Thanks. As I said, I was just going by memory. I was in a hurry and that is of course a plan to make a mistake.
I would like to add a location before CSXT gets its feelings hurt, since the others have been for NS. The small town of Englewood, TN has public parking and a small park next to the CSX mainline out of Etowah. The parking lot is at one end of a passing siding and the signals are visible. Across the street, there are several shops, a cafe, and a museum to Englewood's history with the textile industry. The branchline to Tellico and Athens left the main line here. Toward Tellico Plains, just cuts and fills can be found along Hwy. 39. The depot in Tellico is now the Farmers Co-op. It stood inside a wye. Some of the railroad crossing markings were still painted on the street last time I was there even though these tracks were pulled in the mid eighties. The rest of the branch to Athens is being converted to a railtrail. For a map see http://www.abandonedrails.com/Athens_to_Tellico_Plains.
Had the East Tennessee and Virginia merged with the East Tennessee and Georgia by 1854? They were separate roads in 1852.
Date corrected.
Johnny
Another good location to spend time is Niota, TN. Main Street is next to Norfolk Southern's Knoxville West End District. There is parking on Main Street and at the park across the tracks. Niota is home to the oldest existing depot in the state. It was built in 1854 by the East Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia, if my memory is as good as I think it is. Seating is available at the depot or the kids can play at the park which has a playground and basketball court while you watch trains. This track is not quite as busy as the CNTOP but still has a good number of trains.
One of my favorite locations is Spring City, TN. There is plenty of public parking near the CNOTP with the North Spring City signals visible. The depot, http://www.springcitymuseum.com/, is part of a museum and the outside is a good photographer location. Heading east on Front street will take you to a park with a small playground, pavilion, restrooms, and a walking/biking trail that parallels the railroad as part of its loop. The NS road channel is 160.950. There is a defect dectector every ten miles. They roughly alternate with the passing sidings every ten miles. The siding at Roddy, which is the next one to the north, has a road that loops around it with a crossing at the south end and middle and a one-lane underpass at the north end. US27 follows along the railroad from Dayton to just south of Rockwood. The speed limit of the highway and railroad allow a train to be caught and passed in reasonable time if you see something interesting or miss one. Spring City is a small town with around 3 chain restaurants and some local ones. There is one hotel in the town. There is fishing and boating on nearby Watts Bar and Chickamauga Lakes. Hiking trails are available in Piney River natural area off Shut in Gap Road or up in Grand View to the Piney River Falls. TN 68 from Spring City to Grand View is the right of way of a narrow gauge railroad. I hope this is useful.
I live in East Tennessee, which might have been obvious considering my username. For a while, I have been considering making this thread to point out train watching locations in East Tennessee but the recent fires in nearby counties and tornado in my county have made having visitors linger and stimulate the economy even more important. Anyone is welcome to add locations they like to train watch from East Tennessee as it is legally defined: all 30 counties in eastern time plus Bledsoe, Cumberland, and Marion. Secondly, I would ask that no one advocate tresspassing, please.
First, I would offer this link: http://www.frograil.com/railroad/tn.php. Now, I have not been to many of the places listed, but I think their guides appear helpful.
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