The Columbia, Newberry and Laurens Railroad was a railroad line between Columbia and Laurens. In 1885, the South Carolina General Assembly issued a charter for the Columbia, Newberry and Laurens Railroad,South Carolina Railroads, Columbia, Newberry and Laurens Railroad
/ref> and the line was officially christened on Christmas Day 1885. In 1890, work began on the track and by July 1891, the line was complete from Columbia through

Newberry Newberry is a surname, a variant of Newbury. Notable people with the surname include: * Booker Newberry III (1956–2023), American singer and keyboardist * Brennan Newberry (born, 1990), American professional stock car racing driver * Brian Ne ...

to Dover Junction, nearly north of the state capital. In 1896, the

Laurens Railroad The Laurens Railroad was a gauge shortline railroad started in 1854 that served the South Carolina Upstate region before, during, and after the Civil War. By 1861, the 32-mile line was carrying 8,500 passengers a day, and by 1881 it had been reorga ...

was purchased from the Richmond & Danville Railroad to complete the line to Laurens. The first locomotive of the CN&L was built in 1887 and sold in 1922. The CN&L ran daily passenger trains from

Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

in Columbia to Laurens, always pulled by steam until the early 1930s, when it switched to its own station in Columbia at 630 Gervais Street. Passenger service was discontinued in 1952. The railroad saw to the creation of towns along its line. Towns such as Irmo, Chapin, Little Mountain,

Prosperity Prosperity is the flourishing, thriving, good fortune and successful social status. Prosperity often produces profuse wealth including other factors which can be profusely wealthy in all degrees, such as happiness and health. Competing notions ...

and

Joanna Joanna is a feminine given name deriving from from . Variants in English include Joan, Joann, Joanne, and Johanna. Other forms of the name in English are Jan, Jane, Janet, Janice, Jean, and Jeanne. The earliest recorded occurrence of th ...

owe their existence in part to their locations along the CN&L. In 1924 the

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was a United States Class I railroad formed in 1900, though predecessor railroads had used the ACL brand since 1871. In 1967, it merged with long-time rival Seaboard Air Line Railroad to form the Seaboard Coast ...

acquired control of the line. It became part of the

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

system in 1984.''Irmo and the Dutch Fork Legacy'', The Columbia, Newberry and Laurens Railroad
/ref>

See also

References

Further reading