R.J. Corman to take over Clinton tracks Saturday

February 23, 2022 by G. Chambers Williams III

There’s a new railroad coming to Clinton and north Anderson County this weekend.

Beginning Saturday (Feb. 26), the Norfolk Southern trains on the line from Clinton to Jellico will be replaced by trains of the Kentucky-based R.J. Corman Railroad Co., operating it as the new Knoxville and Cumberland Gap Railroad, according to R.J. Corman spokesman Todd Bivins.

The new line will begin its service just north of downtown Knoxville, over Norfolk Southern tracks into downtown Clinton, then over the tracks north into Rocky Top, Jellico and southern Kentucky that Corman is purchasing from Norfolk Southern.

That line will then run east in Kentucky and dip back to the south, where it will terminate at Clairfield, Tennessee.

In Clinton, R.J. Corman will take over the current Norfolk Southern line into the Eagle Bend Industrial Park, which serves several industrial customers.

In conjunction with that, R.J. Corman also plans to build a railroad operations and service facility along the former Norfolk Southern tracks just north of State Highway 116 in Rocky Top, along Railroad Avenue.

Rocky Top City Manager Michael Foster told the City Council last week that R.J. Corman officials have contacted the city and will submit plans soon to the city’s Planning Commission, in preparation for applying for building permit.

“They want to put it by the railroad tracks by the [now closed] Shop Rite supermarket site,” Foster said, adding that it would be about a 40-by-100-foot building. “They will be running their operations out of there.”

Foster said R.J. Corman plans to run about four trains a day through Rocky Top, about the same frequency of service now provided on the line by Norfolk Southern.

The changes do not affect the adjacent CSX Corp. tracks and rail service, which runs through the same area over Route 116 on an overhead trestle. CSX is not involved in the R.J. Corman transaction, other than to lease some trackage rights to R.J. Corman on lines from Jellico into Kentucky that are now leased from CSX by Norfolk Southern.

R.J. Corman this Saturday will also take over a second Norfolk Southern line that runs from just north of Knoxville in Coster, Tennessee, into Kentucky at Cumberland Gap, terminating in Middlesboro.

Clinton will continue to see some Norfolk Southern trains, though, as that railroad will still own and operate the line into Clinton from Knoxville that branches west in Clinton and runs to Oliver Springs and Harriman.

While R.J. Corman will be purchasing the Norfolk Southern line from Clinton north through Jellico, it will only lease trackage rights from just north of Knoxville into downtown Clinton from Norfolk Southern, which will retain ownership of that section – including the old train station on Market Street.

The acquisition does not affect the CSX Railroad line that runs north-south through western Anderson County and into Rocky Top and points north.

There are 14 rail customers in a range of industries now using the lines included in the transaction, including coal mines, plastics producers, and a plant that produces paper packaging, R.J. Corman said.

R.J. Corman reached an agreement with Norfolk Southern for the takeover on Dec. 28, and asked the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to make the deal exempt from federal review. The STB approved the request on Feb. 10.

In a news release, the Nicholasville, Kentucky-based R.J. Corman said:

“R.J. Corman Railroad Company is glad to announce the purchase of two railroad branches from Norfolk Southern Corporation and the creation of the Knoxville and Cumberland Gap Railroad, LLC (KXCG).

“The newly established KXCG [comprises] two branches,” the release said. “First, a 59-mile branch running between Clinton, TN, and Clairfield, TN. Secondly, a branch of 72 miles operates between Beverly, TN, crossing the iconic Cumberland Gap and connecting to Middlesboro, KY. The branches, previously owned by Norfolk Southern, were historically part of the Southern Railway.

“The Knoxville and Cumberland Gap Railroad will have rights between the two branches and interchange cars in Norfolk Southern’s Sevier Yard.”

The STB filing said the acquisition will add 154 miles to the more than 1,200 miles of track now operated by R.J. Corman.

According to its website, R.J. Corman Railroad Co. “operates 17 short-line railroads in 11 states and is a subsidiary of R.J. Corman Railroad Group, LLC. Altogether, the company employs approximately 1,500 people in 22 states.

“In addition to short-line railroad and switching operations, R.J. Corman companies provide a broad scope of services to the railroad industry, such as emergency response, track material distribution, track construction, and signal design and construction.”