Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway

Last updated
Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway
Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway
Original route of the Main Line (red) and the Bennettsville Branch (dark red). Click to enlarge.
Overview
Predecessor Western Railroad
Mount Airy Railroad
Successor Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
Southern Railway
Atlantic and Yadkin Railway
Technical
Track gauge 4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

The Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway was a Southeastern railroad that operated in the Carolinas immediately after Reconstruction. It ran from Mount Airy, North Carolina, southeast through Greensboro and Fayetteville to the Atlantic port of Wilmington, North Carolina. A significant branch also ran from Fayetteville south to Bennettsville, South Carolina.

Contents

History

Share of Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway from 3 August 1880 Cape Fear & Yadkin Valley Railway 1880.jpg
Share of Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway from 3 August 1880

The Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway was created in 1879 with the consolidation of the Western Railroad and the Mount Airy Railroad. [1]

By 1899, the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway was debt-ridden and bankrupt and was sold to the Southern Railway, where it was reorganized as a new company under the name Atlantic and Yadkin Railway, which remained a wholly owned subsidiary of the Southern Railway.

The newly created Atlantic and Yadkin then sold back the southern half of the line from Sanford, North Carolina, to Wilmington to the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, which was later reorganized as the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) in 1899. The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad operated their segment of the line as their Sanford Branch (E Branch west of Fayetteville and F Branch east of there). The Atlantic Coast Line also took over the Bennettsville Branch. Though, since the northern part of the Bennettsville Branch paralleled the ACL's main line, they abandoned the branch between Fayetteville and Parkton and connected the remaining branch to the main line at Parkton. [2] The Atlantic Coast Line incorporated the remaining Bennettsville Branch into their Parkton—Sumter Line.

The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad became the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad in 1967, and their segment of the line from Manchester to Wilington became their Fayetteville Subdivision. [3] The Seaboard Coast Line became CSX Transportation in the 1980s.

The Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway Passenger Depot at Fayetteville, North Carolina, and the Rural Hall Depot at Rural Hall, North Carolina, were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. [4]

Current conditions

Today, parts of the original Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway are still in service. From Mount Airy to Rural Hall, the line is now operated by the Yadkin Valley Railroad, a shortline that also operates the former Southern Railway line from Rural Hall to North Wilkesboro. [5]

The line is largely abandoned from Rural Hall to just northwest of Greensboro. The Atlantic and Yadkin Greenway now runs on the former right of way northwest of Greensboro. [6]

From Greensboro to Gulf, the line is still operated by Norfolk Southern Railway.

The segment from Cumnock to Sanford is now operated by the Atlantic and Western Railway. [7]

CSX still operates the line from Spring Lake to just southeast of Fayetteville as well as a short discontinuous segment near Wilmington.

The Bennettsville Branch is still in service from Parkton to Red Springs and is now operated by the Red Springs & Northern Railroad. The line was abandoned between Red Springs and McColl in 1973. [8]

