Published in the Greeneville Sun Saturday September 6th, 1958 on pages 1 & 8
(Note: this material was transcribed from a print of a microfilm copy of the newspaper. The microfilm copy was likely made from a faded newspaper and is not always readable, so where characters are missing you will see a series of dashes "--".)

Rader's Switch -- An Important Early Railroad Siding

By HARRY ROBERTS

    The small railroad village known as "The Side Track" is located about two miles east of Mosheim in the 8th Civil District, where the Southern Railway crosses Little Chuckey Creek. Known as "Raders Switch" or "Raders Side Track", the --- village originated and developed as the result of railroad in----which in addition to a switch and side track included a coaling chute, a sand house, water tanks, a depot and a telegraph office. During the early years of this century, the railroad payroll at the Side Track ---nding three telegraph operators and seven men on the coal chutes and water tanks totaled --- per month. Most of these men worked 12 hours per day for $1.10, less than 10 cents per hour. With such a concentration of important railroad installations it was quite natural that a thriving village should develop. As a necessary part of any typical village a church spire made its appearance in the village, but somewhat later than would be expected. The small one room school which served this village was just over the hill north of the side track. The location of the school about one half mile from the village is probably accounted for by the possibility that this school replaced an early old field school which had been established prior to the construction of the railroad. Although the village my be accounted for by the railroad installation, a rural store and stage coach depot had been established here prior to the construction of the railroad which was completed in 1858. 

STEEP GRADE

    It is said that history is the result of geography that the lay of the land and the various physical features along with the climate and other geographical aspects of a region largely determine the nature of the industrial development of the area and to a great extent influence the cultural traits of its people. This idea is illustrated in the development and growth of the Rader's Community. The steepest grade on the Southern Railway between Bristol and Knoxville and probably for a much longer stretch is the upgrade extending from Little Chuckey Valley to Greeneville. The steepest grade of any railroad in the United States is found on the Southern Railroad in the mountains of Western North Carolina. With the increased freight loads being carried eastward, it was soon discovered that the normal load which could be brought fro the Knoxville direction could not be pulled out of the Little Chuckey Valley and into Greeneville. This problem was solved by establishing a sidetrack near the creek where part of the train could be disconnected and placed on the siding while the remainder was taken up the hill into Greeneville. The engine could then return and take the remaining cars up the long steep grade. Constructed in the early 1870's, the side track for this purpose was the first located near the Mt. Pleasant crossing about ---- the track but it was then found that this was too near the --- at the beginning of the --- and the engine could not --- get up speed enough --- steep grade, so the sidetrack was moved to its present location near the Little Chuckey Trestle. From there the train had about -- mile if comparative level and straight track necessary for the initial speed for making the long up grade pull into Greeneville.

 ORIGINAL LAND OWNERS

 Prior to the coming of the railroad most of the land now occupied by the village was owned by John Rader, from whom the (continued on Page 8)

(starts on page 1)

 ---- Bill Myers -----Bible and Ja---

COAL CHUTES AND WATER TANKS

    In the days of the steam locomotive which was powered by a coal burning engine, it was necessary --- make frequent stops for water or coal and for refilling the boiler with a supply of water. The straight track --- furnished ----for refueling and ----. As the only coaling station between Bristol and Knoxville, the coal chutes at Raders represented one of the most important installations on the entire line. The coal chutes were constructed in the autumn of 1907. Coal for this refueling station was brought from the coalfields of Virginia and West Virginia and Kentucky to Bulls Gap and fro there to the chutes at the Side Track. There the coal cars were pushed up the incline track to a height of about 60 feet above the main line. From the high track the coal was dumped onto a platform fro which it could be transferred into the engine render, the -- -cars which carried the coal --- the engine boiler ---- An average of about -- the ----of coal per day were -- and transferred to ---- it is interesting to note that employees of the railroad were able to buy coal at the chutes for a cost of $2.00 and $2.50 per ton.

    Foremen who have operated the coal chute include William Bryant, James Lyons ----- and R. D. Hull. Giving way to the improved type of engine which did  not require such frequent refueling, the coal chutes at Rader's were discontinued in  ---  closing officially on November of that year.

WATER TANKS

    The first water tanks built in 1906 were located beside the present A. F. Bible's store with the pum to the rear of the present building. Water was brought to the pump by way of a large underground pipe.

    Two years later the pump and tanks were moved to the trestle where along with the ---- swimming hole in the creek, they became the favorite playground for the boys of the village and surrounding area. Any man who grew up in the Side Track area thinks first of playing around the water tanks and the swimming hole whenever he remembers his boyhood at Raders.

    Important to the later railroad installation at Raders were the two large water tanks and the pumps. Water for the boilers was taken from the creek where a large concrete box was constructed from which the pumps forced the water into the tanks. One of the tanks held 60,000 gallons and the other 80,000. In addition to straining the water to remove all particles, it was necessary also to soften the water by putting chemicals into it which would remove the calcium, lime, magnesium and other dissolved minerals. Whenever the water in the boilers was heated to produce steam as was required for the operation of steam engines the material it left dissolved in the hard water would not evaporate with the water, but instead would precipitate or settle to the bottom sides of the tank and water pipes as is done in tea kettles in which hard water is boiled. This constant deposit  hard water scale would clog the water pipes and form a heat insulating film on the bottom of the tank boiler making it more difficult to heat the water hot enough to produce steam.

    The water was softenened by mixing it with chemicals which caused the dissolved minerals to precipitate (settle) in the water tank producing a slimy substance called sludge which was removed periodically. Local residents were able also to procure these chemicals for use in softening water in their homes.

