Thermal Belt Railway
Encyclopedia
The Thermal Belt Railway (reporting marks TBRY) is a Class III shortline railroad
that operates for freight service on a irregular schedule on a former CSX
line from Bostic
to Forest City
and on a former Norfolk Southern
line from Forest City to Alexander Mills
, North Carolina
. Total mileage is 8.5 miles (13.7 km). Connections are made with CSX at Bostic. Rail is 85 pounds.
to Charlotte, North Carolina
. The Central Carolina was later acquired by Seaboard Air Line. Through mergers, it later became part of CSX. The former Norfolk Southern Forest City-Alexander Mills line was built in 1887 by the Charleston, Cincinnati, and Chicago Railroad
as part of a line from Marion, North Carolina
to Kingville in South Carolina
. The line was soon acquired by the Southern Railway
, which merged into Norfolk Southern in 1982.
By the early 1980s, both CSX and Norfolk Southern reached an agreement to allow the consolidation of trackage in both Rutherford
and Cleveland
counties. This would allow both companies to abandon duplicate lines, while granting trackage rights
on former competitor routes. While this move help with operating cost, traffic declined to the point that by late 1989, Norfolk Southern had pulled out of operating its remaining segment from Gilkey, through Forest City, to Alexander Mills. The Gilkey-Ruth
segment of this line had already been embargoed due to lack of traffic as well as downed trees caused by Hurricane Hugo
. At about this time, CSX was considering abandonment of its Bostic-Forest City line as well.
A group of the railroad's online shippers formed the Rutherford Railroad Development Corporation, which acquired both the former CSX Bostic-Forest City line and Norfolk Southern's Gilkey-Alexander Mills line in early 1990 in order to preserve rail service. Total rail mileage acquired was 16 miles. The line was leased to Southeast Shortlines, Inc, which renamed the line the Thermal Belt Railway after the areas isothermal effect which, on certain cool nights, allowed the area mountains to be warmer in temperature on the slope than on the base. The line started operations on April 2nd, 1990. Traffic in its first few years consisted of inbound plastic pellets, grain and lumber and outbound pulpwood on the remaining open sections of track, while work started on clearing the downed trees on the embargoed section.. However traffic on that segment never materialized, and after about 10 years of dormancy, the Gilkey-Spindale
section was converted into a rail-trail with the provision that it could be reactivated if needed.. The remaining trackage has see a steady decline of traffic to the point that by late 2010, parts of the line was used for rail car storage.
repowered with a Cummins
600 horsepower engine block. The unit was originally built in July, 1938 for Missouri Pacific's subsidiary, Union Terminal Railway of St. Joseph, Missouri. It was then transferred to another Missouri Pacific subsidiary, St. Joseph Belt Railway, which served as their #5. When the St Joseph Belt was merged into the Missouri Pacific, the SW became their #6005.
The locomotive was sold in the mid-1960s to Precision Engineering
, which remanufactured (but not repowered) the SW. The unit was sold to the Pickens Railroad
as their #3. Pickens kept the unit until the mid-1970s when it was sold to Birmingham Rail and Locomotive near Birmingham
, Alabama
. It was then acquired by Duke Power
and sent to Chattahoochee Locomotive, near Cornelia
, Georgia
to be repowered with a Cummins engine block. It was assigned to construction duty at Duke's Cherokee Nuclear Power Plant
. An economic downturn as well as new nuclear power regulations in the 1980s sidelined the plant, parking the SW locomotive for several years.
The unit was sold in 1989 to Don McGrady, which formed Southeastern Shortlines Inc as an operator for the Thermal Belt Railway and, later on, the Caldwell County Railway.
Shortline railroad
A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that operates over a relatively short distance relative to larger, national railroad networks. The term is used primarily in the USA and Canada...
that operates for freight service on a irregular schedule on a former CSX
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...
line from Bostic
Bostic, North Carolina
Bostic is a town in Rutherford County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 328 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Bostic is located at ....
to Forest City
Forest City, North Carolina
Forest City, formerly known as "Burnt Chimney," is a town in Rutherford County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 7,549 as of the 2000 census.-Geography:Forest City is located at ....
and on a former Norfolk Southern
Norfolk Southern Railway
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I railroad in the United States, owned by the Norfolk Southern Corporation. With headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, the company operates 21,500 route miles in 22 eastern states, the District of Columbia and the province of Ontario, Canada...
line from Forest City to Alexander Mills
Alexander Mills, North Carolina
Alexander Mills, North Carolina, was a town in Rutherford County, North Carolina, in the USA. It was incorporated in 1925 and named after a textile mill established by J.F. Alexander. In 1999 Alexander Mills merged with and became a part of Forest City, North Carolina.-Sources:*The North Carolina...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. Total mileage is 8.5 miles (13.7 km). Connections are made with CSX at Bostic. Rail is 85 pounds.
History
The former CSXT Bostic-Forest City line was originally built by the Central Carolina Railroad in 1886 as part of a route from RutherfordtonRutherfordton, North Carolina
Rutherfordton is a town in Rutherford County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 4,131 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Rutherford County.-Geography:Rutherfordton is located at ....
to Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
. The Central Carolina was later acquired by Seaboard Air Line. Through mergers, it later became part of CSX. The former Norfolk Southern Forest City-Alexander Mills line was built in 1887 by the Charleston, Cincinnati, and Chicago Railroad
Charleston, Cincinnati and Chicago Railroad
The Charleston, Cincinnati and Chicago Railroad, also known as the "Triple C," was a Southeastern railroad that operated in the late 19th century....
as part of a line from Marion, North Carolina
Marion, North Carolina
Marion is a city in McDowell County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 7,943 at the 2008 estimated census. It is the county seat of McDowell County.-Geography:Marion is located at ....
to Kingville in South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
. The line was soon acquired by the Southern Railway
Southern Railway (US)
The Southern Railway is a former United States railroad. It was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined beginning in the 1830s, formally becoming the Southern Railway in 1894...
