Finally! Someone else filming these. I know this shortline all to well. I could go on all day about this line. Nice to see someone got that shot of one of the trains passing through the fields by the Walmart here in town. Also, I know the owners of Braswell Mills. I don’t think I’ve ever heard any call the locomotive “seven thousand three,” cause me siblings and I call it “seventy-o-three.”
I saw these when I was riding around one day near Spring Hope; very neat. That line has always been a branch, but at one point reached a small community called Lassiter, near Rolesville. I guess the original builder of that line was trying to get to Raleigh, and when the ACL acquired it, they determined it wasn't worth finishing. During the abandonment fury of the '70s and '80s, the NCDOT acquired the westernmost part of the line as it existed at that time, which was around the Spring Hope area. That section of track they're hauling logs on was a part of that segment, which is why the white "no trespassing" sign is there. That was a pretty good move by the state; it's too bad they couldn't have acquired more, as it might have been possible to preserve rail access to some towns that no longer have it.
The line went up to Lassiter to reach a rock quarry called the Rolesville Rock Quarry. It was a huge operation that supplied stone for the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel and more. The quarry shut down in the 50's when the quarry flooded after a spring was hit. It's a water/dive park today called Fantasy Lake. The line went northeast from the quarry to a community called Barham, where a road named Barham Siding Rd paralleled a siding of some kind. Then the trucks curved southeast towards Bunn, then down to Spring Hope. I believe the tracks from Spring Hope up to Bunn at least were built by a logging road owned by the Montgomery Lumber Co, which was bought by the ACL. The rails north of Bunn were removed in the 50's I assume after the quarry closed, and the Bunn-Spring Hope section in the 80's if I remember right. I did a lot of research on this line recently, and even followed the line as best I could. The ROW is extremely hard to make out on Google Earth now, having been removed a long time ago. There is an old trestle over the Tar River located inside of a park, south of Bunn.
Those log cars are the best kind since they have braces to hold any cuts of logs. The train needs not to roll faster than it rolls on the beaten track.
Since I didn't see it mentioned by any other of the locals, I'll add the interesting fact that, until fairly recently (2022), there were a bunch of Ringling Bros/B&B Circus rail cars parked up on the line just past the Hunt facility. CLNA ownership ends at Old Franklin Road, adjacent to the site of the former Masonite plant, and NCDOT owns the rest into Spring Hope (which I did see mentioned). NCDOT acquired these cars from the circus upon its downfall to refurbish them and add them to the fleet of state-owned equipment used for the ever-growing Piedmont Amtrak service between Raleigh and Charlotte (which I rode many times in college at NCSU). Of course word got out about them, and vandals hit them hard, culminating in several being destroyed via arson. NCDOT has since sold off what they could and scrapped the rest, but the most recent Google Earth imagery of the area is from 2021, so you can still see them sitting out there, right over Bear Branch. Also some what interesting, the vast majority, if not all, of the current Piedmont passenger cars (again, all NCDOT owned) are ex-US Army cars.
Not sure who actually owns the car, but was impressed by the CLNA reporting marks on both the covered hoppers in your video and a scrap hopper I saw while "googlemaps-railfanning' the line. These days the lease-cars with the reporting marks ending in X are the norm.
He said as the old and raggedy gp9 comes by long hood forward 😂 I’ve been up there in Rocky Mount and seen these trains around some. Nashvilles not but like 30 min from where I stay in Raleigh, maybe I’ll go peep me some raggedy looking gp9’s here one day. I only have one daily short line csx by my house once daily from Raleigh to Henderson, sometimes chase him down usually a sd40 slug and a sd40 trialing. And good lord I’m still watching this video and look at that track coming into Rocky Mount it looked like he was about to do a loop it was leaning and rocking so hard. Prolly got like 3 spikes in there now 😂
Excellent footage, editing and narration! This is not too far away from where I live, must get up there. Those log flats remind me of something you would see up in Da Yoop.
Awesome Video, Rail Tennessee. If you want more Short Line Railroading with log operation, let me introduce you to: ELS Railroad from Upper Michigan around the border of Michigan and Wisconsin between Iron Mountain, Pembine, and Green Bay. Major commodity is logging, new products on I-Beam cars, and Storage for Class 1 Railroads of CN and others. They run engines from old Conrails of the 1950's, some very old BNSF engines, Check them out, the operation of their logging is something to see. very long trains being pulled through the country side and during the winter months snow blower operations clean the tracks. Rail Tennessee thanks again for doing a video in Nashville, NC, presently I stay in Smithfield, NC but used to live in Nashville back in the 1980's. Come to Smthifield and see CSX, NS and Amtrak on our major North South main line running parallel to I-95 and US 301. Thanks again.
