Eastern Railroad Discussion > Charlotte after midnight

Before my retirement last summer, this was the nightly view out of my cab window.  It is the lights of uptown Charlotte NC as viewed at midnight from the double track mainline of the former  Southern Railway.  Sometimes the lights of uptown Charlotte are color-coded :  blue for Panthers games, green for St. Patrick's Day, pink for Breast Cancer Awareness, and rainbow for Pride weekend.  The curve ahead begins the ascent to the high fill built in the mid-1960's to elevate the Southern's mainlines off uptown street level.  Beyond the curve is Panther Stadium, Truist baseball park, and ultimately Gateway Station - still building on the site of Southern's old Trade Street Station.  The No. 1 mainline to the right is left open for priority intermodals 25A (Croxton NJ - Atlanta) and 28C (Charlotte - Chicago).

My local - E27 would hold the other main (No. 2) for about three hours nightly, switching and spotting our long time customer - Charlotte Pipe & Foundry.  We brought the "Pipe Shop" coke, pig iron, different grades of scrap and casting sand, and mty centerbeam flats for loadng.  Fifty years ago when I qualified as engineer on this run, my engineer coach told me he switched  the "Pipe Shop" with one of Southern's 1800-class 0-8-0 steam switchers.  Fifty years ago we were using ALCO RS-3's at the "Pipe Shop", and in my last two years of mandated PTC I switched the "Pipe Shop" many nights with the ease and comfort of  a Crescent cabbed SD60E rebuild.  The "Pipe Shop" is shutting down.  The last cars will be pulled.  Operation is shifting to a new plant on the Aberdeen, Carolina, & Western.  The memories will remain in the minds of those of us that ran through and worked in Charlotte.  The second pic is of a day when the old "Pipe Shop" needed an early switch.

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Great photo and story of an old industry sadly now gone.

Bob Jordan

Charlotte Pipe & Foundry isn't going out of business. They decided to cash in on their very valuable 55 acres near the center of Charlotte -- probably where the replacement stadium for the Carolina Panthers will be built -- and move to a new much larger, new plant 30 miles east. It's a good news story overall, although to the benefit of AC&W and the detriment of NS.
https://www.wbtv.com/2022/11/17/charlotte-pipe-foundry-hires-firm-market-55-acre-uptown-property/



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/15/23 18:09 by ctillnc.

Great shot of downtown Charlotte, Notch. Never really knew how close to downtown NS ex SOU ran. Been thru the city many times, saw lots of trackage, but never really knew the layout. Appreciate the shot and story. Be well, Ben

Photo one is an excellent night shot.
Bob

Years ago I got to meet and know the then owner of Charlotte Pipe & Foundry - Mr. Frank Dowd.  Frank had a private railroad car he was very proud of. It was a streamlined stainless steel ex-NYC Brook-series sleeper observation.  One Saturday morning he had his observation on the rear of a NRHS excursion leaving Charlotte via the old Atlantic, Tennessee, and Ohio RR line.  That involved a very steep hill on the AT&O Freight Cutoff. I drew the assignment to shove the train out of Charlotte.  I chose a heavy trusty ex-SOU MP15 no. 2377 for the helper shove.  When I coupled up to Frank's observation in the station, we were glass end to glass end.  It was a unique experience waving to Frank and his guests through my rear glass end and them waving back to me through the observarion rear windows as as we left Charlotte for the uphill shove.  Good Times.

ctillnc Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Charlotte Pipe & Foundry isn't going out of
> business. They decided to cash in on their very
> valuable 55 acres near the center of Charlotte --
> probably where the replacement stadium for the
> Carolina Panthers will be built -- and move to a
> new much larger, new plant 30 miles east. It's a
> good news story overall, although to the benefit
> of AC&W and the detriment of NS.
> https://www.wbtv.com/2022/11/17/charlotte-pipe-fou
> ndry-hires-firm-market-55-acre-uptown-property/

Living trackside to the AC&W Sandhills Sub, I have not seen any pipe to CSX yet, but I camp attest that scrap off CSX for Charlotte Pipe is now fairly common. 

scraphauler Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ctillnc Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Charlotte Pipe & Foundry isn't going out of
> > business. They decided to cash in on their very
> > valuable 55 acres near the center of Charlotte
> --
> > probably where the replacement stadium for the
> > Carolina Panthers will be built -- and move to
> a
> > new much larger, new plant 30 miles east. It's
> a
> > good news story overall, although to the
> benefit
> > of AC&W and the detriment of NS.
> >
> https://www.wbtv.com/2022/11/17/charlotte-pipe-fou
>
> > ndry-hires-firm-market-55-acre-uptown-property/
>
> Living trackside to the AC&W Sandhills Sub, I have
> not seen any pipe to CSX yet, but I can attest
> that scrap off CSX for Charlotte Pipe is now
> fairly common.