CSX "S" Line / Proposed Southeast High Speed Rail Corridor
Click on any of the images for a larger version.
The 126 mile railroad corridor between Petersburg, Va., and Raleigh, N.C., has been mostly idle in recent years, with tracks removed north of Norlina, N.C., (just south of the N.C.-Va. border) in to Collier Yard in Petersburg, Va., in 1985. The segment south of Norlina to Raleigh, N.C., has seen only limited local freight service since that time.
Though the tracks extend into and slightly north of Norlina, no trains have operated that far north in recent years.
The corridor, once the Seaboard Air Line (and later Seaboard Coast Line) main line, is still owned by successor CSX. The corridor has been proposed for use as part of the Southeast High Speed Rail (SEHSR) line, on which passenger trains would operate south of Washington, D.C., at speeds in the 100 mph range. Once reopened and upgraded as a through route, the corridor could also be used by fast intermodal freight trains.
Both the states of North Carolina and Virginia are involved in implementation of the SEHSR corridor, with environmental and engineering studies already underway.
This page shows both how the corridor looked in 1981 when it was still in use as a main line and the current status around Norlina, N.C.
Though the corridor is intact even in the segments without track, implementation of the SEHSR corridor would require major upgrades of many right of way structures, such as bridges, and some alignment changes, particularly in curves, to permit trains to maintain higher speeds on the entire route.
All of the following photos were made between Richmond and Raleigh on a southbound trip. Unfortunately, I did not record information on all of the locations. These photos were made on Feb. 8, 1981, from the cab of an SCL locomotive on a heavily overcast and somewhat foggy day. Most photos are through the locomotive windshield.
 810094 Heading south on double track between Richmond and Petersburg, Va. This is part of the CSX A line which still exists and which extends south through Rocky Mount, N.C. |
 810098 Approaching Collier Yard south of Petersburg, Va. The S line diverged from the A line at the south end of Collier Yard. |
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810102 Meeting the northbound Amtrak Silver Star at Collier Yard. The Silver Star operated on the S line until a portion of that line was shut down. Today, all of Amtrak's Silver Service Washington-Florida trains use the CSX A line. |
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810108 Overtaking a southbound hopper (empty coal cars) train in southern Virginia. |
 810115 Approaching a meet with a northbound train in southern Virginia. |
 810122 Crossing a long timber trestle in southern Virginia. Structures like these would have to be totally rebuilt for high-speed rail use. |
 810125 Crossing Lake Gaston just south of the N.C.-Va. state line. This is another structure that would have to be replaced for high-speed rail use. |
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810128 Approaching Norlina
Junction. The tracks east to Warren Plains and on to
Weldon, N.C., run behind the white building at left.
Those tracks have also been removed starting just
northeast of Norlina. For high-speed rail use, this sharp curve would need to be built on a different alignment. |
The diesel on which I was riding was actually towing a steam-powered excursion train. The train was being towed because there were no provisions between Richmond and Raleigh for servicing the steam locomotive or replenishing its water and fuel supplies. As the main point of this page is to show the line, I did not include any of the steam locomotive photos here.
Although the S line was shut down as a through route in 1985, it took several more years for all track materials to be removed. Rails were removed first, with ties and tie plates going later.
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Left: 870861 Right of way
just north of Norlina, N.C., (looking north) with rails
already removed Right: 870873 Ties already pulled up for removal near the junction with the line to Warren Plains, still intact at left. This is at approximately the same location as the from-the-cab shot, 810128, above. This view is looking south toward Raleigh. |
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The following photos were made in May of 2004 in the Norlina, N.C., area.
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040337 Rusty switch in in downtown Norlina. The hardware for operating the switch has been removed long ago. This track segment is northeast of the junction with the S line, on the branch going to Warren Plains and Weldon. |
 040347 Northeast of Norlina, the remaining rails disappear into the brush. These tracks have not seen any trains in many years. This is on the branch that once went to Warren Plains and on to Weldon, N.C. |
 040350 A closer look at the tracks disappearing into the weeds on the stub end of the branch that once went on to Warren Plains and then Weldon, N.C. |
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040352 Paved over street
crossing in Norlina. This is also on the stub end of the
branch that once went to Warren Plains and then Weldon,
N.C. These tracks remained intact longer than the main line to the north, because, for a brief time after the S line was abandoned north of Norlina, CSX continued to serve the Warrenton Railroad, which connected with this branch at Warren Plains. After the Warrenton Railroad went out of business, CSX no longer had any business north of Middleburg, N.C., and no reason to bring trains this far north. |
There are presently no plans to re-activate the line east from Norlina toward Warren Plains, and the remaining tracks in Norlina are part of that line. However, these tracks in Norlina could be used to store railroad work equipment if and when the S line north to Petersburg is rebuilt.
As noted above, environmental impact and engineering work is already underway to reopen the right of way between Petersburg and Raleigh as a high speed rail corridor. To achieve this, new tracks would also need to be built south of Norlina on the segment that still has rails as these are not suited for high-speed passenger trains. The existing rails may be kept intact for freight service.
If and when the actual work of rebuilding this line begins, I'll be adding photos of that work to this site.
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