@@ShawnCalay The engines they run some of them date back to the 1950's. ELS Short Line RR is an old company and the F-Series engines are from the 1950's. Go and look up there charter and the Engines they have in mothballs.
It is so odd to see someone review something so close to home. I cross this short line every day. Edit: if you ever come back this way, the field is nice, but you can get a real long oncoming shot from Clarendon.
Those locomotives of the CLNA look a lot like some other railroad complny that I can't quite put my finger on. Does anyone else think the paint scheme resembles something? Especially the striking red nose?
STUNNED by the superior image quality and production value of your videos. Obviously not filmed with a cell phone. Would you mind sharing what brand/model of camera you are using? Thanks from a fellow railfan.
Hey man, great video. But you can’t leave us hanging out here!! Logs are so rare to see on the road these days. Great job on where they originate from on this video. But where are they going? CSX takes them from Rocky Mount to where??? Thank you
Why did you eat lunch at Chik-Filet when you could have had Carolina Style BBQ or eaten at a nice Mom & Pop Diner, don't they have Chik-Filet's in Nashville, TN.? 🤔
@@Sugarmountaincondo If I had more time, I absolutely would have! I love showcasing small locale restaurants when I can - in the essence of time though, Chick-fil-a was the only thing close to where I was. Thanks for watching! - Sam
Happy Friday folks! Currently wrapping up a pretty big video.. can’t wait to share with y’all soon.
Enjoy the weekend!
Finally! Someone else filming these. I know this shortline all to well. I could go on all day about this line. Nice to see someone got that shot of one of the trains passing through the fields by the Walmart here in town. Also, I know the owners of Braswell Mills. I don’t think I’ve ever heard any call the locomotive “seven thousand three,” cause me siblings and I call it “seventy-o-three.”
Love the double bell (old style) crossing.
Excellent video which I enjoyed watching
Great video, love, the ex-CN GP9. You just got yourself a new subscriber. 👍🏻
I saw these when I was riding around one day near Spring Hope; very neat. That line has always been a branch, but at one point reached a small community called Lassiter, near Rolesville. I guess the original builder of that line was trying to get to Raleigh, and when the ACL acquired it, they determined it wasn't worth finishing. During the abandonment fury of the '70s and '80s, the NCDOT acquired the westernmost part of the line as it existed at that time, which was around the Spring Hope area. That section of track they're hauling logs on was a part of that segment, which is why the white "no trespassing" sign is there. That was a pretty good move by the state; it's too bad they couldn't have acquired more, as it might have been possible to preserve rail access to some towns that no longer have it.
The line went up to Lassiter to reach a rock quarry called the Rolesville Rock Quarry. It was a huge operation that supplied stone for the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel and more. The quarry shut down in the 50's when the quarry flooded after a spring was hit. It's a water/dive park today called Fantasy Lake. The line went northeast from the quarry to a community called Barham, where a road named Barham Siding Rd paralleled a siding of some kind. Then the trucks curved southeast towards Bunn, then down to Spring Hope. I believe the tracks from Spring Hope up to Bunn at least were built by a logging road owned by the Montgomery Lumber Co, which was bought by the ACL. The rails north of Bunn were removed in the 50's I assume after the quarry closed, and the Bunn-Spring Hope section in the 80's if I remember right. I did a lot of research on this line recently, and even followed the line as best I could. The ROW is extremely hard to make out on Google Earth now, having been removed a long time ago. There is an old trestle over the Tar River located inside of a park, south of Bunn.
Quite the railroad.
Those log cars are the best kind since they have braces to hold any cuts of logs. The train needs not to roll faster than it rolls on the beaten track.
Great video! Love to learn about the CLNA!
Since I didn't see it mentioned by any other of the locals, I'll add the interesting fact that, until fairly recently (2022), there were a bunch of Ringling Bros/B&B Circus rail cars parked up on the line just past the Hunt facility. CLNA ownership ends at Old Franklin Road, adjacent to the site of the former Masonite plant, and NCDOT owns the rest into Spring Hope (which I did see mentioned). NCDOT acquired these cars from the circus upon its downfall to refurbish them and add them to the fleet of state-owned equipment used for the ever-growing Piedmont Amtrak service between Raleigh and Charlotte (which I rode many times in college at NCSU). Of course word got out about them, and vandals hit them hard, culminating in several being destroyed via arson. NCDOT has since sold off what they could and scrapped the rest, but the most recent Google Earth imagery of the area is from 2021, so you can still see them sitting out there, right over Bear Branch. Also some what interesting, the vast majority, if not all, of the current Piedmont passenger cars (again, all NCDOT owned) are ex-US Army cars.
Not sure who actually owns the car, but was impressed by the CLNA reporting marks on both the covered hoppers in your video and a scrap hopper I saw while "googlemaps-railfanning' the line. These days the lease-cars with the reporting marks ending in X are the norm.
