North Carolina Railroads - Cape Fear & Yadkin Valley Railroad




North Carolina Railroads - Cape Fear & Yadkin Valley Railroad

Acronym	Year Chartered or Incorporated	Year Line Operational	Year Service Ended	Original Starting Point	Original Ending Point
CF&YV RR	1879	1879	1883*	Fayetteville, NC Fayetteville, NC Mt. Airy, NC	Walnut Cove Bennettsville, SC Ore Knob, NC

*1883, reorganized as Cape Fear & Yadkin Valley Railway #2. 1879 merger of the Western Railroad and the Mt. Airy & Ore Knob Railroad created this railroad. + 1881 - Extended line from Egypt Depot to Walnut Cove. + 1881 - Purchased the Fayetteville & Florence Railroad, which had surveyed and laid out a line from Fayetteville, NC to Bennettsville, SC, but had not started laying track. CF&YV RR started that construction, which was completed in 1884 under the reorganizaed Cape Fear & Yadkin Valley Railway #2. The town of Fayetteville is located in the sandhills region of southeast North Carolina. It is at the headwaters of the Cape Fear River, which drains to the Atlantic Ocean at Wilmington, NC. Thanks to these navigable waters, Fayetteville became a center of trade and commerce in the early 1800s. At that time, people were talking about railroads all around the country, and there was great interest in both North and South Carolina. In the 1830s, several railroads were chartered and planned for the region. In 1836, it was agreed that a railroad should be built from Fayetteville westbound, to bring goods from the interior of the state to Fayetteville by rail, and then be shipped to the ports of Wilmington by barge. However, the financial depression of 1837 stifled most of these plans, and construction of the first permanent railroads would be postponed to the late 1840s. During these ten years, ventures for many railroads came and went, under names such as the Fayetteville Railroad, the Cape Fear & Yadkin Railroad, the Cape Fear, Yadkin, & Pee Dee Railroad, and the Fayetteville & Western Railroad. Many were planned and some were surveyed; few were graded and fewer still were built. Most failed quickly. The Cape Fear & Yadkin Valley Railroad was chartered in 1879 as a merger of the Western Railroad and the Mt. Airy & Ore Knob Railroad. Two years later, it purchased the Fayetteville & Florence Railroad, along with its graded roadbed - construction had not commenced as yet. But the Cape Fear & Yadkin Valley Railroad was busy grading its line to Greensboro and trying to plan a new line to Wilmington. It was also having financial difficulties. Construction of the line south toward Florence would have to wait again. The company went into receivership before any more could be done.

Towns on Route: Line #1 - Fayetteville to Walnut Cove: Fayetteville Manchester > Spring Lake (1948) Overhills (1914) Spout Springs > Flee Hill (1904) > Pineview (1906) Swanns Station > Swann Station (1893) Sanford Jonesborough > Jonesboro (1893) Egypt Depot > Egypt (1894) > Cumnock (1895) Gulf Ore Hill > Mount Vernon Springs (1882) > Ore Hill (1884) > Mount Vernon Springs (1924) Energy (1880) > Silver Station (1884) > Siler City (1886) Troy's Store > Liberty (1884) Red Cross (1875) > Climax (1891) Pleasant Garden Greensborough > Greensboro (1893) Battle Ground > Guilford (1888) > Battle Ground (1888) Summerfield Pond (1879) > Stokesdale (1887) Belew Creek Mills (1870) > Belew Creek (1903) > Belews Creek (1971) Walnut Cove Line #2 - Fayetteville, NC to Bennettsville, SC (in NC): Fayetteville Lakedale (1916) Hope Mills Parkton (1892) McNatt (1884) Lumber Bridge (1877) Shannon (1884) Dora (1880) > Red Springs (1884) Wakulla (1880) Floral College (1886) Shoe Hill > Maxton (1886) Stewarts Station (1885-1888) Johns Station (1886) > Johns (1912) Skye (1881) > Hasty (1885) NC/SC State Line Line #3 - Mount Airy to Ore Knob: Mount Airy White Plains Turners Station (1880s) Dobson Kapps Mill Good Spring Cherry Lane Glade Creek Sparta Whitehead (1883) City (1883-1886) Laurel Springs Ore Knob > Transon (1937)