Chattanooga Traction

Company History: The CTCo was established in 1913 as an electric streetcar line to link North Chattanooga, Tennessee to a hotel at Signal Mountain. The line was extended from North Chattanooga to a connection with the CNO&TP mainline at Red Bank. This new line attracted freight customers to the CTCo. Passenger service was discontinued in 1934 but freight continued to move behind small electric locomotives. Southern Railway bought control of the company in 1936 and in 1941, the overhead wire came down. The line ran with GE 44-tonners for a few years before acquiring and EMD SW1 and later an SW9. In 1969, the CTCo was merged into sister road Cincinnati New Orleans & Texas Pacific, becoming a paper railroad in the Southern Railway System.