Saluda Grade is the steepest

standard-gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

mainline

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

grade Grade most commonly refers to: * Grade (education), a measurement of a student's performance * Grade, the number of the year a student has reached in a given educational stage * Grade (slope), the steepness of a slope Grade or grading may also ref ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

.. Owned 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 ...

as part of its W Line, Saluda Grade in

Polk County, North Carolina Polk County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,328. Its county seat is Columbus. The county was formed in 1855 from parts of Henderson and Rutherford counties. It was named fo ...

, gains in elevation in less than between Melrose and Saluda. Average grade is 4.24 percent for and maximum is 4.9% for about . In late 2001, Norfolk Southern took the grade out of service following a washout.

History

Captain Charles W. Pearson was assigned to select a route for the Asheville and Spartanburg Railroad to ascend the Blue Ridge front; the area where the rolling hills of the

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

end at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Despite numerous surveys, no route was available for a railroad to ascend the mountains at a tolerable grade, and the best route followed the

Pacolet River The Pacolet River is a tributary of the Broad River, about 50 miles (80 km) long, in northwestern South Carolina in the United States.Tryon is today, at , and continues on the south side of the Pacolet valley. At Melrose, the Saluda Grade begins and climbs to the town of Saluda, cresting in the center of town at an elevation of . Saluda Grade Pearson West

Because of accidents involving downgrade runaway trains in the late 1880s, the then Southern Railway built two runaway safety

spur A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse or other animal to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids (commands) and to back ...

tracks. These were originally manned junctions, which were always switched to a pile of earth, which could stop downgrade runaway trains. Only upon hearing a whistle signal from the downgrade train would the signalman manning the spur junction throw the switch to keep the train on the main line. In later years, CTC signaling was installed along with automated switches and timer circuits for the one surviving runaway safety track at the bottom of the grade at Melrose. Trains running downgrade were required to maintain when approaching the runaway track switch. This would allow a timer circuit to determine if a train was under control, in which case the switch from the runaway track at Melrose would be aligned to the mainline. But for speed greater than the switch would remain aligned for the runaway track. Saluda Grade was one of the few grades in the country where uphill trains could travel faster than their downhill counterparts. Most uphill trains had to double or triple the grade, splitting the train into sections to be taken up the grade to Saluda one at a time and reassembled there for the rest of the trip to Asheville. Norfolk Southern suspended freight traffic between

East Flat Rock, North Carolina East Flat Rock is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in Henderson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 4,995 at the 2010 census, up from 4,151 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan ...

and

Landrum, South Carolina Landrum is a city in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 2,376 at the 2010 census. Landrum was founded in 1880 and incorporated in 1912. It is located just west of Interstate 26 between Spartanburg and Asheville ...

in December 2001, thus ceasing operations on the Saluda Grade. In April 2003, Norfolk Southern severed the line from the rest of its system by placing mounds of dirt over the tracks and disconnecting the rails at mile posts 26 and 45. The signal system is not in use, and

grade crossings A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term also ...

have had their arms removed and signals covered. Norfolk Southern has inspected and maintained the right-of-way since placing the segment out of service, removing fallen trees and spraying herbicide on encroaching vegetation, but at least four washouts of the roadbed have occurred between Saluda and South Carolina, rendering the line impassable. Talks of a

passenger train A passenger train is a train used to transport people along a railroad line. These trains may consist of unpowered passenger railroad cars (also known as coaches or carriages) hauled by one or more locomotives, or may be self-propelled; self pr ...

excursion and a

Rails-to-trails A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...

conversion have made no headway in recent years, and Norfolk Southern states it does not intend to abandon the line. However, in 2014, Norfolk Southern sold a portion of the W Line south of Asheville between mile posts 1 and 26 to

Watco Watco Companies, L.L.C. (Watco) is a transportation company based in Pittsburg, Kansas, formed in 1983 by Charles R. Webb. Watco was composed of four divisions: transportation, mechanical, terminal and port services, and compliance. Watco is th ...

, a Class III

shortline railroad :''Short Line is also one of the four railroads in the American version of the popular board game Monopoly, named after the Shore Fast Line, an interurban streetcar line.'' A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that opera ...

operator. Watco operates the line as the

Blue Ridge Southern Railroad The Blue Ridge Southern Railroad is a Class III shortline railroad operating over of track in Western North Carolina. The railroad is owned by Watco of Pittsburg, Kansas, and operates three lines that connect in the Asheville area that were pr ...

. Norfolk Southern still retains ownership of the out-of-service segment over the Saluda Grade. On July 20, 2022, Upstate Forever announced its intent to turn the portions of the abandoned Saluda Grade into a rail trail. However, the conversion to a trail is contingent on a purchase agreement from Norfolk Southern.

References

Bibliography

External links

Saluda Historic Depot - Official website
{{coord, 35, 13, 25, N, 82, 20, 52, W, display=title Southern Railway (U.S.) Norfolk Southern Railway Rail infrastructure in North Carolina Railway inclines in the United States

History

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading

External links