Passenger Trains > CONFIRMED: Major bridge out on CSX ex-ACL

This supplements earlier reports but seems important enough to get its own, new thread.

According to a CSX source, a major bridge is confirmed out on CSX's former Atlantic
Coast Line.  This will directly impact the operation of Amtrak's Auto Train, Palmetto and Silver Meteor.

> It has been confirmed that a major bridge is "gone" on the "A" line.
> One source put it near Kingstree, SC, and another referred to it as
> the Periopolis bridge. The latter was what was reported in trouble
> last night and it is a vertical lift over the Cooper River about 3000
> feet downstream from the dam that backs up Lake Moultrie. It is
> also possible that a bridge is "gone" near Kingstree as there is a
> 3-span girder over a creek about a mile south of there.
> Kingstree is only about 10 miles north of the Periopolis bridge.
> (named for a nearby community)
>
> If all this turns out to be correct, Amtrak will be detouring via the
> "S" (former Seaboard Air Line) line for some time. That is of course the
> route of the Silver Star with the diner experiment causing a lot of gripes.


Prior thread:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,3860087



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/15 13:45 by GenePoon.

Does this mean that CSX north/south traffic will be moving through Hamlet and Cheraw?

About the freight traffic, more from the same CSX source:

> Freight trains can divert at Savannah over the "S" line to Hamlet and then
> return to the "A" line at Pembroke, NC which avoids the need to use NS between Raleigh
> and Selma. There is also a secondary former SAL line from Charleston to Hamlet which
> crosses the "A" line near Dylon, SC unless it is in worse shape (likely).

If it includes freight, that is a lot of detour traffic; I think over 20 freights day.

That will be a challenge which involves finding qualified crews to man all of the reroutes.  I wonder if Cheraw trestle over Great Pee Dee river was affected by flood?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/15 16:20 by ubee1964.

GenePoon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> About the freight traffic, more from the same CSX
> source:
>
> > Freight trains can divert at Savannah over the
> "S" line to Hamlet and then
> > return to the "A" line at Pembroke, NC which
> avoids the need to use NS between Raleigh
> > and Selma. There is also a secondary former SAL
> line from Charleston to Hamlet which
> > crosses the "A" line near Dylon, SC unless it is
> in worse shape (likely).

That is Dillon, SC just over the NC line.
 

RFandPFan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> That is Dillon, SC just over the NC line.


Thanks.  The CSX guy came from the SOUTHERN!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/15 16:36 by GenePoon.

That doesn't make him a bad person. 

What he told you is correct.  Two possible detours are the S Line between Savannah, Denmark, Columbia and Hamlet, then on the Wilmington Sub to Pembroke and back onto the A Line, and the Andrews Sub which is the former SAL freight line between Hamlet, Dillon, Charleston and Savannah.  It's long-abandoned between Savannah and Charleston but remains in service between North Charleston, Dillon and Hamlet. 

We've read on here that there might be washouts on the S Line, but I haven't seen any confirmations.  If the A Line is truncated by washouts, it seems likely that the Andrews Sub, which is east of the A Line between Dillon and North Charleston, has washouts, too, but we haven't heard anything about that, either. 

Would love to her from someone with good information on what the status is of the various lines in South Carolina.

On Sunday CSX ran its business car train Savannah - Fairfax on the S Line, then turning onto the ex-CWC to Augusta and thence on the ex-Georgia to Atlanta. A few slow orders for rain-soaked track but all bridges were fine and train made a good run. I can't advise about status of S Line north of Fairfax.

Best regards,

Rob L.

Unless it happened this evening, I can guarantee that it's not the Pinopolis bridge in Moncks Corner. That bridge is about 29 rail miles from Kingstree. The Santee River bridges(there are 7 of them over the swamps and River) are about 12-15 miles south of Kingstree, but as of earlier today they were fine from what I know. The only bridge that I knew was in trouble, as of this afternoon, is the Black River bridge just south of Kingstree, SC. At that point though, the area was too flooded and inaccessible to verify the bridge was gone. The A-Line was flooded for several miles near the river and associated swamps.

The Andrews sub is OOS for a few washouts, although I'm not sure of the severity.

As for reroutes, from what I'm hearing, NB A-Line traffic will be rerouted via Columbia and Hamlet, SB traffic will detour via Hamlet-Greenwood-Augusta-Fairfax and south onto the Columbia sub towards Savannah.

If I hear any different about anything I've just mentioned, I'll let you know tomorrow.

Posted from iPhone

Tim Rich
S. Ogden, UT



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/15 20:14 by TrainChaser.

Good, solid info, Tim.  Thanks.

Having that complete Seabord mainline back wouldn't hurt in times like these!
Amtrak will probably be hours late competing with freights on the detours.

Using detours for Auto Train without Florence SC crew change and fueling stop will be interesting. Especially if NB and SB detours are on different routes between Hamlet and Savannah.

I wonder when the layover crew stranded in Florence was transported back to home base during this shut down? I guess they can get back in position on restart aboard a passenger car.

Posted from iPhone

The Auto Train has at least once detoured even via Atlanta on NS as one of my acquiantences who worked as OBS on the Auto Train reminded me. None of the proposed detours at rpesent are as drastic as that. So they will manage somehow I am sure.

Also, this is a slow time of year for travel between the Northeast and Florida. I wouldn't be surprised if Amtrak takes its time restoring Auto Train service. Any detour route is likely to add several hours to running time, which would complicate the turnarounds at either end of the run. It's plausible that Amtrak could end up running these trains less than daily for a while.
 

I also wonder if Amtrak might choose to run the Star and the Meteor in some sort of combined form for the duration of the outage of the A-Line. Afterall getting a single train through the detoured gauntlet of freights might be easier than getting two trains through, no?

Just verified the Tail Race Canal drawbridge(Cooper River) in Pinopolis is still there and not in trouble. No word yet on the bridge at Kingstree other than everything is still flooded.

Posted from iPhone

Tim Rich
S. Ogden, UT

toledopatch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Also, this is a slow time of year for travel
> between the Northeast and Florida. I wouldn't be
> surprised if Amtrak takes its time restoring Auto
> Train service. Any detour route is likely to add
> several hours to running time, which would
> complicate the turnarounds at either end of the
> run. It's plausible that Amtrak could end up
> running these trains less than daily for a while.
>  

That's possible.  My sister has reservations of the AutoTrain next week, and checked with Amtrak.  The company said it has no indication the train won't run as scheduled.  I noticed there are still bottom tier coach fares ($134) available over the next three weeks, which suggests they haven't yet entered the busy season.

As a backup, she booked seats on United, and spoke with a car shipper. They're pretty competitive right now...

Just heard that two RJ Corman employees died in flooding in Richland County. Not sure if they were checking CSX or NS lines.

http://www.wistv.com/story/30204214/rescue-team-finds-2nd-body-after-pickup-goes-off-road-in-lower-richland-county



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/15 12:20 by RayH.

RayH Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Just heard that two RJ Corman employees died in
> flooding in Richland County. Not sure if they were
> checking CSX or NS lines.
>
> http://www.wistv.com/story/30204214/rescue-team-fi
> nds-2nd-body-after-pickup-goes-off-road-in-lower-r
> ichland-county

That's very sad, thanks for sharing the news.  There were quite a few deaths and injuries in this storm.