Railroads of North Carolina

Alan Coleman

• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Year: 2008
• Print ISBN:
  9780738553368
• eBook ISBN:
  9781439635445
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

Since the opening of the first permanent railway in 1833, hundreds of railroad companies have operated in North Carolina. Rail transportation, faster and more efficient than other methods of the era, opened new markets for the products of North Carolina's farms, factories, and mines. Over the years, North Carolina rail companies have ranged in size from well-engineered giants like the Southern Railway to temporary logging railroads like the Hemlock. Cross ties and rails were laid across almost every conceivable terrain: tidal marshes, sand hills, rolling piedmont, and mountain grades. Vulnerable to the turbulent and unregulated economies of the day, few railroad companies escaped reorganizations and receiverships during their corporate lives, often leaving tangled and contradictory histories in their passing.

One

THE COMMON CARRIER RAILROAD

This chapter will offer a glimpse of some of the common carrier railroads of North Carolina that have been listed in the official guides and railroad investment manuals over the past 174 years. An appendix lists additional railroads, albeit without photographs.

For those readers wondering what separates a “common carrier” railroad from one that isn’t, common carrier railroads are those chartered to transport the public and/or goods for a fee; non–common carrier rail operations, such as quarry and logging roads, were closed to the general public.

A few words about this chapter: the parenthetical dates in each entry reflect the actual operating years of a company in North Carolina. In most cases only towns outside of North Carolina are identified by state.

Be wary of names when trying to identify a railroad. “Roanoke,” in all but a few cases, refers to the river of that name in eastern North Carolina, rather than the city in Virginia. The Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad went to Weldon rather than Raleigh when it opened in 1840. Although the company finally got around to changing its name to the “Wilmington and Weldon Railroad” in 1855, more than a few writers since then have backdated the name change by neglecting to mention the original company name.

ABERDEEN AND ASHEBORO RAILROAD (1907–1912). The successor of the Aberdeen and Asheboro Railway, this company became part of the Norfolk Southern Railway’s Raleigh, Charlotte, and Southern Railway in February 1912. (ALCO Historic Photos.)

ABERDEEN AND BRIAR PATCH RAILROAD (1984–1987). Formed to take advantage of Norfolk Southern Corporation’s divestment of some branchline operations, the Aberdeen and Briar Patch operated the 34.6-mile, ex–Norfolk Southern Railway line from Aberdeen to Star. The company was acquired by the Aberdeen, Carolina, and Western in June 1987. (Mac Connery.)

ABERDEEN AND ROCKFISH RAILROAD (1892–PRESENT). Established in June 1892 and still owned by the founding Blue family, the Aberdeen and Rockfish is the oldest family-owned railroad company in the state. The Aberdeen and Rockfish’s current North Carolina operation consists of 46.9 miles of track from Aberdeen to Fayetteville. (Mac Connery collection.)

ABERDEEN AND WEST END RAILROAD (1889–1897). The Aberdeen and West End’s standard-gauge line ran 25.33 miles from Aberdeen to Candor by 1893. The Aberdeen and West End merged with Asheboro and Montgomery to become the Aberdeen and Asheboro Railway on February 20, 1897. (S. David Carriker collection.)

ABERDEEN, CAROLINA, AND WESTERN RAILWAY (1987–PRESENT). Two years after its purchase of the Aberdeen and Briar Patch Railroad, the Aberdeen, Carolina, and Western leased the former Norfolk Southern Railway Charlotte-to-Star line from the Norfolk Southern Corporation. The company currently operates 160 miles of track. (Bruce M. Hollar/Laura Holzbaur.)

ALARKA VALLEY RAILWAY (1917–1923). The Alarka Valley was a 3-foot-gauge logging road that ran from Bryson City into its namesake...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• INTRODUCTION
• One - THE COMMON CARRIER RAILROAD
• Two - RAILROAD HOLDING COMPANIES
• Three - COOPERATIVE VENTURES
• APPENDIX