Sheldon Union Railroad

The Sheldon Union Railroad was an interurban railway company that was located in Sheldon, North Carolina.

History
Whilst the Knoxville & Asheville Railroad was being built, the town of Sheldon was still being erected. In the early summer of 1905, a few months before the K&A drove its last spike, a businessman by the name of Thomas Jefferson Jones (1863 - 1922) arrived into the yet-to-be established town. He walked and explored the new establishment and witnessed several wagons getting stuck in the muddy dirt roads. He went to the K&A Railroad president who was also the town founder, Sheldon T.C. Hartford and proposed a system of interurban lines to get people around the county.

After getting his permission, Jones began drawing up plans and foundations for his new company, and pretty soon, he had blueprints drawn. He even had ordered two new locomotives from Baldwin Locomotive Works, a trio of 2-4-4 Forneys, that were delivered to him via the K&A. By the time the K&A drove its last spike, the railroad's line to Lake Raccoon was complete. As time went on, more track was laid and by 1913, Sheldon had its own interurban system, thus making Jones the richest man in Sheldon.

During the winter of 1917 - 1918, the railroad was given a contract to clear some land across the lake. However, some parts of the lake weren't suitable for laying track and some of the land owners weren't willing to give up their land. But the company engineer, discovered that the lake had frozen hard and using his experience from working on the Northern Pacific Railroad, he had his crew built the track on top of the ice! However, none of the railroad's locomotives were light enough to cross the ice, so the company bought a dinky little old 4-4-0 from the Knoxville & Asheville Railroad. This locomotive was built in 1850 by the Rogers Locomotive & Machine Works of Paterson, New Jersey and had previously worked on the Western & Atlantic Railroad and the Smoky Mountain & Atlantic Railroad (the K&A's predecessor road). By the time it was purchased, the locomotive was seriously outdated and due for the scrap heap. But it was light enough to do the work required by the railroad. Jones also was the president and co-founder of the Downtown Street Railway, a horse-drawn line that ran in downtown Sheldon. However, by 1913, the horse-drawn carriages gave way to electric streetcars purchased new from the Pullman Car Company.

During the winter of 1917 - 1918, the little locomotive, which kept its original K&A number, #10, worked on the "Ice Railroad" taking flatcars across the lake to be loaded with lumber. But as the months went on, the weather got warmer and ice was beginning to melt! Luckily by this time, the contract was completed and the line began to remove the last of it's rolling stock there. One night in February 1918, the little 4-4-0 had just finished bringing the last of the flatcars back from the lot. However, it was discovered that one of the railroad's passenger coaches was accidently left behind so the little peanut roaster went back for it. But as it was crossing the lake, the ice suddenly broke from under its weight and the engine and its crew fell into the lake and sank to the bottom.

The Company paid compensation to the families of the crew and took up the track, leaving the coach behind at the other side of the lake. Today that coach is now a restaurant. As for the company engineer, it was discovered he had gone insane when Mr. Jones discovered he was getting married...to his horse (and to top it off that, the engineer was wearing the wedding dress!). The engineer was declared legally insane and hauled off to the asylum. Today, the locomotive is still sitting at the bottom of Lake Raccoon with the remains of its crew.

In 1922, Jones had died and the Sheldon & Watchout Mountain Railroad (along with the Mount Watchout Railroad and the Watchout Mountain & Lola Hill Incline Railway) went bankrupt and all assets of the company were seized by the Raccoon County National Bank. However, the Watchout Mountain Incline Railway continued operation. In 1926, Jones's partner, Alfred Holbrook, met up with the bank executives to incorporate all assets of the S&WM, the Mt.WRR, both incline railways, the Sheldon Union, and Downtown Street Railways into one system, thus creating the Sheldon Municipal Railway & Transit Company. All lines were electrified to run trolleys and streetcars.

For the next couple of decades, the company saw financial success. But when the 1950s came around, passenger numbers began to decrease. In 1963, the last streetcar ran.