The Wilmington and Weldon Railroad (W&W) name began use in 1855, having been originally chartered as the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad in 1834. At the time of its completion in 1840, the line was the longest railroad in the world with of track. It was constructed in

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 ...

. At its terminus in

Weldon, North Carolina Weldon is a town in Halifax County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,655 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina Micropolitan Statistical Area. History In 1752, Daniel Weldon purchased 1,273 acre ...

, it connected with the

Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad The Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad was organized in 1833 (as the Portsmouth and Roanoke Railroad) to extend from the area of the rapids of the Roanoke River at its fall line near Weldon, North Carolina to Portsmouth, Virginia, across the Elizabet ...

(to

Portsmouth, Virginia Portsmouth is an independent city in southeast Virginia and across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,915. It is part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Naval M ...

) and the

Petersburg Railroad The Petersburg Railroad ran from Petersburg, Virginia, south to Garysburg, North Carolina, from which it ran to Weldon via trackage rights over the Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad (later eliminated with a new alignment). History Founding In 183 ...

(to

Petersburg, Virginia Petersburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,458. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines Petersburg (along with the city of Colonial Heights) with Din ...

). The railroad also gave rise to the city of

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 ...

, the midpoint of the W&W RR and the railroad intersection with the

North Carolina Railroad The North Carolina Railroad is a state-owned rail corridor extending from Morehead City, North Carolina to Charlotte, North Carolina. The railroad carries over seventy freight trains offered by the Norfolk Southern Railway and eight passenger t ...

History

Among the early employees of the W&W RR was assistant engineer

William G. Lewis William Gaston Lewis (September 3, 1835 – January 7, 1901) was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. Early life William G. Lewis was born September 3, 1835, in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. He was the son of Dr. John Wesley Lewi ...

. The future Civil War general began his railroad career in 1858. From 1854 to 1871 S.L. Fremont was Chief Engineer and Superintendent.

Fremont, North Carolina Fremont is a town in Wayne County, North Carolina, Wayne County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,255 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Goldsboro, North Carolina Goldsboro metropolitan area, Metropolitan Statistical Are ...

, is named in his honor. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, the railroad was used heavily by the Confederacy for transporting troops and supplies. The railroad also played a key role in the

Siege of Petersburg The Richmond–Petersburg campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg, Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865, during the American Civil War. Although it is more popularly known as the Siege of Petersburg, it was not a cla ...

. The cities of Wilmington and Goldsboro fell in 1865 at the end of the war, and the railroad was badly damaged. The railroad managed to rebuild after the war. By 1866, the bridge over the

Cape Fear River The Cape Fear River is a long blackwater river in east central North Carolina. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Fear, from which it takes its name. The river is formed at the confluence of the Haw River and the Deep River (North Carol ...

was rebuilt, which reconnected the line to Wilmington. By 1869, the W&W and other railroads in the Carolinas were purchased by a group of Baltimore capitalists including

William T. Walters William Thompson Walters (May 23, 1820 – November 22, 1894) was an American businessman and art collector, whose collection formed the basis of the Walters Art Museum. Early life Walters was born on the Juniata River in Liverpool, Penn ...

. This group of lines were advertised as the Atlantic Coast Line, but were still operated independently. In 1872, the W&W was leased by the Wilmington, Columbia and Augusta Railroad, but this lease ended in 1878 when the WC&A went bankrupt. The W&W was officially 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 L ...

(ACL) on April 21, 1900. The ACL established its headquarters in Wilmington. The Wilmington and Weldon Railroad from Weldon to Conentnea would become part of the ACL's main line, with the remaining line south to Wilmington becoming the ACL's Contentnea–Wilmington Line (C Line).Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Northern Division Timetable (1949)
/ref> In 1909, the ACL realigned the track in Goldsboro to bypass the center of town in conjunction with the opening of

Goldsboro Union Station The Goldsboro Union Station is a former passenger train, passenger train station, train depot and future Intermodal passenger transport, intermodal transit station in Goldsboro, North Carolina, United States. Originally operating from 1909 to 1968 ...

. The line's original alignment along Center Street was removed in 1925. The Atlantic Coast Line became 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 ...

in 1967 after merging with their former rival, the

Seaboard Air Line Railroad The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , which styled itself "The Route of Courteous Service," was an American railroad which existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime rival, t ...

. 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 und ...

, 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 merger. T ...

. 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 operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

. The ex-ACL main line is still in service as CSX's A Line. The former W&W from Contentnea south is now CSX's

W&W Subdivision The W&W Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The line runs from just south of Wilson, North Carolina, to Wallace, North Carolina, for a total of 69.1 miles. At its north end the line conn ...

(named in reference to the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad).

Branches

In addition to the main line between its namesake cities, the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad also operated a number of branch lines.

Scotland Neck (Kinston) Branch

The Scotland Neck Branch was built in 1882 by the Scotland Neck Railroad. It connected with the main line at Pender (just south of Halifax) and ran southeast to Scotland Neck. In 1883, it was acquired by the W&W and by 1890, it had been extended south to Kinston. The branch was then known as the Kinston Branch (A Branch) after W&W was merged into the Atlantic Coast Line. Today, the branch is still in service from Parmele to just north of Kinston. The remaining line is now CSX's

Parmele Subdivision The CSX Parmele Sub (the Old Atlantic Coastline Branch) is a branch railway line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It dispatches at Parmele and heads south towards Greenville. In Greenville, the tracks ...

Nashville Branch

The Nashville Branch was built in 1887 and ran from the main line at Rocky Mount west to

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

and Spring Hope. CSX sold the branch to the

Nash County Railroad The Nash County Railroad was the operator of the Rocky Mount & Western railroad, connecting with CSX Transportation at Rocky Mount and running to Nashville, North Carolina. This short line railroad was created in 1985 and was formerly a subsi ...

in 1985. It was sold again in 2011 to the Carolina Coastal Railway, who operates it today.

Tarboro Branch

The Tarboro Branch was built in 1850 and ran from the main line at Rocky Mount east to Tarboro. 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 App ...

. It was extended again in 1890 to

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

. The W&W acquired the Albemarle and Raleigh Railroad in 1885. After the W&W was merged into the Atlantic Coast Line, the branch was part of the ACL's Norfolk–Rocky Mount Line (B Line) west of Tarboro (which continued to Norfolk via the former Norfolk and Carolina Railroad). East of Tarboro, it was known as the Plymouth Branch (BC Branch). The branch is still in service today and it is CSX's Tarboro Subdivision.

Midland Branch

The Midland Branch ran from the main line at Goldsboro west to Smithfield. It was originally chartered as the Smithfield & Goldsboro Railroad and it was built by its parent company, the Midland North Carolina Railway. It was acquired by the W&W in 1885. It was named the Midland Branch after the Midland North Carolina Railway. The branch closely paralleled the

(which was operated by the Southern Railway). Atlantic Coast Line abandoned the Midland Branch in 1930.

Clinton Branch

The Clinton Branch was built in 1887 and ran from the main line at

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

west to Clinton. The Clinton Branch (known today simply as the Clinton Spur) is still in service today and it is partially operated by the Clinton Railroad.

Stations

Main Line Scotland Neck Branch Nashville Branch Tarboro Branch Midland Branch Clinton Branch

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilmington Weldon Railroad 4 ft 8 in gauge railways in the United States Defunct North Carolina railroads Predecessors of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Railway companies established in 1855 Railway companies disestablished in 1900 Defunct South Carolina railroads 1855 establishments in North Carolina 1900 disestablishments in North Carolina American companies disestablished in 1900