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Thermal Belt Railway

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Thermal Belt Railway
Overview
HeadquartersMorganton, North Carolina
Reporting markTBRY
LocaleRutherford County, North Carolina
Dates of operation1990–
PredecessorNorfolk Southern,CSX Transportation
Technical
Track gauge4 ft8+12in(1,435 mm)standard gauge
Length8.5 miles (13.7 km)

TheThermal Belt Railway(reporting marksTBRY) is aClass IIIshortline railroadthat operates for freight service on an irregular schedule on a formerCSXline fromBostictoForest Cityand on a formerNorfolk Southernline from Forest City toAlexander Mills,North Carolina.Total mileage is 8.5 miles (13.7 km). Connections are made with CSX at Bostic. Rail is 85pounds.

History

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The former CSXT Bostic-Forest City line was originally built by the Central Carolina Railroad in 1886 as part of a route fromRutherfordtontoCharlotte, North Carolina.The Central Carolina was later acquired bySeaboard Air Line.Through mergers, it later became part of CSX. The former Norfolk Southern Forest City-Alexander Mills line was built in 1887 by theCharleston, Cincinnati, and Chicago Railroadas part of a line fromMarion, North CarolinatoKingvilleinSouth Carolina.The line was soon acquired by theSouthern Railway,which merged into Norfolk Southern in 1982.[1]

By the early 1980s, both CSX and Norfolk Southern reached an agreement to allow the consolidation of trackage in bothRutherfordandClevelandcounties. This would allow both companies to abandon duplicate lines, while grantingtrackage rightson former competitor routes. While this move helped with operating costs, traffic declined to the point that by late 1989, Norfolk Southern had pulled out of operating its remaining segment fromGilkey,through Forest City, to Alexander Mills. The Gilkey-Ruthsegment of this line had already been embargoed due to lack of traffic as well as downed trees caused byHurricane Hugo.At about this time, CSX was considering abandonment of its Bostic-Forest City line as well.[2]

A group of the railroad's online shippers formed the Rutherford Railroad Development Corporation, which acquired both the former CSX Bostic-Forest City line and Norfolk Southern's Gilkey-Alexander Mills line in early 1990 in order to preserve rail service. Total rail mileage acquired was 16 miles. The line was leased to Southeast Shortlines, Inc, which renamed the line the Thermal Belt Railway after the area's isothermal effect which, on certain cool nights, allowed the area mountains to be warmer in temperature on the slope than on the base. The line started operations on April 2, 1990. Traffic in its first few years consisted of inbound plastic pellets, grain and lumber and outbound pulpwood on the remaining open sections of track, while work started on clearing the downed trees on the embargoed section.[2]However traffic on that segment never materialized, and after about 10 years of dormancy, the Gilkey-Spindalesection was converted into a rail-trail with the provision that it could be reactivated if needed.[3]The remaining trackage has seen a steady decline of traffic to the point that by late 2010, parts of the line was used for rail car storage.

As of 2014 the only customer remaining on the line is a small transload operation near the CSX interchange. Included in the May 2014 North Carolina Freight Rail & Rail Crossing Safety Improvement Fund Projects budget is a $58,688 grant to construct more transloading tracks and expand this operation.[4]

Motive power

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The Thermal Belt operates with two locomotives. Number 1 is anElectro-Motive CorporationSWmodelswitcherrepowered with aCummins600 horsepower engine block. The unit was originally built in July, 1938 forMissouri Pacific'ssubsidiary, Union Terminal Railway ofSt. Joseph, Missouri.It was then transferred to another Missouri Pacific subsidiary,St. Joseph Belt Railway,which served as their #5. When the St Joseph Belt was merged into the Missouri Pacific, the SW became their #6005.

The locomotive was sold in the mid-1960s toPrecision Engineering,which remanufactured (but not repowered) the SW. The unit was sold to thePickens Railroadas their #3. Pickens kept the unit until the mid-1970s when it was sold toBirmingham Rail and LocomotivenearBirmingham,Alabama.It was then acquired byDuke Powerand sent toChattahoochee Locomotive,nearCornelia,Georgiato be repowered with a Cummins engine block. It was assigned to construction duty at Duke'sCherokee Nuclear Power Plant.An economic downturn as well as new nuclear power regulations in the 1980s sidelined the plant, parking the SW locomotive for several years.

The unit was sold in 1989 to Don McGrady, which formed Southeastern Shortlines Inc as an operator for the Thermal Belt Railway and, later on, theCaldwell County Railroad.[2]

The 4601 was built asIllinois CentralGP99343, in January 1958. She was rebuilt by Illinois Central & Gulf, at theirPaducah,Kentucky, shops, in August 1974, asGP108339. In 1992, she was rebuilt for theUnited States Armyand designated USAX 4601. She was transferred to theTennessee Valley Authorityin August 2007, as TVAX 4601.[5]By August 2014, she had been sold to Thermal Belt Railway.[6]

References

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  1. ^Lewis, Edward A. (1991). "Thermal Belt Railway".American Shortline Railway Guide.p. 257.
  2. ^abcWrinn, Jim (June 1991). "Warming Up To The Thermal Belt".Railfan & Railroad:64–67.
  3. ^Surface Transportation Board (February 2, 2001),STB Docket No. AB-567, (Sub-No. 1X)
  4. ^[1],"Freight Rail & Rail Crossing Safety Improvement Fund Projects" (retrieved 7/7/2014)
  5. ^Don Ross (6 July 2021)."Paducah Rebuilt Electro-Motive GP Diesels 8300-8397".Retrieved21 July2022.
  6. ^"Pictures of TBRY 4601".Retrieved21 July2022.