Stations

Original Fayetteville depot. It is now the Fayetteville Area Transportation Museum. FATM.jpg
Original Fayetteville depot. It is now the Fayetteville Area Transportation Museum.
Rural Hall Depot. RuralHallDepot1.JPG
Rural Hall Depot.
Main Line
Miles from
Wilmington
System
Milepost [lower-alpha 1]
City/LocationStation [9] Connections and notes
0.0AC 244.5 Wilmington Wilmingtonlocated on Wilmington and Manchester Railroad
2.1AC 246.6
AF 290.7
Yadkin Junctionjunction with Wilmington and Manchester Railroad (ACL)
9.1AF 283.7Richards
15.9AF 276.9 Montague
18.7AF 274.1 Currie
25.0AF 267.8 Atkinson Atkinson
32.1AF 260.7 Ivanhoe
36.5AF 256.3Kerr
41.1AF 251.7Tomahawk
47.4AF 245.4 Garland Garland
52.0AF 240.9Parkersburg
56.6AF 236.3Mintz
60.9AF 232.0 Roseboro Roseboro
65.9AF 227.0Hayne
69.1AF 223.8 Autryville Autryville
72.3AF 220.7 Stedman Stedman
76.6AF 215.0 Vander
81.3AF 209.2
AE 209.2
Fayetteville Fayetteville junction with:
81.7AE 209.1Norfolk Southern Junctionjunction with Raleigh and Southport Railroad (NS)
88.7AE 204.3Shaw
91.8AE 201.5Fort Junction
95.2AE 197.7Manchester
97.7AE 195.2 Overhills
101.7AE 97.7 Spout Springs
109.0AE 90.4Rock Branchlater renamed Olivia
110.4AE 89.0Swann
116.3AE 83.1Jonesboro
118.5AE 80.9
CF 130.1
Sanford Sanfordjunction with:
124.9CF 123.6 Cumnock originally known as Egypt
127.9 Gulf junction with Raleigh, Charlotte and Southern Railway (NS)
131.3CF 117.2 Goldston Goldston
134.5 Bear Creek
137.7 Bonlee junction with Bonlee and Western Railway
139.3 Mount Vernon Springs
143.8 Siler City
151.3CF 97.2 Staley Staley
155.8 Liberty Liberty
132.9 Julian
165.5 Climax
171.2 Pleasant Garden Pleasant Garden
174.8Vandalia
179.1CF 69.4 Greensboro Greensborojunction with North Carolina Railroad (SOU)
185.3Battle Ground
191.0 Summerfield Summerfield
194.0Guil Quarry
197.2CF 51.3 Stokesdale Stokesdale
202.4 Belews Creek
205.3Mitchell
208.4Walnut Grovejunction with Norfolk and Western Railway
214.0 Germanton
218.6CF 29.8 Rural Hall Rural Hall junction with Southern Railway
223.5 King King
226.6 Dalton
228.5 Pinnacle
234.1CF 14.4 Pilot Mountain Pilot Mountain
236.8Dodson's Bridge Crossing
240.1 Ararat
245.5McKenney's Cut
248.5CF 0.0 Mount Airy Mount Airy
Bennettsville Branch
StateMiles from
Fayetteville
System
Milepost
City/LocationStation [9] Connections and notes
NC 0.0 Fayetteville Fayettevillejunction with:
6.7 Hope Mills Hope Millsjunction with Fayetteville Cutoff (ACL)
13.1 Parkton Parktonjunction with Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Main Line
(via connection track built in 1899 after the line north was abandoned)
14.8AG 224.9McNatt's
17.5AG 227.6 Lumber Bridge Lumber Bridge
22.1AG 232.2 Shannon
25.4AG 235.5 Red Springs Red Springs
30.0AG 240.1 Wakulla Wakulla
34.0AG 244.1Floral College
37.0AG 247.1 Maxton Maxtonjunction with Carolina Central Railroad (SAL)
39.0AG 249.1Patterson
41.1AG 251.2Stuart
43.1AG 253.2John'sjunction with Laurinburg and Southern Railroad
45.2AG 255.3Hasty
SC 49.4AG 259.5 McColl McColljunction with North and South Carolina Railway (SAL)
52.1AG 262.2 Tatum Tatum
58.1AG 268.2 Bennettsville Bennettsvillecontinues as Charleston, Sumter and Northern Railroad (ACL)
junction with Bennettsville and Cheraw Railroad

Notes

  1. Milepost numbers are in accordance with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (now CSX) and Southern Railway (now Norfolk Southern) networks.

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References

  1. The Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway: its Origin, Construction, and Extensions, 1889, page 10
  2. "Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway". North Carolina Railroads. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  3. Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Florence Division Timetable (1971)
  4. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  5. "The Yadkin Valley Railroad" . Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  6. "Atlantic & Yadkin Greenway". Greensboro, North Carolina. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  7. "Atlantic and Western Railway (ATW)" . Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  8. "RS&N - Who We Are and What We Do". Red Springs & Northern Railroad. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  9. 1 2 "South Carolina Railroads: Passenger Stations & Stops" (PDF). Jim Fergusson's Railway and Tramway Station Lists (North Carolina). Retrieved 5 June 2020.