Murphy Branch

A former Southern Railway depot in Bryson City, North Carolina, now serving as the main headquarters of the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad (GSMR)

The Murphy Branch is a branch line operated by the Western North Carolina Railroad, later the Richmond and Danville, Southern Railway, the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) and today it is operated by the Blue Ridge Southern Railroad and the Great Smoky Mountains Railway. Blue Ridge Southern owns the Asheville to Sylva segment and Great Smoky Mountains Railway owns the Sylva to Nantahala section. The branch runs between Asheville, North Carolina in the east and Murphy in the west.

I-40 from Asheville to Canton and US Route 74, also known as the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway, from Canton to Murphy, roughly parallel the railway. Grades on the Murphy Branch exceed 4.0% in two places.

History

It was constructed with convict lease labor between 1880 and 1891 under the charter of the Western North Carolina Railroad. The Murphy Branch was important to the development of southwestern North Carolina in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It opened up the isolated and rural mountains west of Asheville to the outside world, allowing easy travel and improved commerce. These tracks stimulated the development of Western North Carolina.

In the 1980s, Norfolk Southern decided to close the Murphy Branch west of Sylva because of declining freight traffic. The NCDOT purchased the branch west of Dillsboro in 1988, the first purchase under NCDOT's program to preserve rail corridors. It granted trackage rights between Dillsboro and Andrews to the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad (GSMR), a tourist excursion railroad that also provides freight service. In 1996, the NCDOT sold the Dillsboro-Andrews portion of the Murphy Branch to the GSMR.

In April 2014, Norfolk Southern announced that it would be selling the Asheville-Dillsboro leg of the Murphy Branch to Watco, a short-line railroad headquartered in Pittsburg, Kansas. A new North Carolina Limited Liability Company was established and named the Blue Ridge Southern Railroad to manage this. The deal closed and operations began on 26 July 2014.

The GSMR continues to own the Dillsboro to Andrews leg and operates all but the westernmost portion between Hewitt and Andrews. The NCDOT continues to own the tracks between Andrews and Murphy; this section has been out of service continuously since 1985. The next year CSX abandoned and removed its connecting line in 1986 from Murphy southwestward into Georgia, formerly a line of the Louisville and Nashville.

Locomotive roster

Southern Railway

Ks, Ks-1, and Ks-2 classes

During the 1900s, the Southern Railway (SOU) employed many of their Ks class 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type steam locomotives to primarily haul freight trains on the Murphy Branch until the 1950s when their duties were taken over by SOU's new fleet of EMD F7 and GP7 diesels. Only two of them, Nos. 630 and 722, were preserved. In the 1960s until Norfolk Southern sold the line in 1985, EMD GP30, GP38, GP38-2 locomotives and GE U23B and B23-7 (both in the late 60s and late 70s respectively) locomotives could all be found on this line. Because of tunnel clearances, nothing greater than 4 axles was permitted on this line.

