This photograph, from the James T. Dowdy collection of photographs, depicts engine no.5 of the ET&WNC Railroad.
The ET&WNC, acronym for East Tennessee & Western North Carolina, carried coal, logs, lumber products, people, and other items from Western North Carolina sites to Johnson City, one of the area's nearest commercial and industrial centers. The men in the photograph appear to be railroad workers. To the left of the photograph, behind the engine, you can see the lumber that the train will soon be carrying.