I live in Sun City Hilton Head, Bluffton, SC. I notice an old R/R right of way that cuts through our new golf course. I think it was a Seaboard right of way. A narrow gage rail was graded up during construction of the golf course. I have been told it is from the old Argent Lumber Co line. My Question: Would these narrow gage tracks cross Seaboard main lines?

-- Lew Rhoden (abarth@hargray.com), January 22, 2001

Answers

Hi Lew, this roadbed is probably part of the Seaboard's "EC" Division mainline, or perhaps one of it's branches. Our expert on the area is Mr. Buddy Hill--he can certainly help you with your questions. Look through the Forum and you'll find dialogue about the ACL mainline between Savannah and Charleston and also the SAL EC line between the same cities. Many of your questions will be answered there, but it'll probably raise more questions for you too. And yes, the Argent crossed the SAL mainline several times in that area. In addition, there were many other lumber companies that crossed the EC between Hamlet and Savannah. A good resource for this information is the book "South Carolina Logging Railroads", which is out of print but can still be found at some stores (I got mine just last year). And about that peice of rail...go get it! Store it in your backyard and save it. It'll be worth something to nuts like me someday! Yours, John Golden

-- John Golden (Golden1014@yahoo.com), January 22, 2001.