Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway

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.

Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway
Original route of the Main Line (red) and the Bennettsville Branch (dark red). Click to enlarge.
Overview
PredecessorWestern Railroad
Mount Airy Railroad
SuccessorAtlantic Coast Line Railroad
Southern Railway
Atlantic and Yadkin Railway
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

History

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

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. "South Carolina Railroads: Passenger Stations & Stops" (PDF). Jim Fergusson's Railway and Tramway Station Lists (North Carolina). Retrieved 5 June 2020.
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