The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's Norfolk—Rocky Mount Line (B Line) was one of the company's secondary main lines running from the company's main line in

Rocky Mount, North Carolina Rocky Mount is a city in Nash and Edgecombe counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The city's population was 54,341 as of the 2020 census, making it the 20th-most populous city in North Carolina. The city is east of Raleigh, the st ...

northeast to a point just outside of

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

. Despite its name, it terminated at Pinners Point in

Portsmouth, Virginia Portsmouth is an Independent city (United States), independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. It lies across the Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth River from Norfolk, Virginia, Norfolk. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

(just across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk). Bus and ferry service connected passengers to Norfolk.Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Northern Division Timetable (1949)
/ref>

Route description

The Norfolk—Rocky Mount Line Line began at a junction with the Atlantic Coast Line's main line in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. The junction was named on employee timetables as South Rocky Mount. From South Rocky Mount, it ran east to Tarboro, North Carolina, where it turned northeast. After Tarboro, it passed through Hobgood, Kelford, Aulander, Ahoskie, and Cofield. It crossed the

Chowan River The Chowan River (cho-WAHHN)
, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

just beyond Drum Hill. Once in Virginia, it headed straight for

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

. It turned east in Suffolk and came to an end at Pinners Point in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, just outside of Norfolk. The line's Plymouth Branch ran from the line in Tarboro and headed east to Williamston and

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

History

The first segment of the Norfolk—Rocky Mount Line was built in 1849 from Rocky Mount east to

Tarboro Tarboro is a town located in Edgecombe County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Rocky Mount metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the town had a population of 10,721. It is the county seat of Edgecombe County. The town is o ...

, which was built as the Tarboro Branch of the

Wilmington and Weldon Railroad The Wilmington and Weldon Railroad (W&W) name began use in 1855, having been originally chartered as the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad in 1834. When it opened in 1840, the line was the longest railroad in the world with of track. It was constr ...

. In 1882, the Albemarle and Raleigh Railroad was built which extended the branch east to Williamston on the

Roanoke River The Roanoke River ( ) runs long through southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the United States. A major river of the southeastern United States, it drains a largely rural area of the coastal plain from the eastern edge of the ...

. The Albemarle and Raleigh Railroad was acquired by the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad in 1885 and was extended in 1890 to

. Track from Tarboro to Pinners Point in Portsmouth was chartered in 1886 by the Chowan and Southern Railroad, though its name was changed to the Norfolk and Carolina Railroad by the time it opened in 1890. By 1900, the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad and the Norfolk and Carolina Railroad has been fully merged into 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 ...

. The company then designated the line from Rocky Mount to Pinners Point as the Norfolk–Rocky Mount Line. Track from Tarboro to Plymouth became the Plymouth Branch. The Atlantic Coast Line ran passenger and freight trains on the Norfolk—Rocky Mount Line. By 1949, they were running two round-trip passenger trains daily along with up to three round-trip freight trains a day. A local freight train ran the Plymouth Branch six days a week at the same time. By 1957, only freight trains were running from Rocky Mount to Pinners Point. In 1967, the Atlantic Coast Line merged with its rival, the

Seaboard Air Line Railroad The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , known colloquially as the Seaboard Railroad during its time, was an American railroad that existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime ri ...

(SAL), who also had a line to Portsmouth (the Portsmouth Subdivision). Upon completion, the merged company was named the

Seaboard Coast Line Railroad The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad was a Class I railroad company operating in the Southeastern United States beginning in 1967. Its passenger operations were taken over by Amtrak in 1971. Eventually, the railroad was merged with its affiliate lin ...

(SCL). The company adopted the Seaboard Air Line's method of naming their lines as subdivisions and as a result, the Norfolk—Rocky Mount Line was designated as the East End Subdivision and the Plymouth Branch became the Plymouth Subdivision. By the mid-1970s, the Seaboard Coast Line was primarily using the Portsmouth Subdivision to serve the Portsmouth area. Due to this and the fact that some bridges along the East End Subdivision were in need of repairs, the Seaboard Coast Line abandoned much of the line between Tarboro and Portsmouth in 1981. Track was then removed from Tarboro to Kelford and from Cofield to Portsmouth. In 1980, the Seaboard Coast Line's parent company merged with the

Chessie System Chessie System, Inc. was a holding company that owned the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O), the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), the Western Maryland Railway (WM), and Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad (B&OCT). Trains operated u ...

, creating the

CSX Corporation CSX Corporation is an American holding company focused on rail transportation and real estate in North America, among other industries. The company was established in 1980 as part of the Chessie System and Seaboard Coast Line Industries merge ...

. The CSX Corporation initially operated the Chessie and Seaboard Systems separately until 1986, when they were merged into

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 ...

Current operations

Today, the Norfolk—Rocky Mount Line is still in service in two discontinuous segments.

Tarboro Subdivision

The line from Rocky Mount to Tarboro and the Plymouth Branch are still in service as CSX's Tarboro Subdivision. It connects with CSX's A Line just north of Rocky Mount Yard. It also connects with CSX's Parmele Subdivision in Parmele and the

Carolina Coastal Railway Carolina Coastal Railway is a shortline railroad that operates several lines in North Carolina and one line in South Carolina. According to its current website, the railroad spans 179 track miles and operates sixteen locomotives. History CLNA w ...

in Plymouth.

Tarboro to Norfolk

The only other segment of the line that is still in service is from Kelford to Cofield. This segment is operated by the North Carolina and Virginia Railroad, which also operates former Seaboard Air Line track from Kelford to Boykins. CSX sold this segment of the line to the North Carolina and Virginia Railroad in 1987. Segments of the former line between Suffolk and Portsmouth have been converted to

rail trail A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a Right of way#Rail right of way, 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 rail corr ...

s, including the Suffolk Seaboard Coastline Trail and the Western Branch Chesapeake Trail.

Historic stations

References

{{reflist Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Rail infrastructure in North Carolina Rail infrastructure in Virginia