Aberdeen and Rockfish Railroad

The Aberdeen and Rockfish Railroad (AAR reporting marks AR) is a shortline operating in North Carolina. At one time the AR was a Class 2 railroad. The railroad has 47 miles (76 km) of track that runs west from Aberdeen to Fayetteville, North Carolina.

History

An EMD GP18 owned and operated by the Aberdeen and Rockfish Railroad.

The AR was incorporated in 1892 by businessman John Blue. Mr. Blue built the railroad to get his timber and turpentine products to market. Over the years the railroads traffic has shifted from lumber to agriculture products. The AR is still owned by the Blue family.

Traffic

• Chemicals
• Animal Feed
• Grain
• Animal By-Products
• Building Supplies
• Fertilizer Solution

Route

• M.P. 00.00 Aberdeen, North Carolina - interchange with CSX-SAL and Aberdeen, Carolina and Western Railway (ACWR) and NS Norfolk Southern.
• Spivey Hill Siding
• M.P. 05.00 Ashley Heights, North Carolina (abandoned AR branch used to run east to Endon and Juniper)
• McCain
• M.P. 10.00 Montrose
• M.P. 13.00 Timberland
• M.P. 19.00 Raeford, North Carolina - interchange with Laurinburg and Southern Railroad (LRS) that runs over former AR track to Edinburgh, Purcell and Wagram, North Carolina.
• Upchurch Siding
• M.P. 24.00 Dundarrach, North Carolina
• Arabia, North Carolina
• M.P. 30.00 Rockfish, North Carolina
• Hope Mills Junction (abandoned AR branch that used to run west to Hope Mills, NC)
• Fenix
• M.P. 36.00 Cliffdale - AR branch to Clifbragg
• M.P. 40.00 Skibo - former junction with abandoned track of Cape Fear Railways (CF)(Route to Fort Bragg)
• M.P. 42.00 Owens
• M.P. 45.00 South Fayetteville, North Carolina CSX-ACL AND NS-Norfolk Southern
• River Terminal (on Cape Fear River)

Scheduled Service

In the August 1936 Official Guide, the Aberdeen and Rockfish Railroad operated one passenger round trip (train numbers 38 and 41) between Aberdeen and Fayetteville, departing Aberdeen at 8:50 am, and arriving at Fayetteville at 10:45 am; the return from Fayetteville at departed at 4:25 pm and arrived back in Aberdeen at 6:10 pm. The service ran Monday - Saturday, and Montrose, Dundarrach, Skibo, and Owens were flag stops. There was one scheduled freight train (train numbers 21 and 22), which ran between Aberdeen and Fayetteville Monday - Saturday; it departed Aberdeen at 7:45 am, and arrived at Fayetteville at 11:45 am. It returned from Fayetteville at 12:15 pm, and arrived back in Aberdeen at 4:05 pm.

References

• Aberdeen & Rockfish Railroad History. Aberdeen & Rockfish Railroad (2006). Retrieved on March 26, 2006.
• Drury, George H. (1984). The Train-Watcher's Guide to North American Railroads. Waukesha, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing, 6. ISBN 0-89024-061-2. 
• Walker, Mike (2004). SPV's Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America: Appalachia and Piedmont. Canterbury, Kent, United Kingdom: SPV Publishing. ISBN 1-874745-07-2. 

Further reading

• Schafer, Mike (1976). Railroads you can model. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. ISBN 0-89024-526-6.