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103 South Wilson Street
P.O. Box 368
Chadbourn, North Carolina 28431
Phone: (910) 654-4134
Fax: (910) 654-3635

Reporting marks: CALA
Radio frequencies: 160.470, 161.505
Location of engine house: Chadbourn, North Carolina

Carolina Southern operates freight service from a CSX connection in Mullins, South Carolina to Whiteville, North Carolina, 37 miles. A branch runs from Chadbourn, North Carolina to Conway, South Carolina, 38.9 miles. Rail is 90 to 132 pound. Traffic includes coal, lumber, stone, brick and fertilizer, some 13,000 cars yearly.

The main line was built by the Wilmington, Columbia & Augusta and Wilmington & Manchester railroads. The Conway branch was built by the Wilmington, Chadbourn & Conway Railroad. All three railroads became part of the Atlantic Coast Line System. CSX sold the line to Duval Transportation and service began on March 28, 1987. Duval was renamed Mid-Atlantic Railroad on November 4 of that year. Mid-Atlantic was sold on February 7, 1995 to the current operator and renamed Carolina Southern. The company is owned by Ken Pippin.

The Carolina Southern also operates the Waccamaw Coast Line:

1551 Depot Road
P.O. Box 2202
Conway, South Carolina 29526

Reporting marks: WCLR
Radio frequencies: 461.450, 466.450
Location of engine house: Chadbourn, North Carolina
Phone: (803) 347-5301
Fax: 248-5790

The Waccamaw Coast Line branch extends from Conway, South Carolina to Myrtle Beach, 14.1 miles. Rail is 85 pound. Traffic includes stone, coal, lumber and brick. The line is former Atlantic Coast Line trackage which was acquired from CSX by Horry County and leased to Horry County Railroad in November, 1984. On October 10, 1987, the county leased the railroad to Waccamaw Coast Line. (See the article below the roster for more on Horry County and what they have planned for this line.)

The operating company is controlled by the Carolina Southern and locomotives of the two companies are pooled together:

#            Builder            Model            Horsepower            Notes
48          GM                 F7A                1500                        stored at Chadbourn/disrepair
87          GM                 SW1200         1200                        ex-Baltimore & Annapolis
88          GM                 F7A                1500                        stored at Chadbourn/disrepair
100        GM                 GP18              1800                        *
520        GM                 E8A                2250                        stored at Conway/disrepair
943        GM                 GP18              1800                        high, short hood, WCL paint
950        GM                 GP18              1800                        *
951        GM                 GP18              1800                        in black and gold trim paint
958        GM                 GP18              1800                        in Mid-Atlantic RR paint
2613      GM                 GP30              2250                        high, short hood, ex-Southern
4257      GM                 E8A                2250                        stored at Conway/disrepair
6622      GM                 F9BU             1750                        WCL lettering
9158      GM                 F7A                1500                        still in regular freight service *
9163      GM                 F7A                1750                        still in regular freight service *

* in red and white Carolina Southern paint

Carolina Southern also owns 70 box cars.

The line from Conway to Myrtle Beach also ran west to Aynor when it was still ACL. I don't know how long it has been abandoned.

Clinton Terminal Railroad Co. of North Carolina was once a division of the Waccamaw Coast Line. Former WCL CF7 #2480 operates there. This locomotive was once in WLC purple and gray. I have no information on it's present disposition or what paint it may be wearing now.

By Kevin Wiatrowski
THE SUN NEWS

published on Saturday 1-8-00
 

The prospect of selling the rail link between Myrtle Beach and Conway brought a concerned crowd to Horry County Council's three hour workshop Friday. The council took no action, but the overwhelming sentiment in the room was: Don't sell the line.

``We would encourage you to look at the fact that the right of way is key,'' Myrtle Beach City Councilwoman Rachel Broadhurst said. ``We do not know today what we will need that right of way for tomorrow.''

Many others argued against selling the railroad - and its right of way - to Ken Pippin, owner of Carolina Southern Railroad Co. Conway City Councilman Leslie McIver suggested letting the Coastal Rapid Public Transit Authority run the line.

``The railroad should remain in the hands of a public body,'' CRPTA board member George Rush said.

County staff recommends selling the line with some limitations.

Carolina Southern joins the Horry County Railroad at S.C. 905 in Conway. It runs to Mullins and Whiteville, N.C. Pippin has offered the county $850,000 for the corridor, which is valued at $1.25 million. He would spend $3 million modernizing the aging railroad.

