Wilmington, Chadbourn and Conway Railroad

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Wilmington, Chadbourn and Conway Railroad
Wilmington, Chadbourn and Conway Railroad
Original route (click to enlarge)
Overview
Successor Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
Technical
Track gauge 5 ft (1,524 mm)

The Wilmington, Chadbourn and Conway Railroad was a Southeastern railroad that operated between Chadbourn, North Carolina and Conway, South Carolina near the end of the 19th century.

Contents

History

The Chadbourn Lumber Company of Chadbourn, North Carolina, built the line to haul timber. [1] It connected with the Wilmington and Manchester Railroad in Chadbourne.

The line crossed the North Carolina line at Tabor City, North Carolina. It continued south through Loris, South Carolina into Conway, South Carolina to its terminus at the Waccamaw River. [1]

Conway depot (built in 1928 by the Atlantic Coast Line) Railway station 0767.JPG
Conway depot (built in 1928 by the Atlantic Coast Line)

The line was sold at foreclosure in 1895 and renamed the Wilmington and Conway Railroad. [2] The following year, the Wilmington and Conway was sold to the Wilmington, Columbia and Augusta Railroad (the successor of the Wilmington and Manchester Railroad). [2]

In 1898, the line came under the ownership of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. In 1912, the Atlantic Coast Line bought the Conway Seashore Railroad, which extended from Conway to Myrtle Beach. The lines were incorporated into the Atlantic Coast Line's Myrtle Beach Branch. [3]

The Atlantic Coast Line became the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad in 1967 after merging with their former rival, the Seaboard Air Line Railroad. In 1980, the Seaboard Coast Line's parent company merged with the Chessie System, creating the CSX Corporation. The CSX Corporation initially operated the Chessie and Seaboard Systems separately until 1986, when they were merged into CSX Transportation.

Current operation

Today, the line is still in service and it is operated by the R.J. Corman Railroad Group [4]

Related Research Articles

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The Waccamaw Coast Line Railroad was a 14.1-mile (22.7 km) short-line railroad division of the Baltimore and Annapolis Railroad, extending from a connection with the Carolina Southern Railroad, another division of that company, at Conway to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The line was opened in 1900 by the Conway Coast and Western Railroad, a predecessor of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. The Seaboard System Railroad sold the line to Horry County in November 1984, and it was operated by the Horry County Railway until October 1987, when the WCLR took over. The Carolina Southern Railroad acquired the WCLR in September 1995, and operated until both its lines and WCLR's line ceased operations. In 2015, RJ Corman took control of the Carolina Southern and all of its trackage and rehabilitated it as the R.J. Corman Carolina Lines.

The Northeastern Railroad was a 103-mile (166 km) 5 ft gauge railroad that served South Carolina in the second half of the 19th century.

The Wilmington and Manchester Railroad was a railroad that served South Carolina and North Carolina before, during and after the American Civil War. It received its charter in 1846 and began operation in 1853 from Wilmington, North Carolina, extending west to the now-defunct town of Manchester, South Carolina. The track gauge was 5 ft.

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The Central Railroad of South Carolina was a South Carolina railroad that operated following Reconstruction. It ran between the town of Lane and Sumter, a distance of about 40 miles (64 km). The line is in service today as CSX's Lane Subdivision.

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The Southeastern Railroad was a railroad line in southern North Carolina that ran between Elrod and Chadbourn.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolina Central Railroad</span> Defunct railroad in North Carolina

The Carolina Central Railroad, was a railway company in the United States. It was incorporated in 1855 as the Wilmington and Charlotte Railroad and was renamed the Wilmington, Charlotte and Rutherford Railroad shortly after. It was reorganized as the Carolina Central Railway in 1873. It built 152 miles (245 km) of track, in two unconnected sections, in the southern part of North Carolina. The company was again reorganized as the Carolina Central Railroad in 1880. In 1900, the Carolina Central Railroad was merged into the Seaboard Air Line Railroad. Its lines are now owned by CSX Transportation.

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The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's Wilmington—Pee Dee Line was a railroad line running from Wilmington, North Carolina west to Pee Dee, South Carolina. Running in an east–west trajectory, it notably passed through Lake Waccamaw, Chadbourn, Nichols, and Mullins. Some of the line is still operating today.

The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's Myrtle Beach Branch was a railroad line that at its greatest extent ran from company's main line in Elrod, North Carolina south to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The Atlantic Coast Line used the branch for freight and transport passengers to Myrtle Beach, which was becoming a popular tourist destination.

References

  1. 1 2 A Historical and Architectural Survey of Conway, page 28
  2. 1 2 Wikipedia, WikiProject Trains, ICC valuations, Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
  3. Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Northern Division Timetable (1949)
  4. "Carolina Lines". R.J. Corman Railroad Group. Retrieved 17 November 2020.