Railroads, like water, tend to follow the path of least resistance. Early railroad engineers saw Natural Tunnel as a logical path through the mountains to the growing rail systems of the Midwest.
The South Atlantic and Ohio Railroad began laying tracks through Natural Tunnel in 1882, connecting Bristol, Tennessee, with the coalfields of southwestern Virginia. The route became knows as the "Natural Tunnel Route" when the Virginia and Southwestern Railroad took over the line in 1899.
The trains carried passengers between Bristol, Tennessee, and Louisville, Kentucky. Because of the tunnel's uniqueness, most trains stopped and allowed passengers to visit the tunnel.
The pavilion depicted in the photograph was constructed to accommodate train passengers and other visitors to the tunnel. Over the years, everything from picnics to weddings to gambling took place here.
In 1905, President Roosevelt rode this route while researching the Wilderness Road for his book, The Winning of the West.
Use of the track for passenger trains ceased in the late 1940s. Today the line is owned by Norfolk and Southern an carries an average of ten trains a day. Coal from the mines in southwestern Virginia and eastern Kentucky is shipped to power plants and ports all over the southeastern United States.
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