THE SAND HOUSE

    Another locomotive service offered at the chutes at Rader's was the filling of the engine sand bins. The locomotive wheels of polished steels working on the smooth rail of "iron" were great improvements over the early wooden rails, but when the rails were wet or covered with snow or ice there was often a lack of traction required for pulling heavy loads. To overcome this it was soon discovered that sprinkling sand on the track would furnish the necessary traction.

    To provide a supply of sand the engines were provided with a sand bin with a small pipe line leading to the top of the rails just in front of the tractive wheels. The sand was refilled from an opening on top of the engine. Sand for the engines was hauled to the coal chutes at Rader's by the car loads where it was dried in the sand house where a large coal burning furnace was operated for this purpose. After being thoroughly dried the sand was screened and placed in the hopper from which it would be run through a small chute into the engine sand bins. The sand house at Rader's was the only one between Bristol and Knoxville.

THE TELEGRAPH 

    The telegraph, which has been called the most important invention of the first half of the previous century, was perfected by Samuel Morse, an artist. Although he was not responsible for the basic discoveries of electricity upon which the telegraph is based, Morse did assemble the sender and receiver, and more importantly, he devised the telegraphic code system of dots and dashes - the international system of sending messages.

    Congress, seeing the practical value of the new mode of communications, appropriated $30,000 in 1844 for the construction of the first telegraph line which was built between Washington, D. C. and Baltimore.

    Setting up his telegraphic instruments in the Supreme Court building in Washington, surrounded by curious and unbelieving spectators, Morse tapped out the first telegraphic message, a quotation from the Bible, "What Hath God Wrought".

    By 1850, telegraph lines connected all important cities in the northeast as far west as Chicago and a line extended through Dixie, from Washington to New Orleans.

    By 1860, the telegraph lines had been extended west of the Rockies and a few years later to the Pacific Coastal cities. In fact, the telegraph was extended westward so rapidly that that it made the familiar Pony Express obsolete in little more than one year after that colorful means of western communications by fast horse had been inaugurated.

TELEGRAPH OFFICE

    In order for trains to be operated a means of communication must be maintained all along the line. As the telegraph was considered the most practical device for sending the necessary messages from one station to another. By 1851 telegraph lines were being erected as a necessary part of railroad construction.

    The telegraph office at Raders built in 1905 was originally located to the left of the A. F. Bible Store. In 1908 the office was moved into the depot. A list of telegraph operators at the Side Track includes Jesse Payre, Lens Byington, Bill McFarland, Bill Hartman and June Harmon. The Telegraph office was discontinued in 1933.

DEPOT

    The Rader's Depot built in 1908 was  located on the site of the waiting room across the tracks from the present church. Called a "flag stop", this depot served as a station for the local trains which would stop to take on or discharge  passengers or freight whenever flagged by the local station master. In the early decades of this century 6 trains per day stopped at this station whenever flagged. After the local trains were not permitted to stop at the smaller stations the village flag stop became obsolete. The depot at Rader's closed in 1935.

    For many years spur tracks use3d for loading logs, acid wood, and other products and for unloading coal for local residents were operated at Rader's Side Tracks.

TRAIN WRECKS

    The Side Track area has been the scene of two serious railroad accidents. In 1894 three men, the brakeman, flagman and conductor were killed when several cars jumped the track because of a defect in the switch just below the coal chutes.  As some of the cars were loaded with peanuts which were poured out in large piles, this accident has since been known as the "peanut wreck".

    In 1956 one of the major railroad wrecks of this area occurred on the curve just above the Side Track.  Many cars were demolished and a large section  of track was destroyed.

EARLY RAILROADS

    Beginning as an obscure small scale operation, the history of railroads in America is typical of the origin of most of our present day large industries. The first railroads in the United States were short connecting links between cities and the nearby canal which preceded railroads as the main means of commerce in the early decades of the previous century.

    In 1830, the first railroad  in America was built a distance of 14 miles out of Baltimore. On this short line the first cars were drawn by horses, as the first railroads were only intended as an improved road for horse-drawn cars or wagons.

    By 1833 the Tom Thumb, one of the first steam locomotives in America, was pulling one car with 24 passengers at a speed of 4 miles per  hour. By that time South Carolina had constructed a railroad extending 137 miles inland, the longest railroad track in the world.

WOODEN RAILS

    The first railroad tracks were made of wood. Later a strip of  iron was nailed on top of these wooden rails. One of the chief worries of early operators was the danger of the iron strips coming loose and either wrapping around the wheels or running up through the floor of the car. Iron rails replaced the wooden rails in a short time but the steel rails replaced the wooden rails in a short time but steel rails did not come into use until after the Civil War.

    Powered by wood-burning steam engines which belched forth showers of sparks, the early train represented a fire menace to town and countryside alike. Often the clothing of passengers would be ignited. The following actual account of an early passenger illustrates the inconvenience of the early train as a mode of travel:

    "They used dry pitch for fuel, and there being no smoke or spark catcher to chimney or smoke stack, a volume of black smoke strongly impregnated with sparks, coals, and cinders came pouring back the whole length of the train.  Each of the passengers who had an umbrella raised it as a protection against the smoke and fire. The were found to be but momentary protection, for I think that in the first mile the last umbrella went overboard,, all having their covers burned off from the frame when a general melee took place among the deck passengers, each whipping his neighbor to put out the fire."

    As all tracks were of different widths varying from 4 to 6 feet, trains could not run on tracks other than their own, so that whenever a new line was encountered all goods and passengers were  required to transfer to another train. Today all railroads in America are built at the standard width of 4 feet 81/2 inches, which is also standard for Canada, Mexico and most European nations.

    The first passenger railroad cars were built much like the stage which they were supplanting and usually were painted in bright colors. Some early cars were shaped much like canal barges which they were destined to replace.