The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's Kinston Branch (A Branch) was a railroad line that at its greatest extent ran from company's main line in Pender, North Carolina south to

Kinston, North Carolina Kinston is a city in Lenoir County, North Carolina, United States, with a population of 19,900 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It has been the county seat of Lenoir County since its formation in 1791. Kinston is located in the ...

. The line south of

Parmele, North Carolina Parmele is a town in Martin County, North Carolina, Martin County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 243 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History The town was settled in 1890 when the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad ...

is still active today and is now the Parmele Subdivision of

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

, the Atlantic Coast Line's successor company through various mergers.CSX Florence Division Timetable
/ref>

Route description

The Kinston Branch began at a junction with the company's main line in Pender, North Carolina (just south of Halifax). From Pender, it ran southeast through Scotland Neck to Hobgood, where it crossed the company's

Norfolk—Rocky Mount Line The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's Norfolk—Rocky Mount Line (B Line) was one of the company's secondary main lines running from the company's main line in Rocky Mount, North Carolina northeast to a point just outside of Norfolk, Virginia. Des ...

. Beyond Hobgood, it continued southeast to Oak City and then turned south to Parmele, where it crossed the

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was a United States Class I railroad formed in 1900, though predecessor railroads had used the ACL brand since 1871. In 1967, it merged with long-time rival Seaboard Air Line Railroad to form the Seaboard Coast ...

's Plymouth Branch. Beyond Parmele, it continued south through Greenville to its terminus in Kinston. The Kinston Branch also had a short branch to

Washington, North Carolina Washington is a city in Beaufort County, North Carolina, United States, located on the northern bank of the Pamlico River. The population was 9,875 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Beaufort County. It is c ...

. This branch, known as the Washington Branch split from the just south of Parmele and ran southeast to Washington.

History

The first segment of the line from Pender to Scotland Neck was chartered as the Halifax & Scotland Neck Railroad in 1872. By 1878, construction had yet to begin and it was then rechartered as the Scotland Neck Railroad. Construction began in 1879 and the line began service from Pender to Scotland Neck on October 1, 1882. In 1883, the Scotland Neck Railroad was acquired by the

Wilmington and Weldon Railroad The Wilmington and Weldon Railroad (W&W) name began use in 1855, having been originally chartered as the Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad in 1834. When it opened in 1840, the line was the longest railroad in the world with of track. It was constr ...

an it became their Scotland Neck Branch. By 1890, the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad extended the Scotland Neck Branch south to Kinston. The Wilmington and Weldon Railroad built the Washington Branch in 1892. By 1900, the entire Wilmington and Weldon Railroad network became part of the

. The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad designated the line as their Kinston Branch. By 1949, a local freight train was running the branch six days a week.Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Northern Division Timetable (1949)
/ref> In 1967, the Atlantic Coast Line merged with its rival, the

Seaboard Air Line Railroad The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , known colloquially as the Seaboard Railroad during its time, was an American railroad that existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime ri ...

(SAL), with the merged company was named the

Seaboard Coast Line Railroad The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad was a Class I railroad company operating in the Southeastern United States beginning in 1967. Its passenger operations were taken over by Amtrak in 1971. Eventually, the railroad was merged with its affiliate lin ...

(SCL). The company adopted the Seaboard Air Line's method of naming their lines as subdivisions and as a result, the branch was designated as the Kinston Subdivision. In 1980, the Seaboard Coast Line's parent company merged with the

Chessie System Chessie System, Inc. was a holding company that owned the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O), the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), the Western Maryland Railway (WM), and Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad (B&OCT). Trains operated u ...

, creating the

CSX Corporation CSX Corporation is an American holding company focused on rail transportation and real estate in North America, among other industries. The company was established in 1980 as part of the Chessie System and Seaboard Coast Line Industries merge ...

. The CSX Corporation initially operated the Chessie and Seaboard Systems separately until 1986, when they were merged into

. The northern segment of the line from Pender to Parmele was abandoned in 1984.

Current conditions

Today, the remaining segment of the branch south of Parmele is now CSX's Parmele Subdivision. The Parmele Subdivision now terminates just north of Kinston at a

grain elevator A grain elevator or grain terminal is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lowe ...

in Elmer.

Historic stations

References

{{reflist Atlantic Coast Line Railroad