Eastern Railroad Discussion > ACWR 2026 season kickoff

Aberdeen Carolina & Western 2026 season kicked off this weekend with the Romance on the Rail dinner train.  First train ran Thursday 2/12, departing Aberdeen at 6pm. Friday was also at 6, while  tonight and tomorrow running an hour earlier at 5pm.  

In the video, we see Friday nights train passing the passenger car tracks in Pinehurst, where the kitchen car now decorated for the Veteran Golfers Association welcomes you to Pinehurst.  The kitchen car is used on dinner trains with larger consists, or with more extensive menu offerings.  This weekend's train is predominately set up with two-top tables for a more intimate experience and meal was prepped in the kitchen of the former PRR Twin Diner.   In the stills, we see ACWR 103 playing peek-a-boo around a building sitting on the north leg of the wye in downtown Aberdeen.   We then see patrons boarding g tonight's train inside the wye. 

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Tonight's menu
Desert
Twin Dinner as patron begins wandering aboard. All 4 trains are sold out. 

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Very nice! It is looking way out of my price range. My Old Lady will needed to deal with my homemade Chicken Noodle Soup this Valentine's Eve.
Your mileage may vary.
Gonut

No Valentine's Day special dinner for me, just microwaved Monterey chicken enchiladas for myself after arriving home from the Railfans of Indianapolis meeting.

Sounded like one of those cars had a pretty nasty flat wheel.

Jeff Gast
Greenwood, Indiana

inrdjlg Wrote:
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> No Valentine's Day special dinner for me, just
> microwaved Monterey chicken enchiladas for myself
> after arriving home from the Railfans of
> Indianapolis meeting.
>
> Sounded like one of those cars had a pretty nasty
> flat wheel.
>
> Jeff Gast
> Greenwood, Indiana

The Pinehurst has a flat spot.  Not really noticeable aboard. Not near condemnable and it's on a new wheel.  No idea how true, but story I heard is coming out of shop after getting her new wheels, she was immediately slid flat!  That's enough to piss you off! 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/14/26 21:27 by scraphauler.

Merci Monsieur.  Delicieux!

-John

scraphauler wrote:

>> The Pinehurst has a flat spot.  Not really noticeable aboard. Not near condemnable and it's on a new wheel.  No idea how true, but story I heard is coming out of shop after getting her new wheels, she was immediately slid flat!  That's enough to piss you off! 

ACWR needs to do like the Cumbres & Toltec:  paint a splotch of whitewash on one of the wheels of each truck so that anyone can tell when the wheels are sliding.  Unsightly?  Maybe, but it might prevent a flat wheel or even a broken rail. 

I was looking at the railroad's Web site yesterday.  Does the April 3 date mark the resumption of the first-of-the-month open houses at the shop?  Are those guided tours with tight restrictions, or are guests allowed to wander around within reason?

Jeff Gast
Greenwood, Indiana  

inrdjlg Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> I was looking at the railroad's Web site
> yesterday.  Does the April 3 date mark the
> resumption of the first-of-the-month open houses
> at the shop?  Are those guided tours with tight
> restrictions, or are guests allowed to wander
> around within reason?
>
> Jeff Gast
> Greenwood, Indiana  

Yes, looks like First Friday tours resume in April.  They limit it to around two dozen, have someone to answer questions, but for the most part give you free run of the place, inside and out.  Roamer (only private business car built in WW1) and the wooden Grand Trunk caboose will be there and open for tour.  Any other restored car that happens to be there will likely be open to tour as well.  Most of the restored fleet now resides in Pinehurst - about 15 miles east of shop - follow NC 211 to Pinehurst, then turn right on NC 5, and you can't miss it.  Those tracks are easy to access for photography - they are located directly in the middle of the Pinehurst Resort and are in a high tourist area, so as long as your are not being an idiot, you will be fine to take all the photos you want.  

As for shop, Coffee Creek (MILW Skytop), a UP RPO, two wooden Pullman Palace cars, a wood coach, and a F7 are what is currently in undergoing work. Shop also maintains all the freight power, plus they are building a battery powered switcher out of an old SW1200 (I think that's what it was) under contract for a customer. The Edwards Motor Car and an old Interurban body sitting on a caboose chassis are also inside.  The steam engine is behind shop in pieces - every so often you can see evidence something has happen on it. The 2 unrestored E9s are on shop lead, but the balance of the "inventory" are under lock and key in an old wood chip mill on the Star NC to Gulf NC line just outside of Robbins NC in northern Moore County (line from Star to just past mill is used for train staging and car storage, from Robbins to Gulf long out of service).   Two new arrivals just showed up in past 2 weeks - two more RPOs, both ex CNW; came down on own wheels from Ft Wayne area.  Have not seen them in Candor, so they may have gone directly to Robbins  



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/15/26 15:54 by scraphauler.

Tonight's (Sunday) edition passing the house. 

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Thanks for the information on the shop tour!  Combined with another day or two along the ACWR, it sounds like a fun destination for a trip.  (Plus there are other short lines in the area, and other non-railfan attractions also aren't far away.)  

Jeff Gast
Greenwood, Indiana