Museum

Little River Railroad Museum

The Little River Railroad and Lumber Company is a non-profit corporation founded in 1982 to preserve the heritage of the the Little River Lumber Company and the Little River Railroad. We operate a museum in Townsend, Tennessee, collecting, preserving and exhibiting the history of these companies, and of the people in this region.
In 1983 the original Walland Depot building was moved to the site, and now contains the primary collection of photographs, papers, tools and other smaller artifacts. This building was renovated in 1995-96, and new exhibits were created to tell the Little River story. Alongside the depot platform, museum volunteers have constructed a replica of the Elkmont Post Office which houses our Gift Shop.
The larger artifacts, including Shay 2147, a vintage caboose (L&N Class NE “Little Woody”), two vintage flatcars, a portable Frick steam engine, one of the original “setoff” houses (used for logging families in the mountains), a wooden water tank that was used in Walland and a log loader are displayed on the grounds. Our plans include construction of a replica of a passenger platform.