Atlantic & Western Railway
To get anywhere, one needs connections. The Atlantic & Western went 24 miles from Sanford to Lillington via Jonesboro, North Carolina, in order to make connections with the right people: Seaboard, Atlantic Coast Line, Norfolk Southern and just plain Southern, yet the A&W missed the privileged status.
John Krause, Rails Through Dixie, 1965
The ambitiously-named Atlantic & Western Railway was incorporated in 1899 to construct a railroad from Sanford, North Carolina, eastward to Goldsboro -- a distance of 70 miles. By 1913 it had been extended at far east from Sanford as Lillington, but it was never extended further. The eastern end of the line -- Jonesboro to Lillington -- was abandoned in 1961. The remaining 4 mile shortline operated from mainline connections in downtown Sanford to serve customers along the line to Jonesboro, a community on the southeastern end of Sanford. The line was acquired in 1988 by interests controlled by Rail Management Corporation. In 2005, the shortline was incorporated into the Genesee & Wyoming shortline system, where it remains today. Interchange with CSX Transportation continues in Sanford, but the line now extends 15 or more miles westward over former Norfolk Southern trackage to Cumnock, North Carolina, with an NS interchange maintained there. Miles owned or leased now total 19. Commodities shipped include construction materials, feed ingredients, minerals, petroleum products, steel and scrap. A Bulk Transfer Facility was opened in Sanford in 2017.
Locomotives are tied down at an office in Sanford. A significant ATW boxcar fleet is maintained nationwide.
2004 SPV Railroad Atlas / collection
1965 Official Guide ad / collection
1972 Official Guide ad / collection
1988 Official Guide ad / collection
ATW route map / web
HawkinsRails thanks railroad photographer Warren Calloway for use of his Atlantic & Western photographs
Motive Power
Atlantic & Western #100
Sanford, NC / Dec 1984 / Warren Calloway
Atlantic & Western #100
out of service
Sanford, NC / Dec 1984 / Warren Calloway
Sanford, NC / Apr 1990 / Warren Calloway
Sanford, NC / Dec 1984 / Warren Calloway
Atlantic & Western #101
Sanford, NC / Jul 2000 / Harold Hodnett
Atlantic & Western #101
to Superior Stone #203
to Martin Marietta Materials #203
to Laurinburg Southern #102 (2)
to Atlantic & Western #101
out of service
HawkinsRails thanks railfan Lamont Lea for use of his Atlantic & Western #101 photographs
Sanford, NC / Jan 1994 / Lamont Lea
Sanford, NC / Jan 1994 / Lamont Lea
Jonesboro, NC / Jan 1994 / Lamont Lea
Atlantic & Western #109
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Atlantic & Western #109
to Illinois Central Gulf #8323
to Illinois Central #8323
to Meridian & Bigbee #109 (2)
to Atlantic & Western #109
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Apr 2019 / RWH
Apr 2019 / RWH
Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Apr 20190 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Jan 2005 / Warren Calloway
Sanford, NC / Oct 2007 / Warren Calloway
Sanford, NC / Oct 2007 / Warren Calloway
Sanford, NC / Jan 2005 / Warren Calloway
Sanford, NC / Jan 2005 / Warren Calloway
Atlantic & Western #1219
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Atlantic & Western #1219
to Canadian National #1219
to Rail Switching Service #1219
to Atlantic & Western #1219
HawkinsRails thanks Atlantic & Western management for permission to photograph on the company's property.
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Apr 2019 / RWH
Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Locations
Atlantic & Western office
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Click to see the Atlantic & Western office area plotted on a Google Maps page
RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Apr 2019 / RWH
Apr 2019 / RWH
lead down to office area / Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
overhead view of Sanford interchange area / Google Maps
freight house / Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
eastbound view / Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
westbound view / Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Apr 2019 / RWH
Apr 2019 / RWH
In 1997, the City of Sanford and Downtown Sanford Inc had a joint vision for a park in Sanford's historic downtown that would highlight the city's roots while giving people a clean, relaxing place to come together.
After much hard work, that vision was realized in Depot Park. The parks now used for concerts, celebrations, and special events. There are picnic tables and benches for visitors to enjoy.
The park includes the Railroad House, the Railroad Depot, and the surrounding land - which has been shaped into a unique and inviting landscape with picnic tables, benches and fountains that encourage people to meet in downtown Sanford for work, play, or simply to relax in a peaceful environment.
