Southern - Rader's Side Track Depot

Rader's Side Track, as it is known in Greene County, was an important early railroad siding that may have faded into obscurity if not for the diligence of Harry B. Roberts, a Greene County Historian.  The Side Track, or Rader's Switch, came into existence in the 1870s because of a steep grade between Little Chuckey Valley (Mosheim) and Greeneville that could not be surmounted with a full train load.  A side track was necessary so that trains could pull into the siding, disconnect cars, carry the remaining cars up the hill to Greeneville, then return for the rest of the cars.

It is common practice for trains to pull into sidings.  Gary Emmert, a 43-year railroad veteran explains the process in A Day in the Life: The Railroad.

Rader Depot, built in 1908, was influenced by the Richardsonian Romanesque style with hipped roof and raking eaves.  This depot was so busy, that ten men were employed by the railroad to handle operations.  The building   The telegraph was added to the depot in 1908. There were three telegraph operators, and seven men to operate the coal chutes, sand house, and water tanks.  They worked 12 hour days for $1.10. Telegraph operators were Jesse Payne, Lena Byington, Bill McFarland, Bill Hartman and June Harmon.

The station agent could flag any of the six daily trains for passengers or freight.  In the early 1930s, trains could no longer be flagged.  The depot closed in 1935, but the tracks remained.

Two sets of rails still run through this area of Greene County, alongside Rader's Union Church, built in 1914, but the depot is long gone.