ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Railroads on the Gulf Coast and in the East are familiar with hurricane preparedness and plan accordingly for wind, storm surge, and flooding. But they cannot prepare for a hurricane causing an unprecedented, once-in-a-thousand-years event.
That’s what happened about 24 hours after Hurricane Helene made landfall on Sept. 26, 2024, as a Category 4 storm near Perry, Fla. While Gulf Coast railroads were essentially unscathed beyond routine downed trees, power outages, and washouts, the storm’s remnants settled over the Blue Ridge Mountains a day later, hitting mountain towns like Asheville, N.C., with 30 inches of rainfall.
The unprecedented rains decimated the region’s railroads. Norfolk Southern’s S-Line between Asheville, N.C., and Newport, Tenn., saw miles of railroad washouts alongside the French Broad River. Weeks after the hurricane, a bridge collapsed in Newport, Tenn. NS isn’t expecting to restore service until the end of January 2025.
Watco’s Blue Ridge Southern Railroad, which relies on NS interchange service, has been disconnected from the national freight network since September.
East of Asheville, NS’s famed Southern Railway route across the Old Fort loops is still impassable and the railroad hasn’t indicated when, or if, it will restore rail service across the loops between Asheville and Old Fort, N.C.
CSX’s former Clinchfield Railroad through the Nolichucky River gorge was largely unrecognizable after the storm. Like NS, CSX hasn’t moved anything besides work trains south from Erwin, Tenn., since late September. It will be months before CSX reopens the 40 miles of washed out railroad spanning from eastern Tennessee into western North Carolina. At least one major bridge at Poplar, N.C., will be replaced.
CSX lost everything in Helene’s aftermath to the extent that the right-of-way wasn’t distinguishable between the Nolichucky River in some locations. CSX has since deployed hundreds of employees and contractors and moved tens of thousands of tons of rock into the area.
Its recovery efforts, which began immediately after waters receded, have caused controversy among outdoor whitewater groups, saying the railroad’s use of riverbed rock is reshaping the Nolichucky’s flow and jeopardizing the future use of the river by whitewater rafters. After filing federal lawsuits against the railroad, a Tennessee agency rordered CSX to immediately stop the use of river rock in rebuilding and strengthening its new right-of-way. The agency also ordered CSX to stop drilling cut rail into the riverbed— to strengthen its new roadbed— and restore to preexisting conditions the areas where the railroad built makeshift access roads.
CSX still hasn’t publicly disclosed when the Clinchfield will reopen, but estimates the repairs will cost more than $150 million. As part of its recovery effort, the railroad also held a special event for residents in the Erwin, Tenn., area just prior to its annual Santa Train.
Less than two weeks after Helene’s devastation, Florida railroads were on high alert once again as Hurricane Milton approached the Gulf Coast. The storm briefly intensified to Category 5 status a few hundred miles off Florida’s coast, prompting widespread freight wind downs and passenger rail cancellations.
Amtrak annulled its Silver Star, Silver Meteor, and Auto Train for much of the week of Oct. 7 and Orlando’s SunRail commuter and Brightline’s passenger rail operations were shuttered for two days
After Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, Fla., near Sarasota, Fla., on Oct. 9, it took freight railroads several days to assess damages. CSX sustained widespread washouts and downed trees, mostly affecting operations around Lakeland, Fla., causing multi-day closures on the railroad’s Carters Subdivision between Lakeland, Fla., and Aubuerndale, Fla., as well as its Vitis Subdivision between Lakeland, Fla., and Vitis Jct., near Richland, Fla
Regional Rail, which operates four short line railroads across central Florida, spent days inspecting track, assessing damages and repairing washouts. While damages were not as significant as those felt by Appalachian railroads after Helene, Milton’s impacts shut down Florida freight rail service for about 96 hours before and after the storm.
Prior News Wire coverage:
CSX’s former Clinchfield largely unrecognizable after historic flood, Sept. 28, 2024
Norfolk Southern line into Asheville, N.C., to be closed at least three months, Oct. 10, 2024
CSX, short lines in recovery mode after Hurricane Milton, Oct. 11, 2024
Bridge collapses on flood-damaged Norfolk Southern line, Oct. 24, 2024
Whitewater advocates sue federal government over CSX’s Clinchfield repairs, Nov. 19, 2024
CSX brings Holiday Express event to Erwin, Tenn., Nov. 23, 2024
Judge denies request for restraining order to stop CSX rebuild in Nolichucky Gorge, Nov. 26, 2024
Tennessee agency orders CSX to stop using river rock in Clinchfield rehab, Dec. 5, 2024
