East Carolina Line

The East Carolina Line from Hamlet to Charleston was built by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad's predecessor companies. The first segment to be built was from Hamlet to Gibson, North Carolina which was built in 1884 by the Raleigh and Augusta Air Line Railroad.[1][2] The Raleigh and Augusta Air Line Railroad became part of the Seaboard Air Line Railway (later known as the Seaboard Air Line Railroad) in 1901.

The line from Gibson south to Poston was built by the North and South Carolina Railway, who also took over operations on the Seaboard Air Line's track from Hamlet to Gibson. The North and South Carolina Railway's track from Gibson to Dillon, South Carolina was complete in 1909, and it was extended south to Mullins in 1910 and to the Pee Dee River near Poston in 1911.[3] Also in 1911, the Georgetown and Western Railroad built track from Andrews, South Carolina north to Poston and to the Pee Dee River to connect with the North and South Carolina Railway with bridge over the river being jointly owned by both companies.[4]

In 1914, the North and South Carolina Railway, the Georgetown and Western Railroad, and other nearly railroads were merged into the Carolina, Atlantic and Western Railway. In 1915, the Carolina, Atlantic and Western Railway extended the line from Andrews south to Charleston. By the end of 1915, the Seaboard Air Line acquired the Carolina, Atlantic and Western Railway.[5] The Seaboard Air Line would designate the line as the Andrews Subdivision from Hamlet to Andrews, and the Charleston Subdivision south of Andrews to Charleston.[6]

In the early 1900s, the Seaboard Air Line was looking to improve the efficiency of their network, particularly moving freight. Extending the Charleston Subdivision south to Savannah was quickly seen as an effective way to provide an additional freight route. At this point, the Seaboard had a short spur from Savannah to Hutchinson Island that had been in place since 1899 to serve businesses there. Plans were made for this spur to be used to connect the extension into Savannah. In preparation for the extension, the spur's swing bridge over the Savannah River was rebuilt as a bascule bridge for heavy freight use.[7]

Construction to extend the line from Charleston to Savannah began in 1915. A construction crew began at Charleston and headed south while a second construction crew began at Hutchinson Island and headed north. The extension was completed in 1917 and it began service on December 31 of that year.[7]

With a connection to the Seaboard Air Line's main line at both ends, the East Carolina Line became the company's primary freight route between Hamlet and Savannah. Since it was closer to the coast, the East Carolina Line was flatter and straighter making it better suited for freight than the main line, which existed further west through Columbia (which was then primarily used for passenger service). The East Carolina Line was busy enough in the 1940s to warrant the installation of Centralized traffic control signals in 1949. Further improvements to the line included the replacement of the bascule bridge over the Savannah River with a lift bridge in 1952.[7] While it was primarily a freight route, the Seaboard Air Line did run local passenger service on the East Carolina Line until 1956.[8] By 1957, at least three freight trains were running East Carolina Line round-trip from Hamlet to Savannah daily.[6]

The East Carolina Line also had the added benefit of having a more direct route between Charleston and Savannah than the Seaboard Air Line's competitor, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, whose main line between the two cities was located a short distance to the west.[7]

In 1967, the Seaboard Air Line (SAL) merged with the Atlantic Coast Line (ACL) to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (SCL). In the wake of the merger, it was determined that the East Carolina Line from Charleston to Savannah was largely unnecessary as a through route in the combined network due to the existence of the parallel A Line (the former ACL main line) just a short distance to the west.[7] By October of that year, the line was abandoned between Charleston and Lobeco. After the line south of Charleston was abandoned, the Andrews Subdivision designation was extended south to Charleston as it is today. The Charleston Subdivision designation was then reused for the A Line (ex-ACL main line) between Florence and Savannah as it is today.[9]

The remaining line from Lobeco to Savannah remained in service since it still had some freight customers along it. It was redesignated as the Coosaw Subdivision and could be accessed at Coosaw through the Port Royal Subdivision (a former ACL branch).[10] The SCL would temporarily reroute all traffic from the A Line to the Coosaw Subdivision shortly after the merger while they rebuilt the A Line's bridge over the Savannah River.[7]

On April 21, 1971, the Coosaw Subdivision's lift bridge over the Savannah River was destroyed when it was struck by a vessel. The company still had to access a flat yard and freight customers on Hutchinson Island at the time. However, the Seaboard Coast Line quickly determined replacing the bridge was too costly since the island could still be accessed through Coosaw despite the added distance of that route. By then, the remaining Centralized traffic control system was decommissioned and removed and a local freight train continued to operate the Coosaw Subdivision to Hutchinson Island.

In an effort to shorten the distance from Savannah to Hutchinson Island, the company built a connection from the A Line at South Hardeeville east to the Coosaw Subdivision just south of Levy in 1978. The company then abandoned the remaining Coosaw Subdivision north of Levy, with the remaining track and the connection track being designated as the Hutchinson Island Subdivision.[7]

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. The remaining Hutchinson Island Subdivision was abandoned in 1996 when freight service was no longer needed.[7]

Andrews Subdivision
CSX Hamlet Terminal Subdivision SH 254.3 East Junction CSX Wilmington Subdivision SH 263.7 Gibson North Carolina South Carolina SH 271.0 McColl fmr. Cape Fear & Yadkin Valley Ry. (ACL) to Hope Mills SH 277.5 Clio SH 292.4 Dillon CSX A Line (South End Subdivision) SH 309.4 Mullins R.J. Corman Railroad SH 325.7 Eulonia Lynches River SH 338.3 Johnsonville SH 342.6 Hemingway SH 365.5 Andrews CSX Georgetown Subdivision Santee River SH 386.9 Jamestown East Cooper & Berkeley Railroad SH 394.7 Cordesville Goose Creek Cosgrove Yard SH 416.1 Charleston CSX A Line (Charleston Subdivision) to Savannah (abandoned)

The segment of the line from East Junction in Hamlet to Charleston is still in service as CSX's Andrews Subdivision. It now connects to the A Line in Charleston just north of Ashley Junction.

CSX continues to provide freight service to local communities along the line. It also interchanges with the Pee Dee River Railway in McColl, the R.J. Corman Railroad Group in Mullins, and the East Cooper & Berkeley Railroad in Cordesville.[9]

Within Savannah, the only piece of the line still in service is CSX's Savannah River Lead, which runs a short distance from the main lines up to the Savannah River.[9]

Between Savannah and Charleston, the line is abandoned but some of its infrastructure is still in place. A number of bridges are still standing along the route and some of them have been turned into fishing piers. A portion of the bridge over the Broad River was turned into the Knowles Island Fishing Pier in 1980 but the pier portion was destroyed by a fire in 1984.[11] A new smaller pier was later built at the site. The center portion of the bridge including the swing span (which is locked open) remain abandoned in the middle of the river. Another bridge near Lobeco is now the Wimbee Fishing Pier. Access roads to these fishing piers runs on the line's former right of way.

The West Ashley Bikeway runs along the former right of way on the south side of Charleston.[12] Near Levy, the New River Linear Trail, an unpaved nature trail, runs along the former right of way.[13]

An overpass that carried the 1978 connection from South Hardeeville over U.S. Route 17 still stands unused near Limehouse.[14]