House is built on rail line by the old Nashville highway
photo by John Wilson
Line of cedars marks Old Southern Grade
photo by John Wilson
Old raised rail bed can be seen from Shellmound Road
photo by John Wilson
Swales were left in fields by scoops building up the rail line
photo by John Wilson
A muddy pond created by work on the Old Southern Grade
photo by John Wilson
Route crossed Shellmound Road to what is now Nickajack Circle
photo by John Wilson
Section near Bible farm
photo by John Wilson
Trail is gated before wooded section at Bible farm
photo by John Wilson
Old Southern Grade is at the edge of Anderson Ridge just after I-24
photo by John Wilson
Leaving Anderson Ridge
photo by John Wilson
Start of high berm to avoid Sequatchie River floodwaters
photo by John Wilson
Trail through the deep woods
photo by John Wilson
Top of the berm
photo by John Wilson
Approaching the bridge support at the Sequatchie River
photo by John Wilson
View of the bridge buttress
photo by John Wilson
Concrete pier in the middle of the river
photo by John Wilson
Pier closeup
photo by John Wilson
Pier on the opposite bank
photo by John Wilson
Detail of pier on the opposite bank
photo by John Wilson
Top of pier on the bank
photo by John Wilson
Excavated section near the Sequatchie River
photo by John Wilson
En route to South Pittsburg
photo by John Wilson
The Old Southern Grade went across the old Nashville highway known as the Old Stagecoach Road toward a second meeting with the Sequatchie River.
Near Highway 41 at the end of Dixon Lane, a house is built across the rail bed. The line continues through fields just below Shellmound Road. A high berm rises in some of the fields, and small water courses can be seen nearby where dirt was scooped out for the ill-fated line.
It crosses Shellmound Road at the current Nickajack Circle, then follows it along a straight route. It goes through woods past a gate on the Bible farm, then it reaches Interstate 24 just above where the east and west lanes of the freeway come back together after a wide separation near Nickajack Lake.
Across the interstate is the best-preserved section of the Stevenson Extension along its entire route. There is a high berm of some 30 feet going almost a mile through the quiet woods. The path on top is almost as clear as when the workers piled up this high section of the rail line that never was to be.
Then there is a large bridge support by the Sequatchie River as well as a similar buttress on the other side. A tall pier still stands in the middle of the river - these long years still awaiting a bridge framework, tracks and a churning locomotive.