Railroads of North Carolina

by Alan Coleman

Since the opening of the first permanent railway in 1833, hundreds of railroad companies have operated in North Carolina. Rail transportation, faster and more efficient than other methods of the era, opened new markets for the products of North Carolina's farms, factories, and mines. Over the years, North Carolina rail companies have ranged in size from well-engineered giants like the Southern Railway to temporary logging railroads like the Hemlock. Cross ties and rails were laid across almost every conceivable terrain: tidal marshes, sand hills, rolling piedmont, and mountain grades. Vulnerable to the turbulent and unregulated economies of the day, few railroad companies escaped reorganizations and receiverships during their corporate lives, often leaving tangled and contradictory histories in their passing.

128 pages, Paperback

First published February 27, 2008

Reviews

[Peter Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pictures and some text, but mostly pictures, about all the different railroad companies in North Carolina. I would think you'd really have to be into railroads to enjoy this one. A lot of the carriers listed were only in existence for a few years in the 19th century, so I'm surprised they even made the book. The frustrating part is that some of the pictures show actual trainwrecks but offer no explanation as to what happened. For example, the Richmond and Danville Railroad (1856-1894) listed on page 87 shows a picture of a destroyed bridge but only says "hard times" forced the company to join another one in their last year of operation. Were the "hard times" due to a bridge collapse? I suppose I'm not going to get an answer 132 years after the fact, but I think the picture deserved some explanation.