Cliffside Railroad was a Class III railroad operating freight service in southwestern North Carolina from 1905 until service ended in 1987. The line was formally abandoned in 1992.
Overview | |
---|---|
Headquarters | Cliffside, North Carolina |
Reporting mark | CRR |
Locale | North Carolina |
Dates of operation | 1905–1992 |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
Length | 3.7 miles (6.0 km) |
The Cliffside Railroad Company was incorporated on March 2, 1905, and the 3.7-mile railroad line was opened between Cliffside, North Carolina to Cliffside Junction that same year. [1]
In 1984, the railroad acquired the Seaboard System Railroad branch line between Ellenboro, North Carolina and Cliffside Junction, increasing the railroad's total mileage to 8.14. [1]
By the 1980s, the railroad's traffic mix included textile products, waste, and scrap, and the railroad was owned by the Cone Mills Corporation and others. [1]
Late in 1987, the railroad's service was suspended. The line was formally abandoned in January 1992. [2]
Two of the railroad's steam locomotives, both of which representing the last steam engines to operate on the railroad before it dieselized in 1962, have been preserved:
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