Carolina Piedmont Railroad

The Carolina Piedmont Railroad (reporting mark CPDR) is a class III railroad and subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming Inc. operating in the Upstate region of South Carolina. From an interchange with CSX Transportation at Laurens the railroad runs 34 miles (55 km) to the northwest, terminating at East Greenville.[1]

Carolina Piedmont Railroad
Overview
HeadquartersLaurens, South Carolina
Reporting markCPDR
LocaleUpstate South Carolina
Dates of operation1990–
PredecessorCSX Transportation
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge)
Length34 miles (55 km)
Carolina Piedmont Railroad
(Abandoned)
AJK 588.6
 Greenville
Interstate 85
AJK 585.3
 East Greenville
AJK 584.7
 General Electric
AJK 583.8
 Industrial lead
AJK 582.9
 Mauldin
Interstate 185
Interstate 385
AJK 578.9
 Cryovac lead
AJK 577.8
 Simpsonville
AJK 572.6
 Fountain Inn
Interstate 385
AJK 565.1
 Gray Court
AJK 555.7
 Laurens
AK 554.7
 CSX to Greenwood
AK 554.7
 CSX to Spartanburg

Primary commodities include plastic resins, gas turbines, wind turbines, food products, forest products, and chemicals with the railroad accumulating about 5,500 annual carloads in 2008.[2][3] The railroad serves a General Electric facility that provides a source of high value cargo for the line, shipping several gas and wind turbines via rail on a weekly basis.[4]

History

What is now the Carolina Piedmont railroad began as the Greenville and Laurens Railroad, which was chartered in 1878 and arrived in Greenville in 1882.[5] The railroad was later merged with three others in the region to form the Port Royal and Western Carolina Railway in October 1886. In 1896, the railroad was merged, this time with the Port Royal and Augusta Railway to create the Charleston and Western Carolina Railway, and was promptly acquired by the Atlantic Coast Line in 1897.[1]

Additional mergers came in 1959, as the Charleston & Western Carolina was formally merged into the Atlantic Coast Line. The ACL was merged into the Seaboard Coast Line in 1967, and the SCL was merged into the Seaboard System in 1983. The final merger came in 1986, when the Seaboard System was merged into CSX Transportation.[6]

Shortline service begins

Annual carloads amounted to about 8,000 in 1988, which prompted CSX to sell the portion from Laurens to a point short of downtown Greenville to the Carolina Piedmont Railroad on November 5, 1990. A key factor in the sale was the fact that the line could not support intermodal or automotive shipments on account of low clearances. The railroad was operated as a division of the South Carolina Central Railroad, a subsidiary of RailTex.[7] For the year 1995, about 6,000 annual carloads originated or terminated on the line.[1]

Expansion and acquisition
Main article: Greenville and Northern Railway

In April 1997, the railroad acquired the Greenville and Northern Railway, running from Greenville to Travelers Rest for a distance of 11.8 miles (19.0 km).[8] The G&N was slated for abandonment, along with 3.2 miles (5.1 km) of track located at the end of the Carolina Piedmont near the Greenville Downtown Airport. However, on May 28, 1999 the railroad reached an agreement with the Greenville County Economic Development Corporation (GCEDC) to purchase both sections in their entirety. The Greenville & Northern was converted into the Swamp Rabbit Trail walking trail after the GCEDC failed to find a new operator, while the southern portion was operated by the Carolina Piedmont under contract by the GCEDC and is primarily used for railcar storage.[9]

An additional change came in 2000 as the South Carolina Central's parent company, RailTex, was purchased by RailAmerica.[10] Around the same time the railroad teamed with General Electric to upgrade rail infrastructure in order to accommodate heavy turbine loads originating from the Greenville facility. Heavier rail was installed, and significant upgrades to the ballast and roadbed were made.[4]

The railroad continued to operate under RailAmerica, hauling 5,529 annual carloads in 2008.[2] until December, 2012 when RailAmerica was absorbed into the competitor Genesee & Wyoming company.

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See also

References
  1. Lewis, Edward A. (1996). American Shortline Railway Guide (5 ed.). Kalmbach Publishing Company. p. 63. ISBN 0-89024-290-9.
  2. Frailey, Fred W. (2010). "RailAmerica's Empire". Trains. Kalmbach Publishing Company. 70 (6): 24, 29.
  3. "ASLRRA Member: Carolina Piedmont Railroad". Archived from the original on 19 September 2010. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  4. "Wind and Rails: America's Rails Deliver Clean Power and Energy" (PDF). Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  5. Belcher, Ray (2006). Greenville County: 1817-1970. The History Press. p. 29. ISBN 1-59629-154-0.
  6. Solomon, Brian (2005). CSX. MBI Publishing Company. pp. 63–67. ISBN 0-7603-1796-8.
  7. Lewis, Edward A. (1991). American Shortline Railway Guide (4 ed.). Kalmbach Publishing Company. p. 284. ISBN 0-89024-109-0.
  8. "STB Finance Docket No. 33391". 1 May 1997. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  9. "STB Finance Docket No. 33752". 3 June 1999. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  10. "STB Finance Docket No. 33813". 7 January 2000. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
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