The Tennessee and Pacific Railroad was chartered in 1866 to build a line between Knoxville and Nashville with what was perceived as lucrative railroad connections to the west coast (thus the "and Pacific" in the railroad's name). The first (and only) 29 miles were built between Lebanon and Nashville in 1869.
The railroad was sold to the Nashville, Chattanooga and Saint Louis Railway in 1870, under the Tennessee Central Railroad, who abandoned the railroad in 1936.