Route Proposal: L&n Knoxville District/csx Kd Subdivision: Corbin, Ky To Knoxville, Tn

I would like to send another route proposal to DTG, as well as the 3rd party devs. The 105-mile section of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad's Knoxville District (CSX KD Subdivision) from Corbin, Kentucky to Knoxville, Tennessee, or maybe even the entire 161-mile route from Corbin all the way to Etowah, Tennessee.

During the 1970’s, freight traffic on the L&N RR was significant, but coal movements were booming. Shipment after shipment of coal was moving south to the huge power plants in the southeastern US and the L&N was beginning to feel the demands of the added traffic. The L&N had suffered from a shortage of motive power for some time and many older units were being kept around longer than expected. The L&N had a partnership with the Seaboard Coast Line and this provided a source for some of the much needed motive power. But this was not enough to meet the demands of increased traffic. The L&N needed more power and this came in the form of leased units from other roads, including Southern Pacific, Canadian National, and Penn Central.

The K&A Division headquarters is located in Knoxville, TN and during the 70’s, there were around 500 manufacturing plants in the Knoxville metro area. This creates plenty of traffic for the railroads in the Knoxville area. Both the L&N and Southern Railway had yards in Knoxville which provided a significant amount of interchange traffic. Knoxville had 2 industrial subdivisions served by the L&N, Neyland Drive and Middlebrook Pike, which provided plenty of work for the switchers. About 25 rail miles north of Knoxville is Oak Ridge, TN, The Atomic City, and site of the Museum of Atomic Energy. With large atomic production and research facilities, Oak Ridge is a major employer in the area. Just south of Oak Ridge is the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Bull Run Steam plant. Bull Run was served by the L&N with bright orange unit trains loaded with coal for steam production. Further north on the line are the towns of La Follette, TN and Morely, TN. Morely has a small yard to serve the Clairfield Branch, a good coal producer.

Corbin, KY is also home to a very big railyard. Corbin was also a passenger stop until the L&N's passenger trains faded into history. Nowadays, the old depot in Corbin is used for conference and community rooms.

By the 1980's, the L&N faded into history and became part of the Seaboard System and eventually CSX. But even today, the Knoxville Division, known as the KD Subdivision by CSX, still sees plenty of freight traffic every day.

While the CSX era would be great, I would most definitely like to see this route set in the L&N/Family Lines era.

Locomotive suggestions for the route...
- CSX Era: GE ES44AH, GE ET44AH, EMD GP38-2, EMD SD40-2, EMD SD70M(AC), GE AC4400CW

- L&N/Family Lines Era: ALCO Centuries, GE U30C, GE U25C, GE U25B, EMD SD40(-2), EMD SD35, EMD GP38(-2), EMD SW Switchers