I'm modeling a passenger route vaguely based on the old Wilson - Wilmington NC line. Could anyone tell me 1) when this line stopped running passenger service, and 2) what sort of locomotives were primarily used on this line: F units or E units?

Also, having grown up in the Burgaw area in the early 60s, I remember hearing a legend about a ghostly light which appeared at night on the line somewhere between Burgaw and Wallace. This is similar to the "Maco Ghost" which appeared on the SAL line near Maco, NC. Has anyone heard whether the ghost has given up haunting between Burgaw and Wallace since the line was torn up? :)

-- Stephen Charest (sgcharest@aol.com), October 24, 1999

Answers

These trains most commonly used a single E unit, always an E7 in the photos I have. Technically, the line was the Contentnea-Wilmington line, and the trains originated at Rocky Mount. My book has more details.

-- Larry Goolsby (LGoolsby@aphsa.org), October 25, 1999.

According to Goolsby's ACL PASSENGER SERVICE, the Rocky Mount- Wilmington passenger trains were gone in SCL's timetable issued April, 1968.

The "Maco Light" is an ACL phenomenon. The legend is that an ACL trainman was decapitated near Maco and he continues to look for his head. According to the locals, it's best viewed on misty nights from a grade crossing near Delco.

-- Harry Bundy (y6b@aol.com), October 25, 1999.