Watauga & Yadkin River Railroad
In 1911, William J. Grandin began laying rails for what would become the Watauga & Yadkin River Railroad. The railroad began at the end of the Southern Railway line in North Wilkesboro, NC, and followed the banks of the Yadkin River. The line terminated in Caldwell County at a new village and massive timber mill that was titled after its owner. At Elkville, where Elk Creek spilled into the Yadkin River, the railroad had a junction that traveled to the heart of 60,000 acres of virgin timber. Darby was the terminus of this branch, and the intended launching point of the railroad into Boone and over the mountains into Tennessee.
The Blue Ridge Route
The railroad went through several incarnations on paper, including the Yadkin River Railroad, as well as the Watauga Railway Company. The railroad operated two 2-8-0 Consolidations, #101 and #102 that were used on the mainline.
The Grandin Lumber Company, a sister firm, operated this second-hand 0-4-2T Dinky #1.
The #101.
The #102.
The railroad owned 3 passenger cars, purchased from the Pennsylvania Railroad, and maintained their rich maroon coloring.
Mother Nature had other ideas for the Watauga & Yadkin Railroad. When it was being built, the locals warned the civil engineers about the unpredictable Yadkin River, but their concerns went unheeded.
The lead engineer even scoffed that he could control the river "with the heel of his boot" if he so desired. Unfortunately, during July, 1916, the engineer could not find his boots, and the railroad was washed away. Its sole tunnel had collapsed, and 20 trestles were destroyed.
Grandin, North Carolina
After the Floods of 1916, the Watauga & Yadkin River Railroad was rebuilt and put back in operation. After all, the village of Grandin and the timber operation at Darby still had to be serviced, with cut timber being hauled to the Southern Railway at North Wilkesboro.
Of course, in addition to the railroad, the mill and village at Grandin were also part of W.J. Grandin's master plan. The mill village was located on a plateau that was occupied by three sisters, "the Greer Girls" (legend says they were each a hundred years old when they were born!)
On this plateau, Grandin built a village consisting of 30 houses (pictured at right), a boarding house, a large company store, and a church. In the plain below the Grandin village, the mill was built, consisting of a large Edging Mill, a Planing mill, a blacksmith shop, kilns, and several other buildings.
The picture below is taken at the end of the line in Grandin. The large company store is on the hill. The building behind the passenger coach is the blacksmith shop.
Unfortunately for W.J. Grandin and the area, neither the railroad nor the timber business proved to be successful for his particular enterprise. Though his forest holdings held an estimated 70 million feet of timber, from 1912 to 1916, scarcely a million feet had been cut.
When the 1916 flood hit, it was a severe blow to a company that was already weak. The railroad was rebuilt, but again, timber operations remained miniscule and the lumber company was never able to succeed.
Mother Nature again intervened, and flooded the Yadkin Valley once again in 1918. The previously-damaged railroad was unable to cope with the waters, and the freshet was a mortal blow to all operations.
For the next 15 years, various companies and individuals sought to revive the railroad and timber operations, but ultimately, to no avail. The railroad was finally scrapped in 1933, and the Grandin village became part of a large family farm. Nothing exists of this little railroad today, and of the Grandin village, only the boarding house and hulk of the Edging Mill (right) are still standing.