Sheldon Municiple Railway & Transit Company

The Sheldon Municipal Railway & Transit Company was formerly a transit company that operated in Sheldon, North Carolina until its defunction in the early 1960s.

History
When the Sheldon & Watchout Mountain Railroad went under in 1922, all of its property and holdings (including the Sheldon Union Railroad, the narrow gauge Mount Watchout Railroad and the Watchout Mountain Incline Railway) were seized by the Sheldon National Bank. In 1926, all property and holdings were sold to the county who re-organized the companies as the Sheldon Municipal Railway & Transit Company. It was the company's decision to electrify the line for trolleys, even the old narrow-gauge line was rebuilt for trolley services but it was later taken up to cut costs in 1933.

The company continued operation with financial success afterward until the early 1950s when ridership began to drop. When the Sheldon Cab & Taxi Company was formed in 1958, ridership was at an all time low. The writing was on the wall for the line and the last trolley ran in 1963.

The Transit Company tried to pull itself out of dark times by switching to using greyhound built buses in the early 1960s with a bus line that ran from Sheldon to Cherokee. They planned to expand their services throughout the county, but after an accident involving one of their buses, the concept was quickly dropped. Another reason to add to this was that it was discovered the roads surrounding the county borders were too tight for the buses and the Knoxville & Asheville Railroad had already taken the perfect route for a super-highway. And thus, the company folded for good. Today, the tracks are still intact but are overgrown with weeds and grass.

As for the Incline Railway, it was sold off to a private owner who continues to operate it to this day. The Sheldon to Cherokee bus line was then taken over by another transit company (Raccoon County Transit) that uses a small Ford bus, over the years, they've expanded their lines towards Possum Hollow and Westbury.