Tweetsie Railroad - Railfan Travel

Railroad Name	Tweetsie Railroad
Website	https://tweetsie.com/
Train ride	Narrow gauge steam engine pulling a train around a theme park
Location	300 Tweetsie Railroad Ln Blowing Rock, NC 28605 Google Map: https://goo.gl/maps/Q2NKGH3RNk3rV67v5
Length of trip	3 Miles
Cost of single ticket	$58.00
Special Trains	Easter Bunny Opening Day July 4^th Railroad Heritage Weekend Ghost Trains Tweetsie Christmas

The “Tweesie Railroad” can refer to one of two railroads that are somewhat related to each other.

The East Tennessee and Western North Carolina railroad [ET&WNC], was a narrow gauge railroad (3 ft. between the rails) which ran between Johnson City, TN., and Boone, NC. and was the original railroad given the nickname “Tweetsie.”

The “Tweetsie Railroad” is a tourist railroad theme park located between Boone and Blowing Rock North Carolina, that operates steam engines, including the #12, which originally operated on the ET&WNC. The railroad is a three mile loop of track.

Brief history of the Tweetsie Railroad

The East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad was first charted in 1866, but did not start operating until 1881. At its peak it was 66 miles long.

The major commodities that the railroad hauled was iron ore, pig iron, and lumber. Passengers could ride the line until after the war.

Part of the line between Johnson City and Elizabethton was dual-gauged at some point in time.

The narrow gauge portions of the line ceased operating in 1950. The standard gauge portion operated until 2012, having several owners over the years.

During the course of its operation it had acquired 15 narrow gauge steam locomotives, and 6 standard gauge steam locomotives. Toward the end of narrow gauge operations, it had only three narrow gauge locomotives, one of these, 4-6-0 Number 12, currently operates on the Tweetsie Railroad.

Remnants:

The line between Johnson City and Elizabethton had been converted to the Tweetsie Trail, and can be walked today.

The Tweetsie Railroad started operation in 1957 with steam engine 12. The park was started by Grover Robbins, an entrepreneur from Blowing Rock NC., who had acquired the engine 12 and moved back to North Carolina. The park is still owned by the Robbins family.

The theme of the park is Wild West, featuring various attractions like a western town, saloon, train robberies, cowboy and Indian show.

The common denominator between both of these railroads is engine 12

It was built in 1917 by Baldwin Locomotive Works, for the ET&WNC, and is a 4-6-0 type of locomotive.

It hauled freight and passenger trains over the 66 miles of the ET&WNC from 1918 to 1940.

It was sold in 1952 to a group of railroad enthusiasts. They moved the engine to Penn Laird, Virginia, for operating on the Shenandoah Central Railroad. Due to weather issues the railroad had to cease, and engine 12 was once again up for sale. Cowboy actor Gene Autry had secured an option to purchase the locomotive with the intent to move it to California for movie work. In 1955 Grover Robbins purchased Autry’s option, and moved the locomotive to the current Tweetsie Railroad site.

In addition to engine 12, the park acquired White Pass & Yukon #190 in 1960. It is a Baldwin Locomotives Works 2-8-2 steam engine. It was built in 1943 for the US Army.

Admission to the park, as of 2025, is $65.00 per adult, $45.00 children 3 to 12 in age.

Special occasion dates prices may vary.
The park regular operations are from August through October.