Bamberg, Ehrhardt and Walterboro Railway

The Bamberg, Ehrhardt and Walterboro Railroad (B. E. & W.) was a South Carolina short line railroad that operated in central South Carolina in the early 20th century.

The Bamberg, Ehrhardt and Walterboro was chartered by the South Carolina legislature in 1906, and completed in 1914.[1] It was built between Bamberg, South Carolina, and Ehrhardt, South Carolina[2]. In 1915, the line, built largely with Bamberg capital, opened rail communication between the two Bamberg, SC county towns.[2] The line was never extended to Walterboro, South Carolina. The business office was in the Hays building on the corner of Main and Church streets in Bamberg, SC. The depot and loading platforms were located where Rockland Bleach & Dye Works (formerly Bamberg Textile Mill) now has its factory on Calhoun Street (circa 2003). The tracks ran down Calhoun Street forming a "Y" at the present Calhoun and Log Branch streets. There was also a spur track running from the Southern Railway tracks to connect with the B. E. & W. [1]

For about a year and a half after its construction, it was leased to the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) to operate under contract as part of their branch from Green Pond to Ehrhardt. After the ACL lease, it operated as the B. E. & W. The line hauled as many as fifteen thousand bales of cotton in a season and as many as 100 cars of watermelons in one day. Cotton, fertilizer, forest products, and truck crops comprised the majority of the freight handled. Due to severe financial difficulties, on November 16, 1939 it was placed in the hands of a receiver and no longer was a public carrier.[1]


References
  1. Margaret Spann Lawrence (compiler) (2003). Miller, Betty Jane Baker (ed.). History of Bamberg County, South Carolina (1st ed.). The Historic Society of Bamberg County. pp. 126–127, 149. ISBN 0-87152-543-7. LCCN 2003112657.
  2. "www.oldplaces, Bamberg, South Carolina". Archived from the original on 2010-09-26. Retrieved 2011-01-01.


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