The Nash County Railroad is the operator of the Rocky Mount & Western railroad, connecting with CSX Transportation

CSX Transportation

CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...

 at Rocky Mount

Rocky Mount, North Carolina

Rocky Mount is an All-America City Award-winning city in Edgecombe and Nash counties in the coastal plains of the state of North Carolina. Although it was not formally incorporated until February 28, 1867, the North Carolina community that became the city of Rocky Mount dates from the beginning of...

 and running 14.7 miles (23.7 km) to Nashville, North Carolina

Nashville, North Carolina

Nashville is a town in Nash County, North Carolina, United States. The town was founded in 1780 and features a rare collection of Victorian and Queen Anne style homes. It is part of the Rocky Mount, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,538 in 2008. It is the county...

. This short line railroad was created in 1985 and was formerly a subsidiary of Gulf and Ohio Railways

Gulf and Ohio Railways

Gulf & Ohio Railways is a holding company for seven different short-line railroads in the Southern United States, as well as a tourist-oriented passenger train, and locomotive leasing and repair service through Knoxville Locomotive Works...

, but is now owned by the Carolina Coastal Railway.

Commodities include poultry feed ingredients, steel, scrap metal, fertilizer, concrete, and railcar storage, which accounts for around 3,500 annual carloads.

The railroad rosters three EMD GP38

EMD GP38

An EMD GP38 is a 4-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1966 and December 1971. Power was provided by an EMD 645 16-cylinder engine which generated ....

s, numbered 345, 2068, and 9657.

History

Originally built by the Wilmington & Weldon

Wilmington and Weldon Railroad

Originally chartered in 1835 as the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad, the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad name began use in 1855. At the time of its 1840 completion, the line was the longest railroad in the world with 161.5 miles of track...

 in 1887, the railroad was later absorbed by the Atlantic Coast Line

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad

The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was an American railroad that existed between 1900 and 1967, when it merged with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, its long-time rival, to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad...

 in 1900. Ownership changed through a pair of mergers, first into the Seaboard Coast Line

Seaboard Coast Line Railroad

The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad was a former Class I railroad company operating in the Southeastern United States beginning in 1967. Its passenger operations were taken over by Amtrak in 1971...

 in 1967 and the Seaboard System

Seaboard System Railroad

The Seaboard System Railroad was a former Class I railroad created by merging the railroads of the Family Lines System. Although sharing common ownership, the railroads of the Family Lines System used different names when conducting business...

 in 1983. On November 4, 1985 shortline service began as the Nash County railroad by parent company Laurinburg & Southern

Laurinburg and Southern Railroad

The Laurinburg and Southern Railroad is a short-line railroad operating in North Carolina. The railroad has of track that runs south from Raeford to Laurinburg, North Carolina. In the past the Laurinburg and Southern controlled a number of other small railroads in North Carolina and Virginia...

.

In the 1990s Gulf & Ohio Railways gained control of a number of Laurinburg & Southern subsidiaries, including the Nash County railroad on February 28, 1994. Initially traffic consisted of grain, fertilizer, scrap metal, and forest products, amounting to 4,000 annual carloads.

On April 8, 2005 the railroad planned to abandon 4.7 miles (7.6 km) of tracks between Momeyer

Momeyer, North Carolina

Momeyer is a town in Nash County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Rocky Mount, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 303 in 2008.-Geography:Momeyer is located at ....

 and Spring Hope, North Carolina

Spring Hope, North Carolina

Spring Hope is a town in Nash County, North Carolina, United States. It is part of the Rocky Mount, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,261 at the 2000 census...

. However, the North Carolina Department of Transportation

North Carolina Department of Transportation

The North Carolina Department of Transportation is responsible for building, repairing, and operating highways, bridges, and other modes of transportation, including ferries in the U.S. state of North Carolina.-History:...

sought to purchase the segment before it was abandoned, which it did on April 3, 2006 after reaching an agreement with the Nash County railroad.