Featured Shortline

Alexander

The Junebug Line

Chartered in 1946 and named for the county it serves, the Alexander Railroad Company began service in 1946, when local businessmen and investors purchased an 18-mile Statesville to Taylorsville, North Carolina, branchline from the Southern Railway that had been slated for abandonment.

ARC

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junebug Romulus Linney, the colorful and loquacious politician from Taylorsville, remarked something to the effect that the the emeralds found in the nearby Hiddenite mine were so valuable that "a well-wintered junebug could fly away with enough of the mineral tied to its hind leg to pay for the whole railroad!" When the vote for the railroad's charter came to be taken, the first senator polled announced that "he voted for the Junebug Road!" and the railroad's nickname was born.

Alexander Railroad Company

arc_state The railroad line was originally chartered and built in 1887 as the Statesville & Western, a subsidiary of Atlantic, Tennessee & Ohio, which ran between Charlotte and Statesville, North Carolina. The AT&O was purchased by the Richmond & Danville, and eventually came under the expanding Southern Railway system. Today the pike interchanges with the Norfolk Southern at Statesville, handles industrial switching in the area, and maintains a shop at Taylorsville. The road serves about 20 customers, handling approximately 2,500 carloads per year. Principal commodities carried are grain, pulpboard, plastics, lumber products, and scrap paper.

ARC route in context / NC state rail map

ARC route map / web

HawkinsRails thanks railfan friend Ben Wells for use of his ARC photos below

Motive Power

Alexander #3

Statesville, NC / 1999 / RWH

Alexander #3

builder:General Electric

model:44 tonner

type:B-B light switcher

built:June 1951, GE #31111

series:334 produced

engine:(2) Caterpillar D17000, 400 hp

notes:

ex Hampton & Branchville #42
to Alexander #3, 1961

Statesville, NC / 1999 / JCH

Statesville, NC / 1999 / RWH

Statesville, NC / 1999 / RWH

Alexander #8

near Statesville, NC / 1999 / RWH

Alexander #8

builder:Electro Motive Division

model:SW9

type:B-B yard switcher

built:Mar 1952, EMD #15968

series:786 produced, 1951-53

engine:EMD 567B, 12 cyls. 1200 hp

notes:

ex Union Railroad #707
to Alexander #8, 1990

Statesville, NC / 1999 / RWH

Taylorsville, NC / 1999 / RWH

Alexander #9

Midway, NC / Oct 2012 / Ben Wells

Alexander #9

builder:Electro-Motive Division

model:SW1500

type:B-B yard switcher

built:May 1972, EMD #4608-37

series:808 produced 1966-74

engine:EMD 645 (12 cyl, 1500 hp)

notes:

ex Cotton Belt, Southern Pacific #2627
later Larrys Truck & Electric
to Alexander #9

Midway, NC / Oct 2012 / Ben Wells

Taylorsville, NC / Oct 2012 / Ben Wells

All time Alexander Railroad locomotive roster

Number	Builder	Model	Built	Number	Notes
1	GE	44 ton	Sep 1941	13190	ex US Maritime Commission #2, ex North Carolina Shipbuilding #3002
2	GE	44 ton	Jul 1946	28502	to Adolph Coors Brewing, later Guyon Pipe & Valve
3	GE	44 ton	Jun 1951	31111	ex Houston Belt
4	Alco	S2	Jun 1950	78009	ex South Buffalo #86, to Duval Sulphur Co. #4
5	Alco	S1	Oct 1944	72836	ex Baltimore & Ohio #9153, renumbered
6	Alco	S3	Sep 1953	80202	ex Davenport, Rock Island & North Western #5
7	Alco	S3	Nov 1950	78404	ex Pennsylvania #8873, to Penn Central #9473
8	EMD	SW9	Mar 1952	78404	ex Union Railroad #586, later #707C
9	EMD	SW1500	May 1972	4608-37	ex Cotten Belt, Southern Pacific #2627
10	EMD	SW1500	May 1972	4608-38	ex Southern Pacific #2628, later Union Pacific #1214
11	EMD	SW1500	Dec 1972	71607-1	ex Weyerhauser Timber #307
12	EMD	SW1500	Jun 1972	4608-69	ex Southern Pacific #2659, later Weyerhauser Timber #308

