The Alexander Railroad Company is a Class III

shortline railroad :''Short Line is also one of the four railroads in the American version of the popular board game Monopoly, named after the Shore Fast Line, an interurban streetcar line.'' A shortline railroad is a small or mid-sized railroad company that oper ...

operating in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...

. The railroad has of track that runs northwest from Statesville to Taylorsville,

History

The Alexander Railroad began operations in 1946. The line was marked for abandonment by the Southern Railway, so local investors and businessmen stepped in, purchasing the branch line from Statesville to Taylorsville. The railroad is named after

Alexander County, North Carolina Alexander County is a county established in the U.S. state of North Carolina in 1847. As of the 2020 census, the population was 36,444. Its county seat is Taylorsville. Alexander County is part of the Hickory–Lenoir–Morganton, NC Metropol ...

, although it serves both

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

& Iredell Counties. The railroad was originally chartered and built in 1887 as the Statesville & Western, a subsidiary of Atlantic, Tennessee & Ohio which ran between

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

and Statesville North Carolina. The AT&O was purchased by the Richmond & Danville, and eventually came under the Southern Railway.

Operations

The Alexander Railroad serves 20 customers, handling approximately 2,500 carloads (200,000 tons) per year.Alexander Railroad
''Railway Association of North Carolina'' (retrieved 18 June, 2014) Principal commodities carried by the railroad are grain, pulpboard, plastics, lumber products, and scrap paper. The ARC has one connection with Norfolk Southern at Statesville, NC, which sees daily interchange. The ARC uses radio frequency 160.62000, under license KCP872 (

AAR AAR or Aar may refer to: Geography * Aar, a river in Switzerland, tributary of the Rhine *Aar (Lahn), a tributary of Lahn river in Germany, descending from the Taunus mountains * Aar (Dill), a tributary of Dill river in Germany, also in the bas ...

channel 34) for all of their operations.ULS License, Industrial/Business Pool, Conventional License - KCP872 - ALEXANDER RAILROAD COMPANY
''Federal Communications Commission'' (retrieved 12 August, 2014)

Roster

The Alexander Railroad currently has five operating diesel-electric locomotives. The roster includes: #3 - GE 44 tonner, and four EMD SW1500's, #9 and #10 wearing an all over black livery. #11 and #12 wear a more eye catching black and green livery. ARC #11 was photographed working in Taylorsville in March 2013. The ARC has a locomotive servicing shop in Taylorsville, where four of the railroad's five locomotives are kept. The other one is kept in Statesville for switching the yard.

References

General references

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External links