From another group I belong to: As posted a few days ago, the Carolina Coastal Railroad (CLNA) will be leasing approximately 150 miles of Norfolk Southern trackage on the East Carolina Business Unit. After almost two years of negotiations, CLNA and NS have agreed to terms of the lease and it should be finalized by the middle of next month. The trackage being leased extends between Raleigh and Plymouth, NC on the "NS" main thru Knightsdale, Middlesex, Bailey, Wilson, Greenville, Chocowinity, Pinetown and on North into Plymouth. After renewing their lease with the North Carolina Railroad a couple of years ago, NS opted to begin running their daily Raleigh-Chocowinity thru freights (349/350) over the North Carolina Railroad to Chocowinity via Selma, Goldsboro, Moorehead City and on North to Chocowinity. Further decline in business on the line itself has also led to this lease. The CLNA, owned by Main Line Rail Management (MLRM) out of Langhorne, Pa, already operates 17 miles of trackage between Pinetown and Belhaven, NC, which will connect with the line it is now going to lease. They also operate approximately seven miles of track between the Winston-Salem Southbound connection in Whitney to an Alcoa plant in Badin, NC. Both railroads that they operate now were once formally owned and operated by NS. With this new lease, they will now have a third former NS operation. CLNA was created in 1989 as part of the “Thoroughbred Shortline Program†and was a subsidiary of Rail Link, Inc., which became a subsidiary of GWI, Inc. in 1995. CLNA was bought by MLRM in 2003 and has seen tremendous success ever since. The Pinetown - Belhaven line has seen a 175% increase in annual carloads per year since being taken over by MLRM. CLNA expanded last year after taking over operations of the line between Whitney and Badin to the Alcoa plant. At the time of that takeover, Alcoa was planning on venturing away from shipments by rail due to poor rail service. Since CLNA has taken over, Alcoa is not only reconsidering keeping it's rail shipments, but possibly increasing rail shipments. The same results that CLNA has seen on their two operations are expected when they take over the Raleigh- Plymouth line. Upon takeover, the railroad will be headquatered out of Wilson. There is a Pullman passenger coach in Aberdeen that will be moved to Wilson to be used as the railroad's office. As of now, there is no concrete information as to how many crews the railroad will have or what their schedules might be. The primary interchange point between the CLNA and NS will be at Chocowinity. CSX will continue to have trackage rights over this line to access the "W" line to Aurora/Lee Creek. The state of North Carolina has already granted funds to the CLNA for track maintainence of this line. The first primary track project that the railroad will see is the conversion of the Washington swing drawbridge from manual to remote operation. Track work between Wilson and Raleigh comes in at a close 2nd on that list. Locomotives on the CLNA roster stand at a whopping 3 right now. They have a GP9 in Pinetown which they use for the Belhaven line. That unit came with the purchase of the railroad in 2003 and is still in Rail Link paint. About 10 months ago, they purchased another unit from the Yadkin Valley Railroad in Rural Hall (8311). This unit is still in Rural Hall and will be moved to the CLNA soon. They purchased the ACWR 1721 from Aberdeen Carolina & Western last year when they began operations of the line to the Alcoa plant in Badin. That unit is still in ACWR paint and rests in Badin at the Alcoa plant when not being used. CLNA is in hot pursuit of more power which will be needed for the new railroad operation.
Maybe I could go over to Wilson and get a job sweeping out the passenger car office or something nebulous like that. Sweep a little - railfan a little, etc.
I agree with Harold on that. I live in Wilson, but often go to rocky Mount to railfan. Do you have any guesses about where they'll park this Pullman "office" Harold?
I do not have an "educated" guess on where this will happen... I am glad that the line has not been "abandoned". Harold
Harold, I sure hope we'll see increased traffic. That line runs about 1/2 mile from my house. Normally don't see but about 2-3 trains a day. Thanks for the info. Duane
