Red Springs & Northern Railroad
{{Short description|Railroad in North Carolina}}
The Red Springs & Northern Railroad is a 13-mile short-line railroad extending from Parkton to Red Springs, in southeastern North Carolina. It connects with major carrier CSX Transportation in Parkton. The line was originally constructed by the Cape Fear & Yadkin Valley Railroad to the South Carolina state line near McColl, South Carolina, in 1883-1885. The trackage became the Atlantic Coast Line's "Bennettsville Branch" in 1898. The portion of the route from Red Springs to McColl was removed in 1973. ACL-successor CSX abandoned the remainder of the line in the 1980s.
Revival
The Advancement Corporation, a regional economic development board, subsequently bought the line in 1984, named it Red Springs & Northern Railroad, and contracted with nearby Laurinburg and Southern Railroad to provide rail service.{{cite book|author=Alan Coleman|title=Railroads of North Carolina|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z6WrRrfdUoEC&pg=PA86|year=2008|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=978-0-7385-5336-8|pages=86–}} Freight operations continued sporadically until 1990, after which the tracks entered dormancy. Finally, in 2004 ownership of the railroad was transferred from Advancement, Inc. to the Red Springs & Northern Foundation. The Foundation is a 501c3 tax-exempt corporation, with goals of revitalizing the line and attracting an operator to restore rail service to Red Springs.[http://www.wral.com/entertainment/out_and_about/venue/14049057/ Red Springs & Northern Railroad Foundation (WRAL TV)]
References
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External links
- {{official website|http://redspringsandnorthern.com}}
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Category:North Carolina railroads
Category:Red Springs, North Carolina
Category:Transportation in Robeson County, North Carolina