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Pee Dee River Railway
(part of Carolina
Rails)
roster
relevant information
photographs
101 East Main Street
P.O. Box 917
Aberdeen, NC 28315
Phone: (901) 944-2341
Reporting marks PDRR
Radio Frequencies: 161.310, 161.280
Location of engine house: Bennettsville, SC
| # | Builder | Model | Horses | Notes |
| 1764 | EMD | GP16 | 1600 | built as Seaboard Air Line 1809, to Seaboard Coast Line 989, to Seaboard System 4718, to CSX 1764, to Louisville & Indiana 1764, built as GP7, rebuilt to GP16 in 1981, in orange and white PDRR scheme |
| 1797 | EMD | GP16 | 1600 | built as Atlantic Coast Line 219, to Seaboard Coast Line 849, to Seaboard System 4751, to CSX 1797, to Louisville & Indiana 1797, built as GP7, rebuilt to GP16 in 1981, in orange and white PDRR scheme |
| 1800 | EMD | GP16 | 1600 | built as Atlantic Coast Line 215, to Seaboard Coast Line 835, to Seaboard System 4754, to CSX 1800, to Louisville & Indiana 1800, built as GP7, rebuilt to GP16 in 1981, in orange and white PDRR scheme |
| 1842 | EMD | GP16 | 1600 | built as Seaboard Air Line 1795, to Seaboard Coast Line 975, to Seaboard System 4796, to CSX 1842, to Louisville & Indiana 1842, built as GP7, rebuilt to GP16 in 1981, in orange and white PDRR scheme |
| 2486 | ATSF | CF7 | 1500 | ex-Santa Fe 2486, rebuilt from F7A, in blue and white PDRR scheme |
This roster was provided by Larry Smoak of Carolina Rails. Additional information and clarification was provided by Warren Calloway. See my photos of this line at Pee Dee River Railway Photographs.
Pee Dee River Railway operates freight service from a connection with CSX at McColl, SC to Marlboro, some 16.79 miles. A two mile spur runs from Bennettsville to Bredden. Mainline rail is 85 to 100 pounds. Approximately 8,500 carloadings annually of paper, wood chips and chemicals among other is the road's traffic.
The line was built by the South Carolina Pacific Railway and was chartered on Feb. 9, 1882 between Bennettsville and the North Carolina state line where a connection was made with the Cape Fear & Yadkin Valley Railway. It was subsequently leased to the Cape Fear & Yadkin Valley and then to the Atlantic Coast Line when the CF&YV failed. It was not merged into the Atlantic Coast Line until the 1960s.
It was merged into the Seaboard System in May of 1984. Citing poor traffic and limited potential for growth, the line was then abandoned by CSX and sold to Marlboro County in 1987 for $173,000. The county then leased the line to Aberdeen & Rockfish for twenty years, although the A&R was not the lowest bidder. Pee Dee River Railway service started on October 1, 1987 with A&R GP7 #205 on foreign rails.
Information on this page comes from Ed Lewis' American Shortline Railway Guide, last published in 1996. I also use the Lewis/Jim Wrinn book about the A&R, The Road of Personal Service: A Centennial History as well as "Centennial of Service on the Aberdeen & Rockfish,"an article written by Warren Calloway in the July/August 1992 (Volume 3 Number 4) edition of Diesel Era. Mr. Lewis, of course, runs the Aberdeen & Rockfish.
Carolina
Rails
Pee
Dee River Railway Photographs
Shortlines
of the Carolinas
