Carolina Southern (?)

[TheOldMan]

Mike, thanks for the post. I will be following the Conway City Council activities in the weeks to come.

I hope that the fears of the residents of Wild Wing will turn out to be unfounded, and the re-opening of the Vulcan plant will not be the
nuisance those protesting residents are wary of.

[TheOldMan]

Here is a report on yesterday's meeting of the Conway City Council.

The Opposition is not satisfied, so I suppose they will continue when Vulcan applies to get their permits to construct the plant.

http://www.wbtw.com/news/grand-stran...ard/1218704292

[ShortlinesUSA]

Thank you for posting this update. Maybe Vulcan should have proposed it as a "Green, sustainable aggregate recycling facility to reduce the requirements to mine raw materials from the Earth." No one probably would have showed up in opposition at the meeting...

[TheOldMan]

Originally Posted by ShortlinesUSA

Thank you for posting this update. Maybe Vulcan should have proposed it as a "Green, sustainable aggregate recycling facility to reduce the requirements to mine raw materials from the Earth." No one probably would have showed up in opposition at the meeting...

Touche on that one, Mike!

[ShortlinesUSA]

One of my photos from last year's visit. Has it really been that long? Amazing. But here is an example of what y'all can do if you steal a few hours away on a family vacation, as I did here.

PhotoID: 665302 Photograph © Michael Derrick

[TheOldMan]

Thanks for posting the phot, Mike. The Facebook crowd reports a lot of gondola cars in the Lowes and Atlantic Center for Business and Industry recently.

Also, I was wondering if anyone here reads Railroad & Railfan magazine, which one Facebook poster said had an article on the possibility of RJCorman running an excursion train between Conway and Myrtle Beach, which seems highly unlikely for a long time to come, considering, that if things don't get stopped by the Wild Wing homeowner opposition, and Vulcan does get approval for its plans to reopen its crushed stone facility
outside of Conway, is predicted to be near the end of this year before the long unit trains return to that site.

Railroad & Railfan magazine seems to be hard to find, and the magazine article is said to have been prompted by a WPDE15 news report, which I was unable to find with searches on both Yahoo and Google.

Hope there is someone here who could fill us in on the details.

[ShortlinesUSA]

I had to wrack my brain, but I knew I had heard something of this story. Local politicos are a bit ahead of RJ Corman on this one. Still much work to do. But I will say at least there is some chance of the company being receptive, as they operate the "My Old Kentucky Dinner Train" on their flagship line in the Bluegrass State.

https://www.myhorrynews.com/news/rai...9b32b4c08.html

[ShortlinesUSA]

Looks like RJ Corman received some grant money from the NCDOT to help this facility become a reality. At least, that's all I can figure "an industrial park near Whiteville" would be.

https://www.progressiverailroading.c...-grants--55558

Originally Posted by TheOldMan

Did anybody here know that RJCorman had bought the Georgia Pacific plant (is it between Chadbourn and Whiteville?) from Columbus County for something like 2 & 1/2 million dollars?

There was some news about a company that does something with railroad ties at or near that location, with a load of ties arriving there.

[ShortlinesUSA]

Here we are looking at yet another catastrophic weather scenario for the line, as it looks like the brunt of Florence will strike the general area of the RJ Corman Carolina Lines. Hopefully this is not the third required rebuild.

My thoughts and prayers are with those of you in the storm's path. Be safe!

[TheOldMan]

Thanks for the well wishes, Mike. I think considering how bad the storm could have been, I am very thankful it wasn't worse than it was.

Of course, now we have this horrible flooding, which is going to disrupt my own life, because I have some out of town work in Mullins, SC, which I obviously cannot do, until the flood waters go down.

And, I am also hoping the damage to the railroad won't be as bad as it could have been, although with both Mullins and Nichols flooded, and of course, Conway, with more flooding
on the way, it won't be good for the railroad.

[ShortlinesUSA]

Looks like the flooding has been bad, but I guess subsiding at this point? I did go to Charleston to visit with my family, and read the paper there every day, and flooding seemed to be completely centered on the RJCS in Nichols and Conway at a minimum.

Any updates on how the railroad has fared in all of this? I really feel for all of the families losing homes and possessions, so please don't misinterpret that question. That's just a portion of the stories of misery the media is not covering at this point.

[TheOldMan]

I had written a rather detailed reply earlier in the day but must have pushed the wrong button.

Mullins has come thru the flooding, although Conway and Nichols have still got a wait ahead of them.

I have seen some video taken by a drone and the Waccamaw River drawbridge, in the open for boats position, is flooded very high up onto the operators house. The depot in Conwayy is also flooded, after Ken Pippin reported on Facebook that he had moved things in the buildig to the highest levels there.

I think the Waccamaw level has come down about 2 feet the last I heard.

I had read reeports that Chadburn was flooded, but not now. There was some video posted of some lumber cars there, with 2 or 3 locomotives, moving those cars into the wye.

