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268 Main Street
Laurens, SC 29360
Phone: (864) 984-0040
Fax: (864) 984-0043
Reporting marks: CPDR
Radio frequencies: 160.770, 161.085
Location of engine house: Laurens, SC
Carolina Piedmont operates freight service from a CSX connection in downtown Laurens to East Greenville, 34 miles. Rail is 80 pound. About 6000 cars a year of lumber, minerals, plastic, chemicals and food products make up traffic.
The line was built by the Charleston & Western Carolina Railroad in the 1890s. C&WC became part of the Atlantic Coast Line System in 1897 and was merged into the ACL in 1959. In 1990, CSX Transportation sold the lines to the South Carolina Central Railroad, a subsidiary of RailTex, now RailAmerica. In April of 1997, the Carolina Piedmont purchased the Greenville & Northern Railway and merged GNR operations into CPDR. The last train ran over the GNR in January 1998, and there are no plans are in the works to reopen this line. However, for whatever reasons, the old G&N was sold by RailTex to Greenville County Economic Development Corporation. RailAmerica was paying taxes on the property as late as 2001, according to sources.
Current Carolina Piedmont Locomotive Roster
| # | Builder | Model | Horses | Notes |
| 1 | EMD | SW1 | 600 | Central of Georgia 1, to Atlanta Stone Mountain & Lithonia 1 ('57), to Greenville & Northern 1 (mid-90s) to CPDR 1 mid-1997, current disposition unknown, last seen in Greenville in storage, has never seen service on CPRR as far as I can tell |
| 2 | EMD | SW1 | 600 | Delaware, Lackawanna & Western 428, to Erie-Lackawanna 350, to Hercules Powder 63, to Industrial Metals Processing 2, to CPDR 2; current disposition unknown, last seen in Greenville in storage, has never seen service on CPRR as far as I can tell |
| 70 | GM | GP8 | 1500 | Illinois Central GP7 9237, rebuilt by Illinois Central Gulf to GP8 7704 in 3/74; to Arkansas Midland 704, to Greenville & Northern #704, in orange and blue CPDR paint |
| 6187 | GM | GP9 | 1750 | Chesapeake & Ohio 6187; to CSXT 0187; to SCRF 6187, who lopped off the nose; stored in Laurens in orange and white SCRF scheme |
| 8379 | GM | GP10 | 1850 | Illinois Central GP9 #9379; rebuilt by Illinois Central Gulf to 8379 in 12/74; to CPDR #8379., in maroon and yellow CPDR paint |
| 8387 | GM | GP10 | 1850 | Illinois Central 9387; to Illinois Central Gulf 8387; to Illinois Central 8387; in maroon and yellow CPDR paint |
None of the locomotives are in the RailAmerica paint scheme as of Feb. 2002. Additional photographs can be found on my Shortlines of the Carolinas page. Sources have said that RailAmerica is planning to send some GP38-2s to this line soon.
Carolina
Rails
Carolina
Shortlines Guide
Carolina
Piedmont Photo Gallery
Hinson's
Railroad Photography: Shortlines of the Carolinas
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