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Atlantic & Western #12
Atlantic & Western #12
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Atlantic & Western #12
to Raleigh & Southport #10
to Atlantic & Western #12
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Apr 2019 / RWH
Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Choice Terminal Bulk Transfer Facility
Choice Terminals are operated by G&W railroads and transfer bulk materials – such as flour, plastic pellets, propane, roofing granules and etc. – between railcars and trucks, providing customers that are not located directly on the railroad with the ability to reduce transportation costs by using rail. Customers can receive inbound, bulk raw materials via rail at the terminal, hold them on site, and receive them via truck on a just-in-time basis. Likewise, customers can ship outbound bulk products to the terminal via truck, for loading onto railcars to their final destinations.
“The Sanford terminal provides non-rail-served businesses in the Raleigh-Durham and surrounding areas with the ability to not only reduce transportation costs, but also manage their inventory, utilize just-in-time delivery and shrink their carbon footprint by eliminating the use of long-haul trucks,” ATW President Andy Chunko said.
Located on a six-acre site, ATW’s Choice Terminal in Sanford features a 20-car rail yard and truck-to-railcar transloading equipment, including a weighing scale. ATW interchanges with Class I railroads Norfolk Southern and CSX, providing customer access to the North American rail network.
Choice Terminal Bulk Transfer Facility Opens in Sanford, North Carolina
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Click to see the Sanford Choice Terminal area plotted on a Google Maps page
overhead of transfer facility / Google Maps
Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / web
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Action
During a 3-day shortline foray around the Sandhills of North Carolina with my favorite Methodist Train Chaser and All Around Excellent Railfan Ben Wells, we made a stop in Sanford. It was my first visit to the venerable Atlantic & Western ... but Ben had been to the diamond and engine area many times, having grown up down the road in Fayetteville. We were greeted enthusiastically by their General Manager when we stopped in to ask permission to take some roster shots near the property. He was kind enough to take us over to the site where he is keeping aging Canadian switcher #1219 before she is likely scrapped. We then inquired about the whereabouts of his crew, and he pointed us westward toward the railroad's new bulk transfer facility. We found the men of the ATW shoving covered hoppers in a push-pull, two-locomotive operation. The rare unit on the west end of the train turned out to be one of only two ever built RS1325's, still lettered for Illinois & Midland -- another G&W property. I've never seen that model in my life. Built in 1960, #30 certainly looks and sounds her age ... but then again, she was this day shifting cars in and out of a brand new transfer facility, still making money for her owners. So who am I to judge! When the switching was done, we followed the push-pull train back into Sanford proper. A long hold at the diamond by CSX dispatchers for a fast freight that never appeared at least while we were around was bad news for the crew but in fact good news for us: ample time to snap some photos of two interesting shortline haulers laboring on a quant shortline whose history was never glorious but whose original and grandiose name has outlasted ever other major rail line in the Sandhill region. John Krause and H. Reid -- transition era visitors in the 1950s -- would be pleased to know the little ATW soldiers on.
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
along Horner Blvd / Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Click to see this location plotted on a Google Maps page
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Hill Ave overpass / Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Click to see this location plotted on a Google Maps page
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Genesee & Wyoming railroads frequently swap and share motive power, particularly within the same operating region. As such, it is quite common to find locomotives lettered for sister G&W railroads temporarily assigned to a different line, as was the case at the time of this visit to the Atlantic & Western Railway.
Illinois & Midland #30
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Illinois & Midland #30
to Illinois & Midland #30
The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide, Jerry Pinkepank / collection
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Burlington Northern Santa Fe #793859
extended reefer / Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
South Carolina Central #1603
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
South Carolina Central #1603
to Indiana Hi Rail #343
to Georgia Southwestern #2728
to South Carolina Central #1603
Warren Calloway
RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Sanford, NC / Apr 2019 / RWH
Links / Sources
- Genesee & Wyoming Atlantic & Western Railway page
- Wikipedia article for Atlantic & Western Railway
- Diesel Shop roster for Atlantic & Western Railway
- Railway Association of North Carolina Atlantic & Western page
- Abandoned Rails page for Atlantic & Western Railway
- John Krause, Rails Through Dixie (Golden West Books, 1965) 20-21
- Edward A. Lewis, American Shortline Railway Guide - Fifth Edition (Kalmbach, 1996) 35