The R-Line is a secondary main railway line running between

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 ...

and

Augusta, Georgia Augusta ( ), officially Augusta–Richmond County, is a consolidated city-county on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies across the Savannah River from South Carolina at the head of its navig ...

, United States, which is home to the greatest train to traverse the railroads system, NS 12R. The line is operated by Norfolk Southern (NS) as part of the railway's Piedmont Division. The R-Line originally operated by the former

Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta Railroad The Charlotte, Columbia and Augusta Railroad was formed in 1869 with the merger of the Charlotte and South Carolina Railroad and the Columbia and Augusta Railroad. Route The combined line stretched for over between Charlotte, North Carolina, an ...

before being merged in 1878 with the

Richmond and Danville 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 ...

which merged with the

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

in 1894. Today it is now operated by NS. Trains on the R-Line are mostly

manifest Manifest may refer to: Computing * Manifest file, a metadata file that enumerates files in a program or package * Manifest (CLI), a metadata text file for CLI assemblies Events * Manifest (convention), a defunct anime festival in Melbourne, Aus ...

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

scrap Scrap consists of Recycling, recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap Waste valorization, has monetary ...

, chemicals, and locals. Manifests to and from

Linwood Yard Spencer Yard aka Linwood Yard is one of the largest classification railroad yards in North Carolina. It is also one of the remaining hump yards in North America, which are steadily being eliminated. The yard is operated by Norfolk Southern Railwa ...

use the line on a daily basis. Grain trains that use the R-Line are bound to and from

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...

. Crew changes for Linwood Yard and Asheville through trains occur in

Salisbury, North Carolina Salisbury is a city in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, United States; it has been the county seat of Rowan County since 1753 when its territory extended to the Mississippi River. Located northeast of Charlotte and within its metropolita ...

. All trains are required to be given track authorities from the Columbia Dispatcher. All southbound trains on the R-Line make connections to Savannah and Atlanta via the D-Line from Augusta, GA. All trains on the R-Line must stop in the Norfolk Southern Columbia Yard.

History

The Norfolk Southern R-Line was originally built and owned by the Charlotte and South Carolina Railway in 1852. It was acquired by the Southern Railway in 1892. Trains continue to operate on the R-Line today and are all operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway. Trains historically ran from Augusta, GA to downtown Charlotte direct without using the present-day Norfolk Southern Charlotte District. In 1950 the Berryhill Cutoff was created connecting the R-line in South Charlotte to the Piedmont Division via Charlotte Junction keeping traffic off the South Charlotte to Uptown Charlotte Segment. Locals ran on the short segment of track until 1990. By then the segment of track was designated as the 'Old R Line' by the FRA. In the late 1990s/early 2000s a temporary streetcar operation was done on the same right of way from Atherton Mill station in South End to Scaleybark Road in South Charlotte while roadbed was being rebuilt for operations from Atherton Mill to uptown Charlotte for future trolley operations. All operations on the old R Line ceased in 2002 once the new trolley main opened. All old tracks and signaling were later removed and rebuilt on the right of way between 2005-2007 to make way for what is the present day

Lynx Blue Line The Lynx Blue Line is a light rail line in Charlotte, North Carolina. Opened in 2007, it was the first rail line of the Charlotte Area Transit System, and the first major rapid rail service of any kind in the state. The 26-station, line extends ...

. Some of the Lynx right of way had to be re-accommodated next to the active portions of the NS R-line.

References

{{Reflist Norfolk Southern Railway lines Rail infrastructure in North Carolina Rail infrastructure in South Carolina Rail infrastructure in Georgia (U.S. state)