Chattanooga Railroad Series: The Unfinished Line To Stevenson (Part 5)

Some of the most interesting evidences of the never-finished "Stevenson Extension" can still be seen in the vicinity of Jasper and South Pittsburg, Tn.

This was the line that Southern Railway started between Stevenson, Ala., and Chattanooga in 1905 and then abruptly halted in October 1907.

The section in Marion County is still known by many today as "the Old Southern Grade."

Sections of the ill-fated line still rise in corn fields and pastures near the winding Sequatchie River and on to Battle Creek, though some parts have been torn away.

The rail bed was mainly hidden away in Lookout Valley and on the eight miles above Highway 41 near the river. It was out in the open and much more a feature of the landscape in the relatively flat terrain of Marion County.

Many Marion residents fondly remember jaunts in their youth on the Old Southern Grade.

The line crossed Griffith Highway from Bennett Lake Road through Pryor's Gap, which is the first opening for many miles in either direction. It went just to the left of the present Shelton Lane as it headed for its first encounter with the scenic Sequatchie River. In this section at Shelton Lane, there are several old cars parked on the track. It veered left and began a straight route at the base of a steep limestone bluff.

It avoided a crossing of the Sequatchie River by clinging to the narrow shelf below the home of Zac and Elizabeth Kelly on former Hoge property. A creek coming from the direction of Shelton Lane joins the river where it makes a sharp right turn after encountering the bluffs. There are vestiges of an old mill dam just after the turn of the river. With the view of the river below, this would have been one of the most picturesque sections of the train ride.

The Old Southern Grade emerges from beside the river to head toward the current Marion County Airport. A culvert at Hoge Branch can be seen in a field on East Valley Road shortly after its junction with Griffith Highway. The line then crosses East Valley Road and goes through some fields as it heads toward the vicinity of Hancock Road and the airport.

Chattanooga attorney Scott LeRoy, whose family farm borders the west side of the Marion County Airport, says, "A section of the Old Southern Grade,  as my grandfather called it, is still visible across the back of the farm and old culverts are still in the creek on our farm. We used to walk portions of the old railroad grade all the way to the Tennessee River hunting. We used to cut cane off the old grade where it runs through the bottom lands to the river. We fished the narrow ponds beside the old grade which were created when they scooped dirt out of the bottoms to elevate the rail bed. We called it the 'briar pit' because it was tough to get to for fishing."

He remembers that when the line was abandoned workers left behind some of the construction equipment, including an old mule-powered dirt scoop that stood for many years on the old track.

Swales can be seen on the LeRoy farm showing where dirt was dug for the line so as to keep it out of any flood waters. The remnants of a culvert are at a creek at the edge of the farm.

Nearby a section of Dover Road is built on the Old Southern Grade. The line continues across Highway 41 onto Dixon Lane. At the end of this short lane there is a large culvert over a small stream at Anderson Ridge Road. This is where the rail line would have crossed at grade the main road between Chattanooga and Nashville. This was the Old Stagecoach Road. At the time of the rail construction, Highway 41 had not been built.

Anderson Ridge Road, which once carried heavy car and wagon traffic, is still a narrow road that at one end climbs Anderson Ridge. At the other end from the Old Southern Grade a dirt section heads for a crossing of the Sequatchie River. The rickety bridge is long gone, but the handsome pillars remain on both sides of the river. Nearby is the old mill dam for Meads Mill.