Eastern Railroad Discussion > Carolina Southern update

The parties disputing the shutdown of Carolina Southern have reached an agreement, and the STB has dismissed the dispute with prejudice. Essentially, the plan is to offer most of the railroad for sale; if no buyer emerges, the railroad would be salvaged. Either way, Carolina Southern would retain a small portion of track between Nichols, SC and the CSX connection at Mullins and would allow a buyer of the rest of the line to operate into Mullins.

http://www.carolinalive.com/uploadedFiles/wpde/CALA%20Settlement%20Agreement.pdf

Not sure how much a buyer would have to spend, on top of the purchase price, to make this railroad operational again.

There is no mention of the long-closed Waccamaw Coast Line in this deal. Perhaps it's toast, regardless.

ctillnc Wrote:
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> There is no mention of the long-closed Waccamaw
> Coast Line in this deal. Perhaps it's toast,
> regardless.

Shame. After they spent all that money rehabbing the drawbridge over the Intercostal Waterway and the station at the beach.

Posted from iPhone

I recall hearing some stuff about the old Horry County Railroad/Wacamaw Coast Line. As I understood it, the CALA did not own this part of the railroad, just leased it. I believe there is some money owned by the Pippins, in fact, so I would surmise this is why it is not mentioned in the filing.

At one time on the property there was an old FTB that SOUTHERN had converted to a steam generator car. It was numbered 960602. I cannot find any reports that it had been sold, scrapped or otherwise disposed of.
Do you know if it is still on the property?
Any firm information will be greatly appreciated.
ALLEN

I can't remember the disposition of this unit, but I do know a lot has been scrapped over the years including the ex-N&W/WCL GP18 #943 very recently. I want to say the old Southern stuff was in the first wave of scraps, but don't hold me to that.

Based on a quick fly-by using Google Maps satellite images, it does not appear that any real estate encroachment or highway project precludes reopening the WCL. The City of Myrtle Beach is one of the players in the Carolina Southern dispute. But the estimate from several years ago of $2 million minimum to reopen the Carolina Southern didn't include the WCL.

One would think that, in view of the size of the tourist destination at the end of that thing, the State of South Carolina would step in and do something to preserve the line for some future use. Short sighted.

SpeederDriver Wrote:

"One would think that, in view of the size of the tourist destination at the end of that thing, the State of South Carolina would step in and do something to preserve the line for some future use. Short sighted."
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I've seen several references to the Palmetto Railways taking over. But I can't imagine the state stepping in under almost any circumstance with the current political climate here.

And there are I-told-you-so's who thought spending $4M to renovate the WCL bridge over the Intracoastal was bad idea to begin with; they would have preferred road improvements.

Earlier this month, I stayed in Florence for a couple of days to watch trains before heading onward to Myrtle Beach. I talked to an Amtrak employee about the rail business. He mentioned the line to Myrtle Beach that isn't used and said it would be nice to have trains going between Myrtle and Florence. I'm sure this is just his view and not Amtraks, but maybe there is a possible market for that service.

Posted from iPhone

There's no direct rail access between Florence and Myrtle Beach.

Yes, and that's one reason why renovating the Carolina Southern for freight service would be expensive. The convoluted route Mullins-Chadbourn-Conway -- the net result of abandonments by ACL/SCL/SBD/CSX -- is 70 miles by rail, although Mullins-Conway is only 30 miles as the crow flies. You need a significant number of Conway/Myrtle carloads for 70 miles of track and bridge renovation to be economically viable. I'm not sure that even cutting the railroad back to Mullins-Chadbourn/Whiteville would make any financial sense.