The North Carolina Railroad is a state-owned rail corridor extending from

Morehead City, North Carolina Morehead City is a port town in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,661 at the 2010 census. Morehead City celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding on May 5, 2007. It forms part of the Crystal Coast. Hist ...

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. The railroad carries over seventy freight trains offered by the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

and eight passenger trains (

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

's Carolinian and

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

) daily. It is managed by the North Carolina Railroad Company and operated by Norfolk Southern.

History

In 1848 the

North Carolina legislature The North Carolina General Assembly is the bicameral legislature of the State government of North Carolina. The legislature consists of two chambers: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The General Assembly meets in the North Carolina ...

authorized a railroad that would connect the eastern part of the state with the

. North Carolina Senate President Calvin Graves cast the deciding vote, ensuring the railroad would be built, but ending his political career because it would not pass through his district. The North Carolina Railroad was incorporated January 27, 1849 by special act of the

.Interstate Commerce Commission. ''Southern Ry. Co.'', Volume 37, Interstate Commerce Commission Valuation Reports, November 6, 1931, p. 437. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1932. . In 1851 Senator Graves was given the honor of lifting the first shovel of dirt as construction of the railroad began in

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...

. Three years later, in 1854, the railroad's first president, businessman

John Motley Morehead John Motley Morehead (July 4, 1796 – August 27, 1866) was an American lawyer and politician who became the 29th governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina (1841 to 1845). He became known as "the Father of Modern North Carolina." Early and ...

, dubbed the rail line "the tree of life" for the state. Approximately 130 miles of the Confederate Railroads - North Carolina
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gauge Gauge ( or ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, es ...

railroad between

Goldsboro, North Carolina Goldsboro, originally Goldsborough, is a city and the county seat of Wayne County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 33,657 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of and is included in the Goldsboro, North Carolina Metropol ...

and Greensboro was opened for operation on December 13, 1855. Approximately 94 miles of the railroad between Greensboro and

was opened for operation on January 30, 1856. In early 1856 the first train traveled along the entire route, from Goldsboro to Charlotte. In 1858 the

Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad Company was incorporated under act of the North Carolina Legislature, ratified December 27, 1852, and was organized on January 20, 1854.Interstate Commerce Commission. Valuation Docket No. 31, ''Norfolk Souther ...

was completed, opening of rail between Goldsboro and Shepard's Point, now

. Efforts to consolidate the Atlantic and North Carolina with the NCRR were initiated in 1866, but it would take until 1989 to complete the merger and consolidate the railroads from Morehead City to Charlotte. The North Carolina Railroad was leased to the

Richmond and Danville Railroad The Richmond and Danville Railroad (R&D) Company was a railroad that operated independently from 1847 until 1894, first in the U.S. state of Virginia, and later on of track in nine states. Chartered on March 9, 1847, the railroad completed its ...

Company and its receiver from September 11, 1871 to June 30, 1894. From July 1, 1894, the North Carolina Railroad was leased to the R&D's successor, Southern Railway Company for a 99-year period. Southern merged with

Norfolk & Western Railway The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precisio ...

to form

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway (U.S.), Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the ...

, which inherited the NCRR lease. Norfolk Southern retained control of the railroad until 1999, when NCRR and Norfolk Southern reached an exclusive Trackage Rights Agreement for Norfolk Southern’s continuing freight and maintenance operations on the NCRR line for 15 years, renewable for an additional 30 years. One year prior to the establishment of this new lease with Norfolk Southern, in 1998, the State of North Carolina agreed to buy out the remaining 25% private shares of NCRR stock, making it a privately run company with the voting stock fully owned by the state. In 2000, the North Carolina legislature established by statute that North Carolina Railroad Company dividends paid to the State were required to be used by the

North Carolina Department of Transportation The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) is responsible for building, repairing, and operating highways, bridges, and other modes of transportation, including ferries in the U.S. state of North Carolina. History The North Carolina ...

for improvements to the NCRR line. At that time, NCRR was a Real Estate Investment Trust. In 2013, the legislature rewrote this statute to provide that the dividends of the North Carolina Railroad Company received by the NCDOT may be used by NCDOT for the purposes set forth in the statute.

NCRR Today

Recently, North Carolina Railroad Company added three new passing sidings over eight miles and centralized traffic control between Raleigh and Selma (30 miles) in order to increase capacity for both freight and passenger trains. The Company is also replacing several other bridges along the corridor to improve safety, efficiency, and speed. Other improvements made by the NCRR since 2001 include rail and bridge upgrades between Raleigh and Morehead City, NC at a cost in excess of $60 million. In 2010, the Company completed commuter rail investment and ridership studies for the segments between Goldsboro and Greensboro, through Raleigh. Beginning in 2008, the North Carolina Railroad Company is working with the

and Norfolk Southern to improve crossing safety on the eastern portion of the line by upgrading gates and crossing signals. The Company is also working with these parties to add or replace

double track A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track. Overview In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most lin ...

between Charlotte and Raleigh in an initiative to extend higher speed passenger rail south to Charlotte from Washington via Richmond, Virginia. The North Carolina Railroad was instrumental in encouraging the economic development of North Carolina in the 19th century, helping to define new markets, new industries, and new cities and today NCRR continues to contribute to the state’s economy. The North Carolina Railroad carries over one million carloads of freight each year and about 300,000 passengers. Based on a 2007 study by the

Research Triangle Institute Research Triangle Institute, trading as RTI International, is a nonprofit organization headquartered in the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina. RTI provides research and technical services. It was founded in 1958 with $500,000 in funding f ...

, the North Carolina Railroad saves North Carolina industries $198 million in transportation costs annually, and the total impact on North Carolina economic output is $338 million annually. In 2005, in counties bordering NCRR tracks, industries using rail freight services accounted for $143 billion in output, more than 24% of North Carolina’s total economy. NCRR freight transportation also has environmental benefits, conveying $65.7 million in

external benefit In economics, an externality or external cost is an indirect cost or benefit to an uninvolved third party that arises as an effect of another party's (or parties') activity. Externalities can be considered as unpriced goods involved in either co ...

Footnotes

References

*Interstate Commerce Commission. ''Southern Ry. Co.'', Volume 37, Interstate Commerce Commission Valuation Reports, November 6, 1931, p. 437. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1932. .
NCRR WebsiteResearch Triangle Institute Study, September 2014
{{DEFAULTSORT:North Carolina Railroad 4 ft 8 in gauge railways in the United States North Carolina railroads Transportation in North Carolina Predecessors of the Southern Railway (U.S.) Railway companies established in 1849 Non-operating common carrier freight railroads in the United States Norfolk Southern Railway lines 1849 establishments in North Carolina

History

NCRR Today

See also

Footnotes

References