The right of way varies from 100 feet to 50 feet wide over its 14 miles. Many people see in the 166-acre corridor a potential monorail or secondary road. Both are prohibitively expensive, argued Councilman Terry Cooper, R-Surfside Beach.

``I don't personally feel we'll see a monorail in Myrtle Beach, S.C., in our lifetime,'' he said. Cooper led negotiations with Pippin. He favors selling the line as far as the Intracoastal Waterway.

``Why do we need to go out and reinvent the wheel, when we have [Pippin] here?'' Cooper said. Instead of a future monorail to the beach, Pippin sees immediate benefits by taking freight off U.S. 501. He paid the county $147,717 last year to run 16,400 rail cars on the line - roughly equal to 74,000 trucks. Traffic on the line has tripled since Pippin began using it in 1993.

Councilmen Johnny Shelley, D-Pleasant View, and Marvin Heyd, R-Socastee, helped negotiate.

Both oppose selling.

``But if you're going to sell it, this is the most you're going to get out of it,'' Shelley said.
Pippin said even a 30 year lease wouldn't make it worth investing millions of dollars to modernize the line.

``Thirty years is only a third of what's needed,'' Pippin said.

The county has owned the rail line since 1984. In 1993, the county began looking for someone else to maintain the decaying line, which is now $355,000 in the red. Each time
the county has asked for someone to buy or lease the line, Pippin has offered to buy it
and the county has refused. A lease offer made in 1996 did not resurface when the council sought bids the third time in 1998.

``I'm not so sure the actions of this county haven't discouraged people from coming forward with a lease option,'' said Councilman John Kost, R-Myrtle Beach.

If the county keeps the line, it would cost at least $180,000 a year in upkeep, said Public Works Director Steve Gosnell. Broadhurst said Myrtle Beach would help with the costs.

``It's going to take a concentrated effort on behalf of all municipalities to make this thing work if it does not sell,'' said Councilman Chandler Brigham, R-Myrtle Beach.

Pippin has promised to keep access to the right of way free for most users. He also will give the county first crack at the line if Carolina Southern sells it in the future.
Passenger service - the dream of many at the workshop - would be difficult and expensive to create, but it's possible, Pippin said.

``Privatizing the line doesn't eliminate the transit option,'' Pippin said. 

Secondly, the Horry County Council are all complete morons for not selling the line to Pippin. Almost 80,000 trucks off the highway just in the past seven years. As anyone who knows the area well can testify, traffic is immense as is. I was just at the beach on Friday March 17, 2000, far away from the summer season and traffic came to a stand still just after getting into Conway. Add a couple of thousand trucks to the mix and you're going to have some very pissed off tourists who may decide to go elsewhere for their next vacation.

Another point on this subject, if Horry County gets it in their blood to tear up all the track, chances are the businesses along that part of the line aren't going to just move a few miles to where the Carolina Southern already has track. They're going to move out of the county and probably out of the state. Of course, the county may actually want this to happen. It will give them more room for camp grounds, gawdy hotels and more putt putt golf parks with plastic dinosaurs.

Thirdly, what Councilman Cooper proposes makes sense -- to sell the line to the Carolina Southern only as far as the Intracoastal Waterway, where a drawbridge is still in place. By abandoning the line east of there, it would give the county more space to widen the highway. A compromise such as this would seem to work for both parties. The line past the Vulcan Plant is in bad disrepair as it has not been used for some time. No business would be lost.

Another point to consider is that should the line fall in the hands of someone other than the Carolina Southern, the only connection with outside rail lines is, yes, Carolina Southern. While it may be technically illegal for Pippin to do this, it might be basic human nature to misplace a box car here or there from time to time. CSX and Norfolk Southern seem to do it all the time.

So, Horry County, get a clue. Sell the line to Pippin and work out a deal that will let you run excursion trains from Myrtle Beach, over the drawbridge and to Conway. He may even let you use a couple of his F units.

(Thanks to Chris Hamby for bringing this article to my attention though Trainorders.)

Carolina Southern Shots Page One
Carolina Southern Shots Page Two
Carolina Southern Shots Page Three
Carolina Southern Shots Page Four
Carolina Shortlines Page
Hinson's Railroad Photography: Shortlines of the Carolinas

jchinson@infoave.net