Hi,

A friend has a family photo thought to have been taken in the 1890 to 1910 time frame which includes 2 wood gondolas marked K & D R R. At the suggested dates his family was centered around Jonesville, Union, and Walhalla in northwest South Carolina.

Knowing I'm a bit of a railfan, he asked if I knew the full name of the K&D. I don't.

Can anyone else conjure up the name?

Thanks, Roger

Hi,

The closest I can come for that time period is the Knoxville and Bristol. It is not in the 1895 Official Guide (OG) but it is in the 1898 OG.

It is listed in the 1899 ORER and the 1903 ORER but not in the 1905 ORER.







I hope this helps.

Doug vV

Hi Doug,

I'll pass the info you provided on, it's more than I came up with!

Thanks, Roger

Roger,

Altho the towns of Jonesville, Union, and Walhalla are all located in northwest South Carolina, commonly referred to here as "the Upstate", Jonesville and Union are located about 35 miles southeast of Spartanburg, while Walhalla is located near the Georgia border, in the westernmost portion of the state.

I've done some searching centered on the Walhalla area, and found some webpages you may find of interest. The story of the attempt to build a railroad from Charleston, SC to Cincinnati, OH, is very interesting and one I hadn't heard before. A major remnant of that effort, the Stumphouse Tunnel, is located near Walhalla and is open to visitors.

The successor railroad to the one attempting that line was the Blue Ridge Railway, which became part of the Richmond & Danville. Could the initials have been R&D, rather than K&D?

Here are the webpages-
http://www.tarheelpress.com/BlueRidge1.html

http://railga.com/bluer.html

http://railga.com/rd.html

http://www.walhallasc.com/stumphouse/history.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmond_a ... e_Railroad

Jim Tatum.

Hi Jim,

Very interesting!

Thanks, Roger

Hi,

I've now seen the photo and one gondola is lettered K&DRR and the other one is much less clear but appears to be lettered VBG(?).

Thanks for all the ideas!

And now back to cabooses, Roger

One other possibility... any chance it is K&ORR? Otherwise, I'll keep looking...

Best,
Mike

slightly off-topic, but if anyone finds themselves near Walhalla (not TOO far off I-85 if you don't mind a bit of a detour), take a little time and go up to see the tunnel. Kepp your eyes open going up the mountain north of town, and there is a sign and turnoff on the right, which will take you down a winding road to the parking lot. From there, it's just a short walk up to the tunnel. Other than having some gravel/rock in it, it's VERY close to the same condition it was left when the railroad project was abandoned, including the ever-persistent water. Bring some good shoes and a strong flashlight--you'll need it if you want to go all the way to the end where they gave up. There's another tunnel or two there also if you want a longer hike also. It is not the neon-lights you might expect, and it's free.