ACWR vs The Sandhills

Aberdeen Carolina & Western has appropriately named their line between Aberdeen and Star the Sandhills Division. A 68-car unit train loaded with corn, weighing in at just over 9,000 tons, has been delivered to the ACWR from the CSXT in Aberdeen. Now this train must negotiate the sandhills to make it to Perdue Farms in Candor, NC.
An ex-Conrail C40-8W, along with a CSX AC44AH, are barely enough horsepower to pull this train in dramatic fashion up some of the steepest grades in this region of the state.

Aberdeen hosts the ruling grade of the whole division. It's argued by many to be anywhere from 1.5 to 2 percent. The ACWR crew doesn't even attempt to take the whole train up the hill out of Aberdeen; but, elects to take the train up in two seperate cuts to double the hill. The first scene shows the train bringing up the second cut up to Summit Siding in Talbird, where the whole train will be reassembled again for the remainder of the trip. With only 47 cars, this hill still shows it's dominance.

At Talbird, the whole train has just been reassembled at Summit Siding and pulls from a dead stop to continue up the grade towards Pinehurst. It isn't as easy as it looks.

In Pinehurst, the train has just made track speed but pulls em back for a 10 MPH temporary slow order. As the camera zooms out, the greens of the Pinehurst #2 golf course can be seen on both sides of the frame. And an ACWR decal identifies the overhead bridge over Hwy 5.

And finally, at West End, the whole train is seen being lugged up another respectable hill approaching Hoffman Road.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Trains
• ACWR
• Aberdeen
• Carolina
• Western
• Railway
• Sandhills
• Division
• Pinehurst
• West
• End
• CSXT
• Conrail
• C40-8W

[roundhouser]

You have some of the best made videos on youtube. i enjoy them.

[RKWproductions]

Thank you for the very kind remark.

[csxcw44ac]

Looks like CSX G997 or G996.

[RKWproductions]

G978

[csx5400]

Reminds me of Saluda!

[bobbyferg1]

MR BENSON



[jfreelan1964]

You haven't seen the video of a railfan shooting video of a slow moving train and missed being crushed by about 5 feet.

I wasn't being sarcastic.

[rawoodruff]

And, watch out for lightning, because it could strike at any time.

[jfreelan1964]

I recommend not shooting so close to the track. Mainly for safety purposes. A derailment can happen at any time, and you don't need to be turned into a pancake. It may look good on video but in the end it may not be worth it.

Keep up the good work.

[aarontrain]

Awesome video and great zoom work! I really miss those Sandhills now that I live at the coast.