Catawba County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 160,610. Its county seat is Newton, and its largest community is Hickory.
Caldwell County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. As of the 2020 census, the population was 80,652. Its county seat is Lenoir. Caldwell County is part of the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The Virginia Southern Railroad is a shortline railroad division of the North Carolina and Virginia Railroad, a subsidiary of the Genesee & Wyoming, with rights to operate 78 miles (126 km) of track between Norfolk Southern Railway connections at Oxford, North Carolina and Burkeville, Virginia. The southernmost segment between Clarksville, Virginia and Oxford is out of service.
The Chesapeake and Albemarle Railroad is a short-line railroad that operates 68 miles (109 km) of track from Chesapeake, Virginia to Edenton, North Carolina.
Carolina Coastal Railway is a shortline railroad that operates several lines in North Carolina and one line in South Carolina. According to its current website, the railroad spans 179 track miles and operates sixteen locomotives.
The Central Railroad of Indianapolis is a Class III short-line railroad that operates approximately 60 miles (97 km) miles of track in north central Indiana, connecting Marion, Indiana with Hartford City, Amboy, and Kokomo, Indiana. CERA interchanges with Norfolk Southern in Marion, and with U.S. Rail Corporation's Winamac Southern Rail System in Kokomo.
Pickens Railway is a shortline railroad that has operated on two separate divisions in the Upstate Region of South Carolina:
Collettsville is an unincorporated community in Caldwell County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The Yadkin Valley Railroad is the trade name of the Piedmont and Atlantic Railroad and is a shortline railroad operating two lines leased from the Norfolk Southern Railway originating out of Rural Hall, North Carolina for a distance of 93 miles (150 km). The railroad began operation in 1989 and is currently a subsidiary of Gulf and Ohio Railways.
The Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of four counties, Catawba, Burke, Caldwell, Alexander. It is located in the Catawba Valley region of western North Carolina. Local residents often refer to the area as The Unifour, although this name is largely unknown outside of the region.
The Pine Belt Southern Railroad was a shortline railroad formerly operating on two disconnected track segments in east central Alabama. Upon its start in 1995 the railroad ran over a branch from Nuckols to Hurtsboro, Alabama. In 1996 a second branch was acquired, extending from Roanoke, Jct., near Opelika, to Lafayette, Alabama. Together the lines totaled 42.4 miles (68.2 km) and the railroad was controlled by Richard Abernathy.
The Alexander Railroad Company is a Class III shortline railroad operating in North Carolina. The railroad has 18 miles of track that runs northwest from Statesville to Taylorsville, North Carolina.
The Mobile & Girard Railroad was an Alabama railroad which was constructed in the mid-19th century; a portion of the line continues in operation under different ownership. The 26-mile (42 km) line was constructed with a track gauge of 5 ft.
The Thoroughbred Shortline Program was a system of shortline creation devised by Norfolk Southern in the late 1980s. It involved an alternative to the typical practice of a Class I railroad selling rail lines outright to shortlines in the post-Staggers Act era. Defining features of the program included leasing lines to shortline operators, as opposed to outright sales, keeping stations available in Norfolk Southern marketing campaigns, and crediting carloads delivered to Norfolk Southern towards the lease and eventual purchase of the line. The program ran from 1988 to 1991, creating more than a dozen new shortline railroads, nearly all of which are still in operation today.
The Carolina & Northwestern Railway (Ca&NW) was a railroad that served South Carolina and North Carolina from 1897 until January 1, 1974. The original line was operated by the Ca&NW as a separate railroad controlled by the Southern Railway until 1974 when the name was changed to the Norfolk Southern Railway. On June 1, 1982, Southern Railway and Norfolk and Western Railroad merged to form Norfolk Southern Railway. Choosing to use the name 'Norfolk Southern Railway' for the merger, in 1981, the original Ca&NW line along with original Norfolk Southern Railway was renamed Carolina and Northwestern once again. In the early 1950s several shortline subsidiaries of the Southern Railway were leased to the Ca&NW for operation, with these lines remaining a part of the Ca&NW into the 1980s.
The Kings Mountain Railroad was a 5 ft gauge shortline railroad that served South Carolina before, during and after the American Civil War.
The Thermal Belt Railway is a Class III shortline railroad that operates for freight service on an irregular schedule on a former CSX line from Bostic to Forest City and on a former Norfolk Southern line from Forest City to Alexander Mills, North Carolina. Total mileage is 8.5 miles (13.7 km). Connections are made with CSX at Bostic. Rail is 85 pounds.
Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad Company was incorporated under act of the North Carolina Legislature, ratified December 27, 1852, and was organized on January 20, 1854.
Camp Lejeune Railroad,, is a shortline railroad that was wholly owned by the Department of the Navy. The railroad operates over 25 miles of track that is owned by the U.S. Government with a trackage agreement to Norfolk Southern Railway for operations. A small 5.5 mile stretch between MCB Camp Lejeune and downtown City of Jacksonville, NC was abandoned in 1999 and turned over as part of Rails to Trails initiative. However the remaining Camp Lejeune Railroad from MCB Camp Lejeune to Havelock NC, 25 miles in total, is still active and owned by the US Navy.
