ACL stations west of Spring Hope

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The Bunn, NC ACL freight station is still standing. Were there ever any other stations except at Bunn west of Spring Hope?

-- Richard Lasater (richard.lasater@ncair.net), April 28, 2000

Answers

The ACL purchased the Montgomery Lumber Company tracks west of Spring Hope in 1926. I happened to come across this little tidbit while browsing through some ACL annual reports. A 1923 Sanborn Map of Spring Hope shows a Montogomery Lumber/ACL track running through the mill, in addition to several other Montgomery Lumber tracks. The 1945 correction to the 1923 Map shows all of the Montgomery trackage, but notes all buildings were destroyed by fire (no date given for fire). By the way, the 1905 and 1911 maps show a turntable toward the end of Railroad Street behind the old cotton gin. The turntable is gone on the 1923 map. It looks like a cotton platform was built in the area.

-- Craig Strickland (cstrick@coastalnet.com), June 11, 2003.

ACL did seriously consider extending this branch to Raleigh, and the matter even went before the ICC. I have some materials on this buried somewhere at home but no time to dig them out right now.

-- Larry Goolsby (LGoolsby@aphsa.org), May 01, 2000.

The 1935 Open & Pre-Pay Station book shows "stations" at New Hope, Dollard, Barham and Lassiter. Whether there were buildings at these "stations" will have to answered by others. The branch actually went several miles further west to Rolesville as a lumber railroad. Other "stations" on this branch were at Rocky Mount, Winstead, Kennedy, Westerly, Snells, Nashville, Batchelor, Momeyer and Spring Hope. Beside Rocky Mount, Nashville and Spring Hope probably had station buildings. The rest are unknown. Some may have had shelters. Spring Hope was the end of the branch until circa 1928 when the ACL acquired an already existing (lumber?) railroad, extending the branch to Lassiter. A question was asked previously as to why ACL didn't extend the branch into Raleigh. While it may have momentarily crossed management's minds, one would suspect that the meager traffic potential would have been cancelled out by the construction costs. The railroad building era was about over by the 1920's, and there were already three other railroads(SR, SAL & NS) serving Raleigh.

-- Tom Underwood (tlunder@attglobal.net), April 29, 2000.

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