East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Johnson City, Tennessee |
| Reporting mark | ET&WNC |
| Locale | North Carolina and Tennessee |
| Dates of operation | 1881–1950 (narrow gauge), 1983 (standard gauge) |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 3 ft (914 mm); 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad (reporting mark ET&WNC), affectionately called the "Tweetsie" as a verbal acronym of its initials (ET&WNC) but also in reference to the sound of its steam whistles, was a primarily 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge railroad established in 1866 for the purpose of serving the mines at Cranberry, North Carolina.
The 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge portion of the ET&WNC was abandoned in 1950. The 11-mile (17.7 km) 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge segment of the line from Johnson City to Elizabethton, Tennessee, operated as East Tennessee Railway until 2003. In 2012 the rails and ties were removed to make way for a rail-trail. This trail was named the Tweetsie Trail.