Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway

{{Infobox rail

| railroad_name=Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway

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| system_map={{maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|frame-align=center|frame-width=290|type=line|from=Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway.map}}

| map_caption=Original route of the Main Line (red) and the Bennettsville Branch (dark red). Click to enlarge.

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| predecessor_line=Western Railroad
Mount Airy Railroad

| successor_line=Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
Southern Railway
Atlantic and Yadkin Railway

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The Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway was a Southeastern railroad that operated in the Carolinas immediately after Reconstruction. It ran from Mount Airy, North Carolina, southeast through Greensboro and Fayetteville to the Atlantic port of Wilmington, North Carolina. A significant branch also ran from Fayetteville south to Bennettsville, South Carolina.

History

File:Cape Fear & Yadkin Valley Railway 1880.jpg

The Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway was created in 1879 with the consolidation of the Western Railroad and the Mount Airy Railroad.[https://books.google.com/books?id=msE_AAAAYAAJ&q=%22+Cape+Fear+and+Yadkin+Valley+Railway%22 The Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway: its Origin, Construction, and Extensions, 1889, page 10]

By 1899, the Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway was debt-ridden and bankrupt and was sold to the Southern Railway, where it was reorganized as a new company under the name Atlantic and Yadkin Railway, which remained a wholly owned subsidiary of the Southern Railway.

The newly created Atlantic and Yadkin then sold back the southern half of the line from Sanford, North Carolina, to Wilmington to the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, which was later reorganized as the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (ACL) in 1899. The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad operated their segment of the line as their Sanford Branch (E Branch west of Fayetteville and F Branch east of there). The Atlantic Coast Line also took over the Bennettsville Branch. Though, since the northern part of the Bennettsville Branch paralleled the ACL's main line, they abandoned the branch between Fayetteville and Parkton and connected the remaining branch to the main line at Parkton.{{cite web |title=Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway |url=https://www.carolana.com/NC/Transportation/railroads/nc_rrs_cape_fear_yadkin_valley_railway_2.html |website=North Carolina Railroads |access-date=4 February 2021}} The Atlantic Coast Line incorporated the remaining Bennettsville Branch into their Parkton—Sumter Line.

The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad became the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad in 1967, and their segment of the line from Manchester to Wilington became their Fayetteville Subdivision.[https://wx4.org/to/foam/maps/2-Moore/033/1971-11-14SCL_Florence2-Moore.pdf Seaboard Coast Line Railroad Florence Division Timetable (1971)] The Seaboard Coast Line became CSX Transportation in the 1980s.

The Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway Passenger Depot at Fayetteville, North Carolina, and the Rural Hall Depot at Rural Hall, North Carolina, were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.{{NRISref|version=2010a}}

Current conditions

Today, parts of the original Cape Fear and Yadkin Valley Railway are still in service. From Mount Airy to Rural Hall, the line is now operated by the Yadkin Valley Railroad, a shortline that also operates the former Southern Railway line from Rural Hall to North Wilkesboro.{{cite web |title=The Yadkin Valley Railroad |url=http://www.gulfandohio.com/yadkin-valley-railroad |access-date=4 February 2021}}

The line is largely abandoned from Rural Hall to just northwest of Greensboro. The Atlantic and Yadkin Greenway now runs on the former right of way northwest of Greensboro.{{cite web |title=Atlantic & Yadkin Greenway |url=https://www.greensboro-nc.gov/departments/parks-recreation/trails-greenways/greenways/atlantic-yadkin-greenway |website=Greensboro, North Carolina |access-date=4 February 2021 |archive-date=9 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210209012153/https://www.greensboro-nc.gov/departments/parks-recreation/trails-greenways/greenways/atlantic-yadkin-greenway |url-status=dead }}

From Greensboro to Gulf, the line is still operated by Norfolk Southern Railway.

The segment from Cumnock to Sanford is now operated by the Atlantic and Western Railway.{{cite web |title=Atlantic and Western Railway (ATW) |url=https://www.gwrr.com/railroads/north_america/atlantic_western_railroad#m_tab-one-panel |access-date=4 February 2021}}

CSX still operates the line from Spring Lake to just southeast of Fayetteville as well as a short discontinuous segment near Wilmington.

The Bennettsville Branch is still in service from Parkton to Red Springs and is now operated by the Red Springs & Northern Railroad. The line was abandoned between Red Springs and McColl in 1973.{{cite web |title=RS&N - Who We Are and What We Do. |url=http://redspringsandnorthern.com/?page_id=341 |website=Red Springs & Northern Railroad |access-date=4 February 2021}}

Stations

File:FATM.jpg

File:RuralHallDepot1.JPG

class="wikitable"

|+Main Line

!Miles from
Wilmington

!System
Milepost{{Efn|Milepost numbers are in accordance with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad (now CSX) and Southern Railway (now Norfolk Southern) networks.}}

!City/Location

!Station{{cite web |title=South Carolina Railroads: Passenger Stations & Stops |url=http://www.railwaystationlists.co.uk/pdfusarr/northcarolinarrs.pdf |website=Jim Fergusson's Railway and Tramway Station Lists (North Carolina)|accessdate=5 June 2020}}

!Connections and notes

0.0

|AC 244.5

|Wilmington

|located on Wilmington and Manchester Railroad

2.1

|AC 246.6
AF 290.7

|Yadkin Junction

|junction with Wilmington and Manchester Railroad (ACL)

9.1

|AF 283.7

|Richards