Aberdeen Carolina and Western Railway Company Summary
Aberdeen Carolina and Western Railway Company (ACWR) is a regional railroad that operates in North Carolina. It’s owned by Robert Menzies who also serves as chairman. A total of 150 miles of standard-gauge track runs from Charlotte to Raleigh as the main line with a branch extending south to Pinehurst.
History
The Aberdeen Carolina and Western runs on the original Norfolk Southern Railway that was buying smaller rail lines at the time to complete its Raleigh to Charlotte connection. The most notable line being the 34.5-mile Aberdeen to Star branch, originally built for logging and lumber, and known for Pullman passenger trains carrying golfers to the Pinehurst Resort. By 1974, passenger service to the golf resort was discontinued and the Southern Railway purchased the NS Railway for access to agricultural phosphates.
In August 1983, Southern’s successor, the new Norfolk Southern sold the Star-Aberdeen line to Willard Formyduval with operations resuming as the Aberdeen & Briar Patch Railroad. Robert Menzies assumed ownership three years later and not only gave the struggling railroad a new name – Aberdeen Carolina and Western Railway – but a new path of success and growth. Since 1989, the ACWR leased the additional 104-mile Piedmont Subdivision from NS between Charlotte to Raleigh until gaining full ownership of the line at the end of 2022.
Operations
The busy Aberdeen Carolina and Western Railway serves approximately 20 customers, including two major chicken-feed plants. Both located in Candor, Perdue Farms and Mountainaire Farms have become anchor customers to the success on the ACWR. The railroad also hauls unit trains, which make up 60 percent of the business. Outbound aggregates are shipped with inbound ethanol going to a Cargill plant on the Charlotte section for distribution to gasoline makers. Other traffic commodities include plastics, outbound dimensional lumber, wood chips, brick, inbound butane, and propane.
The Aberdeen Carolina and Western rosters 20 EMD diesel locomotives, including seven wide-nosed GP40-2s, 12 SD40-3s and one slug unit. A small fleet of vintage EMD E and F units have been growing to power the railroad’s 12-car passenger train for business development events. The varnish fleet was used during the 2014 U.S. Open in Pinehurst to commemorate the historic station that once welcomed golfers to the resort. The railroad’s green, cream and magenta color scheme can be found on both the locomotives and passenger cars.
The Star to Gulf section of the ACWR uses the NS interchange at Gulf. Cars going to the Class I railroad are handed off at the yard on the north side of uptown Charlotte. The Aberdeen Carolina and Western also interchanges with the Winston-Salem Southbound Railway at Norwood. Motive power from CSX Transportation is used for the unit trains through the ACWR with the regional railroad’s crew handling the operation. This eliminates the extra time needed to switch locomotives at the interchange.
Read more about the Aberdeen Carolina and Western Railway Company in Trains’ June 2017 issue.
