Old Railroad into Catoosa

[GP30Rider]

The recent discussions about the abandoned tunnels has prompted me to ask the group if anyone has a map that includes the old Morgan and Fentress Railroad that went into what is now the Catoosa Wildlife Management Area.  A little background.....the Morgan and Fentress Railroad intersected with the CNO&TP at Nemo.  If you look along the river between the old depot site at Nemo and the road, you will see the old bridge piers where the railroad went across the river and up the valley toward the town of Catoosa.  The resources I have consulted so far include the USGS topo maps, Ghost Railroads of Tennessee, the Morgan County Public Library at Wartburg and countless hours riding a motorcycle all through the Catoosa WMA looking for the old right of way.  I have yet to find a map of the railroad and my time spent scouting the land on the bike have not proven anything about the exact locations of the track.  The bridge was lost in the flood of 1929.  That flood washed away much of the town of Catoosa and cut it off from the rest of the world for a time.  The railroad never ran again.  The State of Tennessee took most of the land sometime in the 1950's I think, and I suspect that some of the rolling stock was probably still on the railroad and was left for the state to dispose of.  Some bike riding friends and I have made efforts to pinpoint the location of the right of way.  I have suspicions about how the railroad got into the town of Catoosa but we are at a loss for where it went when it left the town and continued to the northwest.  Anybody got any maps that show the railroad??  Any help would be appreciated.

If you have not been out to the bridge piers, take a walk out there sometime and imagine the amount of water it took to wash away that bridge. 

[lwjabo]

From what some of the old men told me there were hundreds of spur lines off the mains at one time. Most were for lumber. Build a spur of 10 miles and clear cut hardwood, pine and even cypress. When the trees were all gone the line would be pulled up and they went a few more miles down the tracks and did the same. Some of these lines were for coal and even clay. My grandfather who was not a rail road man but cut lumber all over Georgia, Alabama and Florida told me they built these spurs into the swamps but the snakes were so large that men refused to work there. So they turned loose hundreds of hogs. The hogs made short work of the snakes and the snakes even with poisin could not kill them. The blood vessels of the hogs were covered in layers of fat that protected there legs. As a small boy I would go with him to his friend Mr. Fowler who lived in south Douglas County Ga. They would sit on the porch and talk. I often listen to them talk of there younger years and how they cut these trees. Strange how I can remember those days 60 years ago. I guess it's true when we get old it easier to remember what happened so long ago but can't remember what we had for breakfast.

[butch]

This is from the 20s I believe and shows the RR from Nemo up towards Catoosa.

[GP30Rider]

That map shows the first mile or so.  The railroad went 20 to 30 miles back into the town of Catoosa and beyond.  It actually made a connection with another small railroad near the Obed River.  I am looking for a map that shows the entire Morgan and Fentress Railway.