Glad to know that the track and rolling stock at that location are in operating condition.

[ShortlinesUSA]

OK, this is good to hear, and thank you for the update. I am glad you are doing OK. Sounds like it will be a long road to recovery once the waters recede for many folks in that region.

[TheOldMan]

Over on the RJCarolinas Facebook message board, which has the most dedicated and consecrated observers of that line southeast of the Waccamaw River, who contastantly post videos of train movements, along with still photos, word is that plans are going forward with Vulcan's reopening of their crushed stone plant outside of Conway. What is being reported on that Facebook page is rather vague and conflictiing, but I plan to keep following the story and will keepe the Railpictures board members up to date.

[TheOldMan]

Friday of last week, one loaded lumber flat car derailed before the train got to Mullins, SC. No one was injured. Cause of the derailment was said to be a broken rail that had gone undetected.

[TheOldMan]

It's been reported that near Chadburn, some new, welded rails have been put in place.

And, that early next year, trains with modern heavy duty rails will be bringing in more rails to be welded together.

No details yet on exactly where the rail replacements are going to be, or the total length of track replacements, but I'm sure will will find out later on.

I know early in this thread, it was pointed out that the line had bolted, and not welded rails, and also that the roadbed was not in good condition. Over on Facebook, the improvement of welded rails has been discussed, and also, the condition of the roadbed, said to be weakend by the recent excess rain was also mentioned.

[ShortlinesUSA]

The updates are greatly appreciated! Yes, many spots along the line (particularly between Fair Bluff and Nichols) run through swampy areas with ROW maintenance challenges. The best rails, ties, and ballast can't overcome an unstable substructure...

[TheOldMan]

Within the past week, a rail train has arrived in Mullins, SC, and is backed up on RJC's track to where the Marion County railroad starts.

Also, along the track there are a lot of piles of ties.

Documents presented to the Horry County Council's Transportation Committee, show that plans to put in heavy, welded rails will extend to Nichols SC, and heavy tie replacements will be done thru MP 339, 11.?? miles before the end of the line at Oak Street in Myrtle Beach.

MP 339 is in the vicinity of the Atlantic Center For Business and Industry outside of Conway, where the heaviest traffic, supposedly including that to the Vulcan plant would go.

Nothing yet in Myrtle Beach, except some construction at the Depot there, said to be booked for all kinds of events well into 2019. There have been some claims that RJC's contingent lease east of the waterway is not finalized, and I have not seen any RJC maintenance vehicles in Myrtle Beach, but under that lease (which excludes the sabotaged Pine Island Drawbridge), RJC is obligated to keep the track free of weeds, which has been done recently.

[RAF]

Anything new to report? Vacation is coming up in a couple of weeks.

[TheOldMan]

Been somre written reports from people working near Yeager Avene between the Atlantic Center for Business and Industry, and the Wild Wing Golf course and residential section, that Vulcan's Rock crushing facility should be opening in October of this year, on that road. Reports that gondola cars carrying ties for siding construction are in the area, and there has been work including electrical system connections being done at the plant site. So far, no one has posted any photos, my getting this news from the JRCorman site on Facebook.

[RAF]

Thanks for the update.

[TheOldMan]

For three straight weekends, the re-opened Vulcan Crushed Stone plant outside of Conway has received an 80 car unit train.

Also, the Martin Marietta (if that what it is still named) Crushed Stone facility at Pine Island that some people thought could not reopen due to zoning changes, apparently is going to be allowed to reopen.

And, Near Chadbourn, I think at the Former Georgia Pacific plant, there is a crushed stone facility, although I am not sure what how many cars come in on their trains.

[TheOldMan]

Now, for the bad news: The City Council of Myrtle Beach, which in the past had supported the railroad by buying the depot, and reopening it for meetings (which of course, has obviously been effected by the Virus Scare), apparently no longer wants a railroad in Myrtle Beach, and wants the County Council, which RJCorman has only a maintenence agreement with the county, and not a lease of the railroad itself, to give the city permission to pull up the track East of the waterway and use the sale of it for salvage, to fund a bicycle and hiking trail, as part of the Rails to Trails program.

This has really upset me, and many other people who hoped to see the line reopened all the way to the terminal in Myrtle Beach.

[ShortlinesUSA]

Great to hear from you, Sir! Thank you so much for the update. Ironically, just a couple of days ago I thought about not hearing an update from you on the RJ Corman Carolina Lines operation in quite a while, and was wondering if these operations had come to pass. Thank you so much for the update. Stop by the forum any time. Sorry to hear about the Myrtle Beach developments.

[BR549]

I regret to inform all of those following this thread that Mr. Fred Hamilton, known in this forum as "The Old Man", passed away on October 2. Word is that he passed very suddenly after a brief illness.

He was very active here, and on the RJCS Carolina Lines Facebook Group. His informative contributions are going to be greatly missed.