Chester and Lenoir Narrow Gauge Railroad

In 1873, the Chester and Lenoir acquired the route of the Kings Mountain Railroad, which had been started before the American Civil War but was destroyed by the Union Army and not rebuilt afterward.

The line lay abandoned for several years until it was acquired by the Chester and Lenoir.

At over 120 miles (190 km), the Chester and Lenoir was the largest narrow-gauge railroad in the Carolinas.

When the Richmond and Danville were re-organized as the Southern Railway In 1894, the Chester and Lenoir operated on its own for a short while.

By 1896, it went into receivership, and the following year was re-organized as the Carolina & North-Western Railway.