Record #:

7471

Author(s):

Reevy, Tony

Abstract:

Reevy recounts the history of one of the shortest rail lines in the country. The short-run Carrboro Branch line between Chapel Hill and Carrboro has served its unique purpose for more than a century. Incorporated in 1873 as the Chapel Hill Iron Mountain Railroad Company, the ten-mile railroad was to serve an iron mine. Construction of the road began in 1879, but the company soon ran out of money. The mine was never a success, and ownership passed through several large railroad companies. Today, the line carries coal to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Cogeneration Facility three times a week as well as other freight for the area. About the mid-20th-century, Carrboro native and folksinger, Elizabeth “Libba” Cotton wrote a famous song, called “Freight Train,” about the Carrboro train as she knew it.

Source:

Our State (NoCar F 251 S77), Vol. 73 Issue 6, Nov 2005, p148-150, 152-153, il

Subject(s):

Railroads--History