Wikipedia

East Carolina Line

For CSX's current Charleston Subdivision to the west, see Charleston Subdivision.

The Seaboard Air Line Railroad's East Carolina Line (H Line) was the unofficial name of their line running from Hamlet, North Carolina through eastern South Carolina to Savannah, Georgia. Officially designated on Seaboard employee timetables as the Andrews Subdivision from Hamlet to Andrews, South Carolina, and the Charleston Subdivision from Andrews south, the line was known as the East Carolina Line by Seaboard employees due to its location in eastern South Carolina. With connections to the Seaboard's main line at both ends, the East Carolina Line was frequently used as an alternative freight route for the company.

East Carolina Line
Overview
Other name(s)Andrews Subdivision
Charleston Subdivision
Statusstill operating north of Charleston under CSX
OwnerSeaboard Air Line Railroad
Termini
Technical
Line length258.2 mi (415.5 km)
ElectrificationNo
SignallingCentralized traffic control
Route map
Map

The line is still in service between Hamlet and Charleston as the Andrews Subdivision today and it is operated by Seaboard successor, CSX Transportation.

Route description

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The East Carolina Line began in Hamlet, North Carolina at East Junction, where it split from the company's Wilmington Subdivision. East Junction was located just east of the Seaboard's major junction with its main line at Hamlet station.

From East Junction, the East Carolina Line ran southeast into South Carolina, passing through Dillon, Mullins, and Andrews before reaching Charleston.

Beyond Charleston, it continued southwest through the coastal marshes of the South Carolina Lowcountry and passing through Lobeco, Levy, and into Georgia. In Georgia, it entered Savannah via Hutchinson Island and reconnected with their main line at Bridge Junction in Savannah.

History

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1884-1915: Formation and early years

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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]

1915-1917: Extension to Savannah

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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]

1917-1967: Height of operation

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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]

1967-present: Mergers and consolidation

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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]

Current operations

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Andrews Subdivision

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A CSX locomotive on the former East Carolina Line in Charleton, South Carolina (Photo by Reginald McDowell).

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]

South of Charleston

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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]

Historic stations

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State Milepost City/Location Station[6] Connections and notes
NC SH 253.4 Hamlet Hamlet junction with Seaboard Air Line Railroad Main Line
SH 254.3 East Junction junction with Wilmington Subdivision
SH 259.1 Scholl
SH 263.7 Gibson Gibson junction with:
SC SH 267.4 Fletcher
SH 271.0 McColl McColl junction with Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Parkton—Sumter Line
SH 277.5 Clio Clio
SH 283.3 Minturn
SH 288.2 Little Rock
SH 292.4 Dillon Dillon junction with Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Main Line
SH 299.5 Floydale
SH 309.4 Mullins Mullins junction with Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Wilmington—Pee Dee Line
SH 317.2 Rains
SH 325.7 Eulonia
SH 334.0 Poston junction with Hartsville Subdivision
SH 338.3 Johnsonville Johnsonville
SH 342.6 Hemingway Hemingway
SH 354.1 Morrisville
SH 360.9 Warsaw
SH 365.5 Andrews Andrews junction with Georgetown Subdivision
SH 373.2 Oceda
SH 378.0 Jamestown Jamestown
SH 388.0 Herberta
SH 394.2 Cordesville
SH 403.0 Pine Grove
SH 408.2 Inness
SH 412.6 Remount
SH 418.4 Charleston Cooper Yard
SH 421.8 Grove Street Station junction with South Carolina Railroad (SOU)
SH 424.3 Albemarle
SH 426.3 Dupont junction with Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Croghans Branch
SH 431.0 Stono
SH 436.0 Meggett Yonges junction with Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Yonges Island Branch
SH 440.8 Towles
SH 448.6 Grimball
SH 455.7 Airy Hall
SH 465.3 Williman
SH 471.0 Lobeco
SH 472.8 Coosaw junction with Charleston and Western Carolina Railway (ACL)
SH 475.6 Hank
SH 483.9 Boyd
SH 492.5 Okeetee
SH 498.7 Pritchard
SH 501.9 Levy
GA SH 510.5 Savannah Bridge Junction junction with:
Savannah Union Station

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "North Carolina Railroads - Raleigh & Augusta Air Line Railroad". Carolana. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  2. ^ Prince, Richard E. (2000). Seaboard Air Line Railway: Steam Boats, Locomotives, and History. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-33695-3. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  3. ^ "South Carolina Railroads - North & South Carolina Railroad / Railway". Carolana. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  4. ^ "South Carolina Railroads - Georgetown & Western Railroad". Carolana. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  5. ^ "Carolina, Atlantic & Western Railroad". North Carolina Railroads. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  6. ^ a b c Seaboard Air Line Railroad Carolina Division Timetable (1957)
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h "The Charleston Subdivision". Abandoned Rails. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  8. ^ SAL's Grove Street Station on SAL's EC mainline 1956, looking south
  9. ^ a b c CSX Florence Division Timetable
  10. ^ Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Savannah Division Timetable (1967)
  11. ^ Schmid Jr., James F. "SOUTH CAROLINA RAIL-TRAILS: INVENTORY AND PROSPECT" (PDF). e University of South Carolina. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  12. ^ "West Ashley Bikeway". TrailLink. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  13. ^ "New River Linear Trail". TrailLink. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  14. ^ Google Satellite Imagery
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