Ks, Ks-1, and Ks-2 steam locomotive details: 24–27 
Road numberClassBuilderSerial numberBuiltDriver diameterRetiredNote
573Ks-2 (formerly K)ALCO's Richmond Works39290190657 in (1.448 m)January 1950Built with Stephenson valve gear and 22 in × 30 in (559 mm × 762 mm) cylinders. Re-equipped with superheaters, Southern valve gear, and larger 25 in × 30 in (635 mm × 762 mm) cylinders in the 1910s-20s.
586Ks-2 (formerly K)ALCO's Richmond Works39303190657 in (1.448 m)?Built with Stephenson valve gear and 22 in × 30 in (559 mm × 762 mm) cylinders. Re-equipped with superheaters, Southern valve gear, and larger 25 in × 30 in (635 mm × 762 mm) cylinders in the 1910s-20s.
599Ks (formerly K)ALCO's Richmond Works39316190657 in (1.448 m)?Built with Walschaerts valve gear and 22 in × 30 in (559 mm × 762 mm) cylinders and retained them. Re-equipped with superheaters in the 1910s.
630Ks-1 (formerly K)ALCO's Richmond Works28446190456 in (1.422 m)June 6, 1952Built with Stephenson valve gear and 22 in × 30 in (559 mm × 762 mm) cylinders. Re-equipped with superheaters, Southern valve gear, and larger 24 in × 30 in (610 mm × 762 mm) cylinders in 1917.
651Ks-2 (formerly K)ALCO's Pittsburgh Works28941190456 in (1.422 m)?Built with Stephenson valve gear and 22 in × 30 in (559 mm × 762 mm) cylinders. Re-equipped with superheaters, Walschaerts valve gear, and larger 25 in × 30 in (635 mm × 762 mm) cylinders in the 1910s-20s.
685Ks-1 (formerly K)Baldwin Locomotive Works?190456 in (1.422 m)?Built with Stephenson valve gear and 22 in × 30 in (559 mm × 762 mm) cylinders. Re-equipped with superheaters, Southern valve gear, and larger 24 in × 30 in (610 mm × 762 mm) cylinders in the 1910s-20s.
695Ks-2 (formerly K)Baldwin Locomotive Works?190456 in (1.422 m)?Built with Stephenson valve gear and 22 in × 30 in (559 mm × 762 mm) cylinders. Re-equipped with superheaters, Southern valve gear, and larger 25 in × 30 in (635 mm × 762 mm) cylinders in the 1910s-20s.
698Ks-2 (formerly K)ALCO's Richmond Works29883190456 in (1.422 m)?Built with Stephenson valve gear and 22 in × 30 in (559 mm × 762 mm) cylinders. Re-equipped with superheaters, Southern valve gear, and larger 25 in × 30 in (635 mm × 762 mm) cylinders in the 1910s-20s.
711Ks-2 (formerly K)ALCO's Richmond Works29896190456 in (1.422 m)?Built with Stephenson valve gear and 22 in × 30 in (559 mm × 762 mm) cylinders. Re-equipped with superheaters, Southern valve gear, and larger 25 in × 30 in (635 mm × 762 mm) cylinders in the 1910s-20s.
712Ks-1 (formerly K)ALCO's Richmond Works29897190456 in (1.422 m)February 23, 1950Built with Stephenson valve gear and 22 in × 30 in (559 mm × 762 mm) cylinders. Re-equipped with superheaters, Southern valve gear, and larger 24 in × 30 in (610 mm × 762 mm) cylinders in the 1910s-20s.
722Ks-1 (formerly K)Baldwin Locomotive Works24729190456 in (1.422 m)August 1952Built with Walschaerts valve gear and 22 in × 30 in (559 mm × 762 mm) cylinders. Re-equipped with superheaters, Southern valve gear, and larger 24 in × 30 in (610 mm × 762 mm) cylinders in the 1910s-20s.
735Ks-2 (formerly K)ALCO's Richmond Works37626190557 in (1.448 m)?Built with Stephenson valve gear and 22 in × 30 in (559 mm × 762 mm) cylinders. Re-equipped with superheaters, Southern valve gear, and larger 25 in × 30 in (635 mm × 762 mm) cylinders in the 1910s-20s.
848Ks-1 (formerly K)Baldwin Locomotive Works?190657 in (1.448 m)?Built with Stephenson valve gear and 22 in × 30 in (559 mm × 762 mm) cylinders. Re-equipped with superheaters, Southern valve gear, and larger 24 in × 30 in (610 mm × 762 mm) cylinders in the 1910s-20s.
857Ks-1 (formerly K)Baldwin Locomotive Works?190657 in (1.448 m)?Built with Stephenson valve gear and 22 in × 30 in (559 mm × 762 mm) cylinders. Re-equipped with superheaters, Walschaerts valve gear, and larger 24 in × 30 in (610 mm × 762 mm) cylinders in the 1910s-20s.
871Ks-1 (formerly K)Baldwin Locomotive Works?190657 in (1.448 m)?Built with Stephenson valve gear and 22 in × 30 in (559 mm × 762 mm) cylinders. Re-equipped with superheaters, Southern valve gear, and larger 24 in × 30 in (610 mm × 762 mm) cylinders in the 1910s-20s.

Towns, cities and communities along the route

The Waynesville Train Depot sometime in the 1890s

Commodities shipped/received

The Murphy Branch still plays a vital role in the industrial economy of western North Carolina. The rail line serves Jackson Paper Manufacturing Company in Sylva[citation needed] and 70 percent of its business came from the Pactiv Evergreen paper mill in Canton which closed in 2023, forcing the railroad to make cutbacks. Chemicals used in the making of epsom salt are delivered to Premier Magnesia (formerly Giles Chemical) in Waynesville, and the paper mill's closure led to the largest epsom salt supplier in the Americas getting help from Haywood County to deal with the rail service cutbacks and prevent the company from leaving after 70 years. There are several small concrete mixing facilities that receive sand. Woodchips are loaded at T&S Hardwoods in Addie, about 4 miles east of Sylva. Liquefied petroleum gas is delivered to a transfer facility a few miles outside of Sylva in the community of Beta.

In media

In 2023, a railroad simulator/management video game entitled Railroader entered early access on Steam. The game depicts the route from Sylva to Andrews, which the player owns and operates as a shortline railroad set in the 1940s-1950s.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Saluda, Trains, November 1984, p.26 (retrieved 26 September 2014)
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 George, Michael (1996). Southern Railway's Murphy Branch. Collegedale TN: The College Press.
  3. ↑ Norfolk Southern sells railroad line to Kansas company, The Sylva Herald (retrieved 24 July 2014)
  4. 1 2 Plott & Plott (2021), p. 21.
  5. ↑ Plott & Plott (2021), p. 171.
  6. ↑ Plott & Plott (2021), p. 22.
  7. ↑ Queener, Dave (2025–2026). "Improving the Everyday K: Part 2". TIES Magazine. Vol. 39/40, no. 4/1. Southern Railway Historical Association. pp. 4–27.
  8. 1 2 Tillotson Jr., Curt (2005). Southern Railway Steam Trains Volume 2 – Freight (1st ed.). TLC Publishing. p. 13. ISBN 1-883089-94-8.
  9. ↑ "Southern Railway 630: An Epic of Steam Engine Restoration". Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. Retrieved May 11, 2026.
  10. ↑ https://www.carolana.com/NC/Transportation/railroads/nc_rrs_appalachian.html (retrieved 28 May 2020)
  11. ↑ http://www.carolana.com/NC/Transportation/railroads/nc_rrs_graham_county.html (retrieved 28 May 2020)
  12. ↑ Hyatt, Vicki (April 3, 2024). "Rail disruption following mill closure threatened jobs at epsom salt maker". The Mountaineer.
  13. 1 2 Zadeh, Joseph (April 7, 2025). "Reviewed: Railroader railroad simulator (2024, Giraffe Labs)". Trains. Firecrown Media. Archived from the original on April 7, 2025. Retrieved April 7, 2025.

Bibliography

Further reading