Edmund W. "King" Cole Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway - Stock Certificate

Edmund W. (King) Cole, Confederate Railroad Superintendent, large impressive signature at front by Cole as President. Unissued stock of the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway. Superbly engraved by National Bank Note Co.-NY. A beautiful Tennessee stock. Mint Condition. Scarce! The Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway was a railway company operating the in the southern United States of Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia. It began as the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, chartered in Nashville in December 1845 and was the first railway to operate in the state of Tennessee. It took nine years to complete the 150 miles (240 km) of line between the two cities, a task which was made much more difficult by the steep elevations of the Highland Rim and Cumberland Plateau lying in between. A tunnel of 2,228 feet (679 m) near Cowan, Tennessee was considered an engineering marvel of its time. Due to the difficulties of the terrain, this line between Tennessee cities actually crossed over into two neighboring states, Alabama and Georgia, for short distances. New towns sprang up along the line during construction, such as Tullahoma and Estill Springs.