TheTennessee and Pacific Railroad was a 19th-centuryAmerican company that operated a rail line fromLebanon, Tennessee, toNashville, Tennessee.
The state ofTennessee chartered the railroad on May 24, 1866. The original plans were to build a line fromKnoxville westward through Lebanon, Nashville, andMemphis toJackson, Mississippi, where it would interconnect with westward-leading railroads to thePacific Coast. Hauling coal from the nearbyCumberland Mountains to western markets was an important intended source of operation income, as well as from passenger service and produce and freight hauls.
Among the early investors and executives was formerConfederate generalGeorge Maney, who would serve for nine years as the president of the Tennessee & Pacific, starting in 1868 when he succeeded the lateJames D. B. DeBow, the well known publisher ofDeBow's Review.
Plagued by difficulties in raising enough financing, the company finally began construction in June 1869 of the 29-mile line between Lebanon and Nashville. Funds were generated to commission theRogers Locomotive and Machine Works to manufacture two4-4-0locomotives for the new T&P, which were delivered in 1870. These were named the "Wilson County" and the "J.D.B. DeBow."[1]
The segment opened in September 1871 in time to convey passengers to theWilson County Fair. Headquartered in Lebanon, the fledgling railroad erected a sprawlingVictorian-style passenger and freight station, combined with the general offices. Major cargo from local farmers included lumber, butter, flour, and other agricultural products which were shipped to markets in Nashville, where another station house was erected in 1872.
However, the financial problems resurfaced and management could not repay the railroad company's debts. In 1877, the state revoked the charter and seized the Tennessee & Pacific. The company and its assets were sold on March 1 to theNashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway. The T&P stayed in operation under its old name until 1888, when it became the NC&StL Lebanon Branch. Passenger service continued on the old line until 1935, when the last train departed Lebanon.[2]