Found a line at http://www.tenngreen.org about a grant in 2004 to fund a study about converting Smoky Mountain RR corridor into a hiking trail.I wonder if they were talking about the original Smoky Mtn RR from Knoxville to Sevierville,Tenn abandoned around 1960.Can't find any other info or if the study was even done. Here is how it appeared at tenngreen: "Smoky Mountain Railroad Trails, $1,250 to implement plan of converting abandoned rail corridor as a trail connector."

Your guess is correct. Interestingly enough, Knox County (or it may be the City of Knoxville) owns the right of way, though I'm not sure if it is just to the county line or whether it includes any of the Sevier County portion of the ROW. There has been some discussion about a trail project, but the council (or county commission) has not shown much desire to act. An attorney friend of mine tried to get some action toward using the money for the trail study, but couldn't get anyone to act.

For those of you not familiar with the Smoky Mountain: http://www.trainweb.org/smokymtnrr/index.html