennessee, and its main purpose was to carry lumber. The Little River Lumber Company started the Little River Railroad in 1901 and used it to cut lumber from both Blount and Sevier counties. Once the lumber was removed, the land was sold and became part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The track was completely removed.

Today, a number of pieces of the equipment from the railroad are in the Museum - or parked outside of it. Some of these train pieces and other equipment have been restored and well taken care of. Other equipment is there for people to see.

Inside the Museum building, there is both equipment and many pictures which show the history of the train and much information about the logging processes as well. Other important papers, tools, and artifacts are also included in the exhibit.

The buildings used to house the museum are also historic. One of them is an old post office from the town of Elkmont. The other is the Walland Depot building, which was moved to the museum property in 1983.

Sitting out on the property there are the larger exhibits. Visitors can see the Shay 2147, which is the main steam engine used on the railroad. There is also a "Little Woody" caboose, two flat cars, a wooden tank tower, and a log loader.

Another item on the property is what is called a setoff house. This little shed-sized building was what the loggers lived in while at a logging site. The small structure was simply unloaded off the train right by the track and moved from camp to camp. When it was moved, it would be loaded on to the train with all the furniture still inside. A row of these setoff houses would be called a stringtown.

Plans are to increase the number of exhibits in the Museum. They are working on receiving grant money from the government and from friends. Annual memberships can be purchased.

The Little River Railroad and Lumber Company Museum in Townsend, TN is a great place to visit. The museum offers a lot of artifacts and history of the railroad from the area. The Museum is open seven days a week, but only from noon until 5:00 PM on Sunday. It is closed between November and March, but a private tour can be made by appointment.

After you see the Museum and items on the property, you will want to see other things in the area. There are many places to visit in this area that is so close to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Not far away are Cades Cove, Dollywood, and many activities in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.