On a trip from Florida to DC the other day, I got off of I-95 at Weldon, NC and drove on 301 to Emporia, VA - the old ALC main is right beside the road.

I seem to remember that much of this was single-tracked some years ago, but now it looks like it is back to double track on this section, and it looked brand new. Did CSX re-double track portions of the old ACL main?

Thanks for the answer.

Wes Woodruff Orlando, FL

-- Wes Woodruff (woodruff_wes@bah.com), March 09, 2005

Answers

Like Larry, I have never heard that any of the former ACL route was re-doubletracked. When a stretch of track has recently been surfaced by a T&S gang, it can put up the appearance of being "new."

-- Bill Sellers (was2nd@charter.net), March 12, 2005.

There are stretches of the old double track that remain, like this one. Without checking current employee timetables, I think most are no more than 4 or 5 miles long and essentially function as long passing sidings. The main was once double-track all the way from Richmnd to Jacksonville, except at a few locations like river bridges. Single-tracking (with CTC) began in the late 50s or early 60s. Can't recall exactly when the changeover was finally finished, but I believe it was by the end of the 1970s. I'm not aware that double track was reinstalled anywhere but I could be wrong. Looking at successive issues of the employee timetables is the easiest way to pinpoint all this.

-- Larry Goolsby (lgoolsby@aphsa.org), March 10, 2005.