ACL Wilmington to Sanford Line

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I am originally from eastern NC and am interested in whatever anyone might have on structures and operations on the old ACL line between Wilmington and Sanford. 1st of all there seems to have been very little stationwise between Fayetteville and Sanford. There were several stations and or sign type locations east of Fayetteville. A good portion of this line ended up being abandoned very soon after the merger and I have never seen any pictures of any of the operations on the line. Anything that anyone has would be greatly appreciated. Also, one little location that I wonder what anyone might know about is Parkersburg, NC. Was there ever a siding and/or station there? Does anyone have any photos or other info? Any help on this line as far as operational info, structures and sidings info and photos would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Raymond

-- Raymond Smith (wwf_shirley@hotmail.com), April 02, 2001

Answers

Raymond,

Although the rails are gone Fayetteville-Wilmington, several depots still exist. The old CF&YV station is in Fayetteville is on Maxwell st. South from there is Steadman which is a library, a possible source of info on the railroad's operations on the line. Roseboro is also in use as a community center. Garland is being used for storage close into town. Atkinson is on private property being used for farm storage just north of town.

North of Fayetteville, I recently shot the freight and passenger depots at Overhills. The land where they're located is now part of Ft. Bragg so access may no longer be possible. But an effort is underway to try to make the former right-of-way through Overhills a rail-trail. My recently-arrived copy of Directory Of NC Railroad Structures indeed lists the Parkersburg freight station and agency/waiting room as extant. The guide advises that they're both on posted private property, and permission MUST obtained before entering. Located at Dogwood Farms, off Green Bridge Rd, .25 mile south of Parkersburg Rd. The passenger service tied up at Sanford's Union Station (SAL) which is in use as a realty office. The last passenger trains were a daily except Sunday mixed between Fayetteville and Wilmington which ended Oct. 31, 1951. Service to Sanford probably ended prior to WW2. Hope this helps.

-- Bob Venditti (bobvend@bellsouth.net), June 30, 2002.


The earliest owner of a portion of the Wilmington-Sanford line was the Western RR of NC out of Fayetteville, 1861-1879. Successor to the WRR was the Cape Fear & Yadkin Valley RR which, in 1899, was split after going through bankruptcy, betwen the ACL, south of Sanford, and the Southern Ry north of Sanford. Fayetteville-Wilmington was opened in in 1890 and precipitated the CF&YV bankruptcy. The entire ACL portion was still in operation for freight at the SCL merger. Under the ACL, passenger service consisted of a daily train each way, Wilmington-Sanford from 1899 'til c.1922. By this time the train ran through to Mt.Airy NC over the SR, covering the full extent of the old CF&VY. In 1924 there was a supplemental passenger roundtrip, Tues., Thurs. & Sat., Wilmington-Fayetteville. By 1934 there was one train over the line, a mixed. In 1938-39 the Fayetteville-Sanford mixed was a seperate run from the Wilmington-Fayetteville mixed. Fayetteville-Sanford became freight only sometime between 1939 and 1941. Wilmington-Fayetteville passenger service continued from c.1941 as a daily non-mixed train 'til c.1948 when Sunday runs were dropped. The one roundtrip had become a mixed by c.1944. Then this rider coach was taken off between 1950-1953, ending passenger service on ACL's segment of the old CF&YV. Known stops on the ACL portion of the line were: Wilmington, A&Y Jct(c.1902 only), Richards, Montague, Currie, Atkinson, Ivanhoe, Kerr, Tomahawk, Garland, Parkersburg('til end of passenger service), Mintz, Roseboro, Hayne, Autryville, Steadman, Vander, Fayetteville, Fort Junction, Manchester, Overhills, Spout Springs, Pine View, Rock Branch, Olivia, Swans, Jonesboro and Sanford. Most of the stops west of Fayetteville closed in c.1941. Most of the stops east of Fayetteville were in use til final passenger train ran. Some of these stations may have not been agencies(shelters).

-- Tom Underwood (tlunder@attglobal.net), April 02, 2001.

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