Large culvert is in place where rail bed joined the current Wilcox Road
photo by John Wilson
Inside the Wilcox Road culvert
photo by John Wilson
East side of the Wilcox Road culvert
photo by John Wilson
Level approach to the tunnel just north of where Wilcox Road comes off of Highway 41
photo by John Wilson
Cliff McNabb lives across from the Wilcox Road culvert
photo by John Wilson
Side view of the Raccoon Mountain Tunnel
photo by John Wilson
Tunnel approach is overgrown
photo by John Wilson
Closer to the tunnel
photo by John Wilson
Looking into the Raccoon Mountain Tunnel
photo by John Wilson
Granny McNabb has fireworks emporium on top of Stevenson Extension Tunnel
photo by Wes Schultz
Well over a century later, there are still many signs along Highway 41 by the Tennessee River of "the Stevenson Extension." But they can only be discovered by careful exploration.
This was part of a 42-mile alternate route by Southern Railway between Chattanooga and Stevenson, Ala. The work went on in earnest from 1905 until it abruptly halted in October 1907.
A section of Wilcox Road, just off Highway 41 on the climb up Cummings Gap, is the old rail bed. A large culvert was built by the railroad under Wilcox Road across the creek that cut the ravine that heads toward Lookout Valley.
At the north end of Wilcox Road, the line went straight north toward the one tunnel on the entire route. This was the 1,100-foot Raccoon Mountain Tunnel, which can still be seen today.
It is just to the right of Highway 41 near the top of the climb up Cummings Gap. A tractor-trailer often parks on the side of Highway 41 just above the entrance to the tunnel.
Granny's Fire Works at the peak of Cummings Gap is along a line on top of the tunnel.
The end of the tunnel past Granny's was filled in earlier so it is no longer visible.