Atlantic and Danville... NS line in Southern VA

[railfanjohn]

For reference see:

The Atlantic And Danville Railway Company - The Railroad Of Southside Virginia by William E. Griffin Jr.    copyright 1987

and also:  The Atlantic And Danville Railway Company - The Railroad Of Southside Virginia  Revised and Expanded Second Edition  also by William E. Griffin Jr.    copyright 2006.

[csxns]

mudchicken

International Paper is also served by CSX Transportation, Inc.

Been their before around 1990 when i worked for Builders Transport thought i heard somewhere that the plant closed.

[mudchicken]

FROM STB WEBSITE (Docket No. AB 290 (Sub-No. 362X)....2014) ... What is still out there is mothballed (Discontinuance of Service)

BACKGROUND
The Line is part of a stub-ended branch line NSR refers to as the Franklin District, which originally was built as a through route from the Virginia Tidewater area to Danville, Va. According to NSR, the Line was built by the Atlantic & Danville Railway in the 1800s and was leased by the Southern Railway Company, a NSR predecessor, until 1949, at which time it returned to independent operation. The Norfolk & Western Railway Company, another NSR predecessor, acquired the Line in the 1960s and formed the Norfolk, Franklin & Danville Railway Company (NFDR) to operate it. Before being absorbed into NSR in 1983, NFDR had gradually stopped using the portion of the Line west of Edgerton, which had become the westernmost extension of NSR’s Franklin District and had devolved from a secondary trunk line to a branch line relying on local traffic. Recently, the Board granted an exemption to NSR to discontinue service over a 53.2-mile portion of the Franklin District to the west of the line at at issue, extending from milepost FD 37.0 near Franklin, to the end of the line at milepost FD 90.2 at Edgerton (western segment).

NSR argues that the Line is a burden on NSR and interstate commerce because the potential annual revenue that the Line’s remaining shippers could generate would be heavily outweighed by the costs of maintaining and operating it. NSR claims a base year normalized maintenance cost of $262,455 ($14,745 per track mile) and projects a forecast year normalized maintenance cost of $266,546 ($14,974 per track mile), due to the deteriorated condition of the Line. NSR states that the Line experienced a base year avoidable loss from rail operations of $544,239, and it projects a forecast year avoidable loss from rail operations of $552,724.

Further, NSR contends that the line is no longer in operable condition and would require a significant investment to rehabilitate it. NSR states that as of January 31, 2014, service over the Line has been suspended due to deteriorating track conditions. NSR states that, prior to the suspension of service, the Line was structurally limited to freight cars with a gross maximum weight of 263,000 pounds. NSR argues that to return the Line to Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Class I track safety standards would require an upfront cost of $1,027,500. NSR states that the necessary rehabilitation costs cannot be recouped because the Line cannot be operated profitably.

NSR states that it handled 203 carloads originating or terminating on the Line in the 12 months ending in September 2013. NSR states that the majority of these carloads consisted of caustic sodium used in the manufacturing of paper products. NSR states that the Line serves the following three customers: International Paper, Specialty Minerals Inc. (Specialty Minerals), and Meherrin Agriculture & Chemical (Meherrin).3 According to NSR, most of the carloads NSR handled were destined to International Paper. NSR states that International Paper is also served by CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT) and so would continue to have access to rail service if the proposed discontinuance were granted, and that all three shippers would also have extensive truck service options via the existing highway system. NSR adds that because the Line is stub-ended and no traffic has originated or terminated on the now-discontinued western segment since October 2013, there is no overhead traffic.

[matthewsaggie]

Google is your friend. Wikipedia entry about the A&D, and several sites with lots of NF&D info and some pics.

[Vern Moore]

My last observation of the A&D trackage in Emporia was about 8 years ago.  Back then the rails west of town looked recently used.

A Google Earth tour of the line shows the large Vulcan Materials quarry west of Emporia looking inactive and it would be a good guess that the quarry represented all the traffic on the line at the time.

I grew up near the A&D, near Danville and saw the line torn out back in the late 1970 early 1980s.  I was surprised to see the A&D still intact in Emporia, thinking it had all been pulled out when the segment from Danville to South Hill that I was familiar with was done.

[NILE]

This past weekend I was able to take a nice road trip in Southern VA.  While in Emporia, VA I drove along a rail line that has not been used in a long time.  It was rusty and a lot of brush grown between the rails.  When I got home and checked goodle maps I found something very interesting.  The line is intact from Emporia to Suffolk, but all the industries along the route have pulled up thier tracks and the crossing over CSX in Emporia has removed the diamond.  Through discussions with a friend, I think this is the old Atlantic and Danville.  Does anyone have any information on this line?  When did NS lease it?  When did it stop being used?  By the look of it, I'd say at least ten years.  My friend says it might not have been used since the 80s.  It amazes me that the rails are still there.