Hello -

Visiting Sanford, NC for a few days. Brought a camera and a scanner, but don't know what (if anything) to expect on the line...

Any current information on CSX operations (or lack thereof) here?

Thanks!

-- Michael Murray (mspmurray@aol.com), January 30, 2005

Answers

F741/742 is a Raleigh-Hamlet-Raleigh turnaround job that runs at night. It forwards all traffic to/from the Raleigh/Durham/Henderson area (minus the rock train) to Hamlet where it connects to the rest of the CSX system. A little farther south of Sanford F718 is a daylight Hamlet-Aberdeen local interchanging with the A&R and the ACWR at Aberdeen. It runs M-F. Despite Aberdeen's small size (about 5,000 population I'm guessing) it's a rare North Carolina town that can boast of 4 railroads running into it, if you count Amtrak's passing through. And until about 1997 two of those railroads were headquartered there. The A&R still is.

-- Paul Williams (plwexpress@hotmail.com), February 02, 2005.

Monday thru Saturday, there is a local switcher that leaves Apex about 9:00AM and switches industries at Merry Oaks and Moncure. On Thursday night or Friday morning, there is a rock turn North from Hamlet to Greystone Quarry North of Raleigh at Henderson, returning the next day. It's all CSX MoW hoppers. There is also an Apex to Durham turn on the old Durham & Southern Ry. that leaves Apex after 8:00AM and gets back about 6:00PM. There's also the rare and elusive Progress Energy nuclear waste train (usually two locomotives, the cask car and an ex-CSXT extended vision caboose) which operates from Hamlet to the nuclear power plant at Bonsal at night.

-- Richard Lasater (Richard.lasater@ncmail.net), February 01, 2005.

Someone who knows the actual situation needs to answer this, but in the meantime I think the only freight operation is a daily turn from Hamlet to Raleigh and back. I don't know the schedule but my impression is night. There is also a turn from Raleigh to Greystone (what's left of the mainline north of Raleigh) but I don't know if it's daily or as needed. Of course the Silver Star also operates from Hamlet to Raleigh (specifically the junction where the ex-Southern line splits and goes to Selma).

-- Larry Goolsby (lgoolsby@aphsa.org), February 01, 2005.