A&R in Fayettevile

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On a recent trip to Fayetteville, NC, I noticed that there is what appears to be an abandoned branch of the Aberdeen and Rockfish (or perhaps the SCL) along Skibo Road (US 421 By-Pass) across from the big mall in Fayetteville. I stayed in the Hampton Inn there and had to cross the tracks every day. There were no crossing gates, and people stopped on the tracks all the time. The railroad crosses the All-American Freeway on what appears to be a pretty new bridge.

Is this stretch abandonded, and if so, why didn't they pull up the track? Was it left in place so it could be activated in an emergency to supply Fort Bragg? In some areas, near the shopping areas, there does not seem to be much clearance for a train.

Wes Woodruff Orlando, FL

-- Wes Woodruff (woodruff_wes@bah.com), June 09, 2001

Answers

Wes, The line you talk about has been inactive since at least 1986. I was stationed at Fort Bragg between 1988-1992 and the installation received all its traffic (jet fuel for Pope AFB and deployment traffic from Fort Bragg) via the ex-ACL line along Mercheson road. As near as I can remember, the Cape Fear RR ran out the line up to the Fort boundary on Bragg Blvd.

-- Scott Lofreddo (Lofreddo@aol.com), June 10, 2001.

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