Saluda Grade

[Baltimore mike]

I doubt if Saluda will ever open again as a through NS route as the railroad is in negotiations to sell the northern part out of Asheville N,C. to a shortline operater. It could however operate as a tourist railroad perhaps with enough backing.

[daveklepper]

You are talking millions of dollars.

[blue streak 1]

daveklepper

You are talking millions of dollars.

 

If NS had not banked Saluda they would probably still be using it maybe for intermodals ?  As it is NS needs to use all its capital to expand the capacity constrained routes.  .  The 2 - 3 trains a day over Saluda cannot compare to the many trains being delayed otherwise.  Spartanburg - Asheville - Knoxville - Cincinnati probably would only save 4 hours of train time and probably require at least one more loco instead of going by Atlanta. 

As compared to the many delayed train routes at other locations car hours are more important to reduce.  That is especially important on Atlanta - BHM - Meridian and on the northern tier. 

 

This past weekend the passengers trains on the east coast took very little delay on both NS  & CSX.  However the passenger delays from Michigan - Chicago on NS raises  it to the top delay RR on the July Amtrak performance report.  If Michigan was like the rest of NS then NS would have the lowest delay rate of the class 1s.

.

 

[Baltimore mike]

If the Saluda grade segment of the Spartanburg-Asheville line isn't going to see NS trains again and it appears unlikely since NS wants to sell the first 20 or so miles south of Asheville to a shortline operator, then I was saying that Saluda Grade could, with proper financial backing, become a tourist operation. There's a lot of history in that few miles of railroad and some great scenery as well. I certainly hope the rails aren't lifted as was the case of the East Tennessee Railway's remaining line from Johnson City to Elizabethton which was the last part of the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina. Once the rails are gone they seldom return.

[dubch87]

Baltimore mike

I doubt if Saluda will ever open again as a through NS route as the railroad is in negotiations to sell the northern part out of Asheville N,C. to a shortline operater. It could however operate as a tourist railroad perhaps with enough backing.

Already sold.

Five years of Saluda discussion in this thread.

[Rader Sidetrack]

Baltimore mike

I certainly hope the rails aren't lifted as was the case of the East Tennessee Railway's remaining line from Johnson City to Elizabethton which was the last part of the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina. Once the rails are gone they seldom return.

But sometimes the rails DO return.    In the case of the ET&WNC, see this page:

http://www.doerivergorge.com/railroad/

[Baltimore mike]

Yes they do but they will never go back on the part between Johnson City and Elizabethton to which I was referring. Johnson City bought the right of way, lifted the rails and is converting the ROW into the " Tweetsie Trail ". There has been been track though the Doe River Gorge since the 1960s. The ET&WNC track was pulled up in the mid fifties and the ROW was sold to a gentleman who wanted to put the track back and operate it as part of the Playland amusement park. This being done the amusement park was never that popular and was closed down. The track was not lifted however and gradually became part of nature once more. The current owners bought the right of way and remaining track and volunteers have been restoring the track and some original ET&WNC equipment ever since. It is now operated by the Doe River Gorge Christian Camp. The track is in place between tunnel no.2 and tunnel no. 4 which includes the two steel bridges over the Doe River. I hope that they can eventually restore the whole line one day as the current track is only good to Pardee point. I have walked this entire line before and I thank you for reminding me of it!