Wonderful footage, A+!!!
Great video and awesome catches
Sam this probably the best documentation on the 115 side.
Now I gotta get you over to 119
Great Video
He said as the old and raggedy gp9 comes by long hood forward 😂 I’ve been up there in Rocky Mount and seen these trains around some. Nashvilles not but like 30 min from where I stay in Raleigh, maybe I’ll go peep me some raggedy looking gp9’s here one day. I only have one daily short line csx by my house once daily from Raleigh to Henderson, sometimes chase him down usually a sd40 slug and a sd40 trialing. And good lord I’m still watching this video and look at that track coming into Rocky Mount it looked like he was about to do a loop it was leaning and rocking so hard. Prolly got like 3 spikes in there now 😂
Good morning
Fantastic video and enjoyed watching. This is a cool looking RR for sure. Have a wonderful rest of your friday evening.(Steve)
Nice Catch I know your not too far away from The the Rocky Mt. Amtrak Station 🚉.
Excellent footage, editing and narration! This is not too far away from where I live, must get up there. Those log flats remind me of something you would see up in Da Yoop.
Thanks for sharing
I personally know one or 2 of the guys that work on the CNLA. One of whom you mentioned at the end.
Awesome Video, Rail Tennessee. If you want more Short Line Railroading with log operation, let me introduce you to: ELS Railroad from Upper Michigan around the border of Michigan and Wisconsin between Iron Mountain, Pembine, and Green Bay. Major commodity is logging, new products on I-Beam cars, and Storage for Class 1 Railroads of CN and others. They run engines from old Conrails of the 1950's, some very old BNSF engines, Check them out, the operation of their logging is something to see. very long trains being pulled through the country side and during the winter months snow blower operations clean the tracks. Rail Tennessee thanks again for doing a video in Nashville, NC, presently I stay in Smithfield, NC but used to live in Nashville back in the 1980's. Come to Smthifield and see CSX, NS and Amtrak on our major North South main line running parallel to I-95 and US 301. Thanks again.
Yep I have enjoyed Jason for a few years now on ELS. Very rare to see logs moving like he shows us. There we know where they originate and end up
@@tomroise9426 Thank you for your response.
From the 50s, um more like 1968 and 1971. Ex Penn Central via ex Conrail GP38s
@@ShawnCalay The engines they run some of them date back to the 1950's. ELS Short Line RR is an old company and the F-Series engines are from the 1950's. Go and look up there charter and the Engines they have in mothballs.
Great photography! Coincidentally I was in Spring Hope and Nashville today, 20 August, also railfanning for scenicking stills.
Great videos sir! Love the narration and the intel you give while railfanning! Keep up the great work!
That's a pretty cool that corvette rd shot is sweet and awesome video.
Wow how cool that That Train is ready for the job,0:14
I hope Regional Rail beefs up the line to get it to track speed.
It is so odd to see someone review something so close to home. I cross this short line every day.
Edit: if you ever come back this way, the field is nice, but you can get a real long oncoming shot from Clarendon.
!!Very nice, like!!
Great video! So cool to see those loaded log cars. I’ve gotten lucky to see them on CSX locals L619, L620, and L225
Killer video man your videos are always well put together keep it up
Those locomotives of the CLNA look a lot like some other railroad complny that I can't quite put my finger on. Does anyone else think the paint scheme resembles something? Especially the striking red nose?
STUNNED by the superior image quality and production value of your videos. Obviously not filmed with a cell phone. Would you mind sharing what brand/model of camera you are using? Thanks from a fellow railfan.
The Knoxville & Cumberland Gap RR (RJC Property) has a job like this on Tuesdays and Thursdays
Has anyone filmed them? Do you know where the logs end up?
Does Tennessee valley railway ever run here on as a loaner excursions 😊😅😮😢🎉😂😂😂😂
Was this originally a CSX line?
Atlantic Coast Line.
Hey man, great video. But you can’t leave us hanging out here!!
Logs are so rare to see on the road these days. Great job on where they originate from on this video. But where are they going?
CSX takes them from Rocky Mount to where???
Thank you
Why did you eat lunch at Chik-Filet when you could have had Carolina Style BBQ or eaten at a nice Mom & Pop Diner, don't they have Chik-Filet's in Nashville, TN.? 🤔
@@Sugarmountaincondo If I had more time, I absolutely would have! I love showcasing small locale restaurants when I can - in the essence of time though, Chick-fil-a was the only thing close to where I was.
Thanks for watching!
- Sam
What Train is that? Bc i live in RM
Wait, you live in RM and don’t know the old Nash County railroad?
That's nothing... I drop a big log every morning 😅
Pretty ragged track and roadbed