, which merged into Norfolk Southern in 1982.
By the early 1980s, both CSX and Norfolk Southern reached an agreement to allow the consolidation of trackage in both Rutherford
Rutherford County, North Carolina
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 62,899 people, 25,191 households, and 17,935 families residing in the county. The population density was 112 people per square mile . There were 29,535 housing units at an average density of 52 per square mile...
and Cleveland
Cleveland County, North Carolina
-Demographics:As of the census of 2010, there were 98,078 people, 37,046 households, and 27,006 families residing in the county. The population density was 207 people per square mile . There were 40,317 housing units at an average density of 87 per square mile...
counties. This would allow both companies to abandon duplicate lines, while granting trackage rights
Trackage rights
Trackage rights , running rights or running powers is an agreement whereby a railway company has the right to run its trains on tracks owned by another railway company....
on former competitor routes. While this move help with operating cost, traffic declined to the point that by late 1989, Norfolk Southern had pulled out of operating its remaining segment from Gilkey, through Forest City, to Alexander Mills. The Gilkey-Ruth
Ruth, North Carolina
Ruth is a town in Rutherford County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 329 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Ruth is located at 35°22'60" North, 81°56'36" West ....
segment of this line had already been embargoed due to lack of traffic as well as downed trees caused by Hurricane Hugo
Hurricane Hugo
Hurricane Hugo was a classical, destructive and rare Cape Verde-type hurricane which struck the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe, Montserrat, St. Croix, Puerto Rico and the USA mainland in South Carolina as a Category 4 hurricane during September of the 1989 Atlantic hurricane season...
. At about this time, CSX was considering abandonment of its Bostic-Forest City line as well.
A group of the railroad's online shippers formed the Rutherford Railroad Development Corporation, which acquired both the former CSX Bostic-Forest City line and Norfolk Southern's Gilkey-Alexander Mills line in early 1990 in order to preserve rail service. Total rail mileage acquired was 16 miles. The line was leased to Southeast Shortlines, Inc, which renamed the line the Thermal Belt Railway after the areas isothermal effect which, on certain cool nights, allowed the area mountains to be warmer in temperature on the slope than on the base. The line started operations on April 2nd, 1990. Traffic in its first few years consisted of inbound plastic pellets, grain and lumber and outbound pulpwood on the remaining open sections of track, while work started on clearing the downed trees on the embargoed section.. However traffic on that segment never materialized, and after about 10 years of dormancy, the Gilkey-Spindale
Spindale, North Carolina
Spindale is a town in Rutherford County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 4,022 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Spindale is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all of it land....
section was converted into a rail-trail with the provision that it could be reactivated if needed.. The remaining trackage has see a steady decline of traffic to the point that by late 2010, parts of the line was used for rail car storage.
Motive power
The Thermal Belt operates with one locomotive. Number 1 is an Electro-Motive Corporation SW model switcherSwitcher
A switcher or shunter is a small railroad locomotive intended not for moving trains over long distances but rather for assembling trains ready for a road locomotive to take over, disassembling a train that has been...
repowered with a Cummins
Cummins
Cummins Inc. is a Fortune 500 corporation that designs, manufactures, distributes and services engines and related technologies, including fuel systems, controls, air handling, filtration, emission control and electrical power generation systems...
600 horsepower engine block. The unit was originally built in July, 1938 for Missouri Pacific's subsidiary, Union Terminal Railway of St. Joseph, Missouri. It was then transferred to another Missouri Pacific subsidiary, St. Joseph Belt Railway, which served as their #5. When the St Joseph Belt was merged into the Missouri Pacific, the SW became their #6005.
The locomotive was sold in the mid-1960s to Precision Engineering
Precision engineering
Precision engineering is a subdiscipline of electrical engineering, electronics engineering, mechanical engineering, and optical engineering concerned with designing machines, fixtures, and other structures that have exceptionally low tolerances, are repeatable, and are stable over time...
, which remanufactured (but not repowered) the SW. The unit was sold to the Pickens Railroad
Pickens Railway
Pickens Railway is a shortline railroad operating on two separate divisions in the Upstate Region of South Carolina:* Easley to Pickens: * Anderson, through Belton to Honea Path:...
as their #3. Pickens kept the unit until the mid-1970s when it was sold to Birmingham Rail and Locomotive near Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
. It was then acquired by Duke Power
Duke Energy
Duke Energy , headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, is an energy company with assets in the United States, Canada and Latin America.-Overview:...
and sent to Chattahoochee Locomotive, near Cornelia
Cornelia, Georgia
Cornelia is a city in Habersham County, Georgia, United States. The population was 3,834 at the 2010 census. It is home to one of the world's largest apple sculptures, which is displayed on top of an obelisk shaped monument...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
to be repowered with a Cummins engine block. It was assigned to construction duty at Duke's Cherokee Nuclear Power Plant
Cherokee Nuclear Power Plant
The Cherokee Nuclear Power Plant is an uncompleted energy project outside of Gaffney, South Carolina, United States. In the early 1970s, Duke Power started construction on a three-reactor nuclear power plant at the site. However, the project stalled due to economic problems by the early 1980s,...
. An economic downturn as well as new nuclear power regulations in the 1980s sidelined the plant, parking the SW locomotive for several years.
The unit was sold in 1989 to Don McGrady, which formed Southeastern Shortlines Inc as an operator for the Thermal Belt Railway and, later on, the Caldwell County Railway.