Carolina Piedmont Railway

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Carolina Piedmont Railway (AAR reporting marks CPDR) is a class III railroad operating in South Carolina.

The CPDR provides freight service on a 34 mile route from an interchange with CSX Transportation in Laurens, South Carolina to East Greenville, South Carolina. Its track is considered a branchline with 80 pound rails. It hauls approximately 6,000 cars annually with lumber, minerals, plastics, chemicals and food products being the predominant traffic.

[edit] Address

268 Main Street Laurens, SC 29360 Phone: (864) 984-0040 Fax: (864) 984-0043

Radio frequencies: 160.770, 161.085

Location of engine house: Laurens, South Carolina

[edit] History

The line was built by the Charleston and Western Carolina Railroad in the 1890s. C&WC became part of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1897 and was merged into the ACL in 1959.

In 1990, CSX Transportation sold the line to the South Carolina Central Railroad, a subsidiary of RailTex, now RailAmerica. In April of 1997, the Carolina Piedmont purchased the Greenville and Northern Railway and merged GNR operations into CPDR. The last train ran over the GNR in January 1998, and there are no plans to reopen this line.

The former G&N was sold by RailTex to the Greenville County Economic Development Corporation. In 2007 GCEDC began improving the abandoned right of way for a rail trail running from Furman University and Travelers Rest to downtown Greenville.[1]