Cowan Railroad Museum

Cowan Railroad Museum, Cowan, Tn

After scouting Iron Gap Road, we stopped for brief tour of the outdoor exhibits at the Cowan Rail road museum. It was near dark and the museum was closed, but it was still fun to get out and walk around the old trains and climb on the steam engine.

Cowan is the place where the railroad begins it climb over Mont Eagle mountain. Even with a tunnel through part of the mountain, it is so steep that they have to add extra engines to make the climb. Cowan is where they store the pushes and hook them up for the climb to the top of the rock.

The museum is located right on the main road in downtown Cowan, right beside the rail road tracks. No trains came by while we were there however.

At one time it was possible to take a Jeep to the tunnel entrance. But, since it is on CSX property, I doubt that you can safely make the run anymore.

Across the street, there is a Texaco station with a couple of antique cars visible inside. The museum is open May through October, so we will have to return when it is open and check out the inside.