HISTORY CORNER

MOUNTAIN GOAT AT MONTEAGLE, TENNESSEE DEPOT, CA. 1910

BY RIDLEY WILLS II

In 1910, the Tracy City Branch passenger train No. 121, known as the Mountain Goat, stopped at Monteagle daily. It normally came up the mountain from Cowan with stops at St. Mary’s, Sewanee, and St. Andrews before reaching Monteagle. The grade up the mountain was steep, the road bed rough and the turns sharp. There was a baggage car and usually three or four passenger cars. The engine puffed and popped off steam as it climbed. Cinders rained on top of the cars like sleet and, if you stuck your head out of the window, you got a faceful.

The cars rattled and shook so you could not stand in the aisle. The wheels squeaked and groaned. On the sharp curves, you could see the engineer and fireman working in the cab. These were the memories of Dr. Edwin K. Provost, who first came to Monteagle by train when he was six months old. He recalled in 1982 that the train, in about 1910, left Nashville at 8 a.m. and arrived at Cowan at 12:30 p.m.

“There was excitement on getting aboard as friends from Memphis, Mississippi and Arkansas were already on the train,” he wrote. “We went through Smyrna, Murfreesboro, Wartrace, Bell Buckle, Tullahoma and Decherd to Cowan. The train stopped there and the cars which were going up the mountain were uncoupled and the train went on to Chattanooga.”

Across the tracks in Cowan was the two-story Franklin House Hotel.

“When the train arrived, a man with a white jacket and white chef’s hat walked up and down the hotel porch ringing a bell,” he wrote. “You could eat at the Franklin House or the hotel could send a box lunch to the train. Quite a number had lunch baskets that they

The Tracy City Branch passenger train No. 121, known as the Mountain Goat.

brought with them. Shortly, after much blowing of the whistle and popping of steam, the small engine came backing up and with a jolt would couple on the cars for the mountain trip. At this time, the baggage for the passengers going up the mountain were transferred and the passengers climbed aboard. Soon, the train, with a grinding of wheels and puffing of smoke, slowly moved up the track, which paralleled the main track for about one mile, then curved over the main line as it went into the tunnel, and started up the mountain.”

As the train approached the Monteagle railroad depot, “there was great excitement looking out the window to see who was at the station; calling to friends; and trying to be the first off. There was a lot of hollering, hugging and kissing after the train stopped. You would wait until the trunks were unloaded so you could identify yours and give the baggage checks. The trunks would be delivered to your cottage on the trunk wagon. Then you would climb into one of the carriages to go to the front gate and await your tickets. The kids usually hopped out of the carriages and ran to get to their cottages first.”

The Monteagle depot was only yards away from the Assembly front gate, down the tracks to the right. The 1910 photograph shows a large water tank across the tracks from the depot, as well as several horse-drawn hacks waiting to take passengers either to the Assembly or to the

Monteagle Hotel a short distance down College Street. For many years, Mr. Jim Long used to bring all the trunks to the Assembly. In 1980, Mrs. Joseph “Opie'' Handly recalled him as being, “an elderly, black-hatted man who wore a long handlebar mustache.”