Tennessee Lumber and Manufacturing Co. - circa 1900's Unissued Lumber Stock Certificate

Unissued Stock. Knoxville, Tennessee. The Beaver Dam Railroad was a short-line railroad that operated in Virginia and Tennessee in the early 20th century, connecting the towns of Damascus, Virginia, and Crandull, Tennessee. The line was gradually abandoned starting in 1918, with some sections remaining in operation into the 1920s. Today, much of the former route is followed by Tennessee State Route 133.

In the late 19th century, the Empire Lumber and Mining Company began logging operations in northeastern Tennessee. To transport lumber from its sawmill in Crandull, Tennessee, the Beaver Dam Railroad was incorporated on August 6, 1900, and built a line from Crandull to the Tennessee-Virginia state border, a distance of 8.52 miles (13.71 km), where it connected with the Virginia-Carolina Railway. Initially, the section from the state border to Damascus, Virginia, was operated by the Virginia-Carolina Railway. Around 1900, the Tennessee Lumber and Manufacturing Company also began operations near Sutherland, Tennessee, and used the Beaver Dam Railroad for transporting its products. By 1902, the line from Crandull to Damascus, covering about 10 miles, was completed. The Crandull and Shady Valley Railroad, a six-mile extension, was incorporated on December 15, 1909, to extend the line from Crandull to Shady Valley, Tennessee.

This extension was leased by the Beaver Dam Railroad and operated as a single unit. In 1910, the 1.386-mile (2.231 km) section in Virginia, previously operated by the Virginia-Carolina Railway, was leased to the Beaver Dam Railroad for an annual fee of $300. By the early 1910s, as timber supplies dwindled, the companies that had originally required the Beaver Dam Railroad began to withdraw, leading to the abandonment of the Tennessee section in 1918. Only the short Virginia section remained, continuing to operate under the Beaver Dam name into the 1920s to serve the Smethport Extract Company near Damascus. At this time, the railroad operated just 1.386 miles (2.231 km) of single-track mainline and 0.129 miles (208 m) of yard or siding track. However, it did not own any of the tracks or property, apart from a steam locomotive and a passenger car.

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