The first shipment over the Jasper Branch Railroad was on March 12, 1867 by Owen Russell Beene and consisted of nine bales of cotton. In 1868, Major William Jasper organized the Sequatchie Valley Railroad Company, which would extend the railroad from Jasper to Pikeville, Tennessee. This company managed to extend the line as far as Victoria when the Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway purchased the company on January 27, 1877. The railroad into the Sequatchie Valley was vital to future development of coal mines and coke works in the area. It was also vital in the establishment of the city of South Pittsburg, Tennessee, which was where most of the local iron trade was established. The railroad was later extended to Whitwell in 1887 and to Dunlap in 1888. The last extension was in 1891 to Pikeville, Tennessee a distance of sixty miles from Bridgeport. Before the extension of the railroad, a turntable was used at Jasper to turn the steam locomotive for its trip back down the branch to Bridgeport. Several depots were built along the line at the different communities. These include Deptford (Richard City), South Pittsburg, Kimball, Jasper, Victoria, Sequatchie, Whitwell, Dunlap, College Station, Lee's and Pikeville. Some of these communities and smaller communities along the line had waiting sheds for passengers instead of the costly depots. Once completed to Pikeville the road became known as the Pikeville Branch Railroad.

The Sequatchie Valley Railroad - Dennis Lambert