Stephen's Gap, Lim Rock, and Belmont Coal Stops

[photo] See caption below for details.

Between Woodville and Larkinsville, Jack Daniel notes three stops in his railroad history: Stephen's Gap, Lim Rock, and Belmont Coal.

The Stephen's Gap station was located two miles west of the present Lim Rock community and was an early water station. An 1861 Memphis and Charleston report noted that a sood shed and water tank "are to be built." In 1872, reports noted that a new water tank was needed. The stop is not mentioned after 1872.

The Lim Rock station was originally called Boyd's Switch. It first appeared in M&C railroad reports in 1880. It is probable that a cotton platform was built about that time though none was listed. An 1895 report lists the station as "in good condition." Railroad men who worked at this station included Mose Watson, M. M. Watson, Rube Shelton, W. T. Johnson, A. O. Johnson, Louis T. Hardcastle, and Rufus H. Hardcastle.

The Belmont Coal Mine Branch was a six-mile line to the Belmont Coal Mine near the top of the Cumberland Mountains. It was built in 1879 by Major C. E. Gordon, brother of John B. Gordon. The mine furnished coal for a period to the M&C railroad. It was abandoned in the 1920s.




From Jack Daniel's book, Southern Railway: From Stevenson to Memphis (Grandmother Earth Creations: Germantown, TN, 1996).