Early railroad engineers saw Natural Tunnel as a logical path through the mountains to the growing rail systems of the Midwest. The South Atlantic and Ohio Railroad began laying tracks through Natural Tunnel in 1882, connecting Bristol, Tennessee, with the coalfields of southwestern Virginia. The route became known as the “Natural Tunnel Route” when the Virginia and Southwestern Railroad took over the line in 1899. Trains carried passengers between Bristol, Tennessee, and Louisville, Kentucky, and because of the tunnel’s uniqueness, most trains stopped and allowed passengers to visit it. A pavilion was constructed to accommodate train passengers and other visitors, and over the years it hosted everything from picnics and weddings to gambling. In 1905, President Roosevelt rode this route while researching the Wilderness Road for his book, The Winning of the West. Passenger train service ceased in the late 1940s. Today the line is owned by Norfolk and Southern and carries an average of ten trains a day, shipping coal from the mines of southwestern Virginia and eastern Kentucky to power plants and ports across the southeastern United States.