Locations

Hiddenite, NC / 1999 / RWH

Taylorsville, NC / 1999 / RWH

A Day on the Junebug Line

October 23, 2012
Ben Wells reporting

wells1 First I caught up to the Alexander in West Statesville, at the yard and wye by Meachem Road. First sighted the No.9 as it was shoving 6 boxcars around the wye and down the grade toward the warehouses.

wells2 After dropping all six cars within the warehouse (and out of sight), it returned to the yard, quickly picked up 2 covered hoppers plus a boxcar, and sped west.

wells3 A few miles west of town, the crew backed down the long spur at Deer Ridge Rd to switch Pratt Industries and Providencia. Then they headed west, stopping to pick up the bulkhead/waffle-center flat car at Foothills Drive (no pics – got ahead and missed it). Then they sped west again through the communities of Stony Point and Hiddenite.

wells4 No other stops until they reached the Alexander Industrial Park, in Midway (a few miles east of Taylorsville). There was a small yard here and several industries. They switched one industry then ran around their train, put together a 10-car train, and left it in the yard (for the next day’s run?). Then the engine ran light all the way to Taylorsville. And, just as you recorded in 1999, they drove the No.9 into the engine house and rolled down the door.

wells5 Bonus: I found that GE switcher at Bartlett Milling in Statesville along the NS. There was a small stub-end switching yard there, which appeared to be dedicated to Bartlett.

all photos Alexander County, NC / Oct 2012 / Ben Wells

West Statesville, NC / Oct 2012 / Ben Wells

Pratt Industries

west of Statesville, NC / Oct 2012 / Ben Wells

west of Statesville, NC / Oct 2012 / Ben Wells

west of Statesville, NC / Oct 2012 / Ben Wells

Click to see this industry location plotted on a Google Maps page

Providencia / west of Statesville, NC / Oct 2012 / Ben Wells

Stony Point, NC / Oct 2012 / Ben Wells

Alexander Industrial Park

Alexander Railroad Company President and General Manager Benjamin Zachary said the shell building is the next logical step for industrial growth in the county. "The Alexander Railroad Company Board of Directors took this step with the primary intent of creating new jobs and new rail traffic in the county," Zachary said. "It's our intent to continue to be a strong economic partner in Alexander County."

President and General Manager Benjamin Zachary

Taylorsville, NC / Oct 2012 / Ben Wells

Taylorsville, NC / Oct 2012 / Ben Wells

Taylorsville, NC / Oct 2012 / Ben Wells

Taylorsville, NC / Oct 2012 / Ben Wells

Click to see the Alexander Industrial Park area plotted on a Google Maps page

Google Maps

Read more about the Alexander Railroad's Taylorsville Industrial Park

Taylorsville locomotive shop

Alexander locomotive shop

Taylorsville, NC / 1999 / RWH

Click to see the ARC locomotive shop area plotted on a Google Maps page

Taylorsville, NC / Oct 2012 / Ben Wells

Taylorsville, NC / Oct 2012 / Ben Wells

Taylorsville, NC / Oct 2012 / Ben Wells

Taylorsville, NC / Oct 2012 / Ben Wells

Lagniappe A little something extra ...

The Junebug Line

Taylorsville, NC / 1999 / RWH

Traffic Jam at Hiddenite

Hiddenite, NC / 1999 / RWH

Taylorsville Run-around

If I was going to model a prototypical shortline railroad, perhaps on a shelf around the basement, I am certain I would set out to recreate the Alexander.

At 18 miles, it is the perfect length, and it possesses all the key elements: interchange, warehouse switching, long stretches for running, and a small shop. Perhaps this will be my retirement project! The ARC is a classy little southeastern pike, with an SW8 that always looks clean and bright in person and in nearly every picture of it I've ever seen. My father and I had a blast chasing #8 all the way up the line from Statesville to the end, taking ample pictures along the way. The crew seemed amused by our presence at every grade crossing in Alexander County ... although I feel certain we were not the first, nor the last railfans to chase the SW8. At Taylorsville, we were treated to two shortline features:

First, in order to get #8 on the correct end of its train for the trip back to Statesville the next day, the crew performed a run-around move using gravity. First, #8 was uncoupled from its northbound movement and pulled into the siding (1, below). Then the small train was allowed to roll downhill past the switch (2), after which the locomotive was brought back out from the siding and reconnected to the train (3). Brilliant! The second treat was watching the crew drive #8 right into the shops and lowering the roll-up door (Locations, above), like someone returning their car to the garage after a day's work! Drive in, shut down, go home!

This is shortline running at its best. Long live the Junebug.