*1900 line split and the southern section was acquired by Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, with the remainder being acquired by Southern Railway and spun off into a separate entity called the Atlantic & Yadkin Railway.

1883 - a reorganization of the bankrupt Cape Fear & Yadkin Valley Railroad.

On the same day as the reorganization, the Cape Fear & Yadkin Valley Railway entered into an agreement with the South Carolina Pacific Railway, which had just completed grading their own line from Bennettsville, SC to the NC line. The two companies agreed to modify their routes slightly and to connect their railroads at the state line.

Construction of the track south from Fayetteville finally began in 1883. It reached Red Springs by mid-1884, Maxton by August, the state line by October, and Bennettsville by year-end.

As the railroad grew southward, new towns and businesses appeared along the line. During 1884, the railroad added double rails to their bridges to reduce the damage from derailments on a bridge. They also added hand railings to the bridges to keep pedestrians from falling into the water. The company purchased its first locomotives with air brakes, and installed sidings at several towns, including Lumber Bridge.

By 1886, the railroad had upgraded its mainline to 50 pound steel rail, and adopted the use of joint bars with four bolts at each joint. From Gulf to Maxton, the railroad had ten water tanks, nine lumber sidings (fuel for locomotive boilers), twenty-eight (28) depots, and nineteen (19) maintenance stations.

The railroad was in good shape for several years, but then it fell into financial decline. In addition to the southern branch, the railroad had expanded in both the northwest and southeast directions. It had reached Greensboro by 1884, Mt. Airy by 1887, and completed a line to Wilmington by 1890. But it was growing too fast. The expense of building the line to Wilmington combined with a general financial depression in 1893 proved to be too much of a strain. The railroad fell into receivership in 1894.

Following the foreclosure of the Cape Fear & Yadkin Valley Railway, a confusing series of corporate transfers, legal challenges, and court rulings ensued. The corporate turmoil continued for many years, and took until 1924 to be resolved by the North Carolina Supreme Court.

The railroad was initially purchased by Harry Walters, president of the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad and the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. The line passed several times through the same hands, including several companies with the name of Atlantic & Yadkin Railway. Mr. Samuel Spencer of the Southern Railway also got in on the action. Eventually, the Southern Railway obtained the northern portion of the railroad, while the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad retained the southern portion.

The completion of the Fayetteville Cutoff in 1892, combined with the takeover of the Cape Fear & Yadkin Valley Railway by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1894 (took until 1899 to finalize all the details), resulted in the first abandonment on the original line. It was immediately clear that the two lines south from Fayetteville were redundant. The original line was abandoned in 1899 from Fayetteville, to Hope Mills, and to a point just west of Parkton.

The original line was connected to the new mainline at Parkton by a new short section of track. The rest of the original line remained intact for more than sixty years.

Towns on Route:

Line #1 - Fayetteville to Mt. Airy:

Fayetteville

Manchester > Spring Lake (1948)

Overhills (1914)

Spout Springs > Flee Hill (1904) > Pineview (1906)

Spout Springs #2 (1905)

Dewberry (1907) > Rock Branch (1908) > Olivia (1913) > Rock Branch (1915) > Olivia (1916)

Swanns Station > Swann Station (1893)

Sanford

Jonesborough > Jonesboro (1893)

Egypt Depot > Egypt (1894) > Cumnock (1895)

Gulf

Goldston (1886)

Richmond (1884) > Bearcreek (1900)

Causey (1898) > Bonlee (1910)

Ore Hill > Mount Vernon Springs (1882) > Ore Hill (1884) > Mount Vernon Springs (1924)

Energy > Silver Station (1884) > Siler City (1886)

Waller (1885-1886)

Staley (1884)

Troy's Store > Liberty (1884)

Julian (1885)

Red Cross > Climax (1891)

Pleasant Garden

Vandalia (1884)

Greensborough > Greensboro (1893)

Battle Ground > Guilford (1888) > Battle Ground (1888)

Summerfield

Pond > Stokesdale (1887)

Belew Creek Mills > Belew Creek (1903) > Belews Creek (1971)

Walnut Cove

Germanton

Rural Hall

Kings Cabins (1888) > King (1895)

Little Yadkin > Dalton (1875)

Culler (1888) > Pinnacle (1900)

Pilot Mountain

Forge (1888) > Ararat (1903)

Mt. Airy

Line #2 - Mount Airy to Ore Knob:

Mount Airy

White Plains

Turners Station (1880s)

Dobson

Kapps Mill

Good Spring

Devotion (1888)

Cherry Lane

Glade Creek

Sparta

Whitehead

City (1883-1886)

Laurel Springs

Ore Knob > Transon (1937)

Line #3 - Fayetteville, NC to Bennettsville, SC (in NC):

Fayetteville

Lakedale (1916)

Hope Mills

Parkton (1892)

McNatt (1884)

Lumber Bridge (1877)

Shannon (1884)

Dora > Red Springs (1884)

Wakulla

Floral College (1886)

Shoe Hill > Maxton (1886)

Stewarts Station (1885-1888)

Johns Station (1886) > Johns (1912)

Skye > Hasty (1885)

NC/SC State Line

Line #4 - Stokesdale to Madison:

Pond > Stokesdale (1887)

Rocky Springs

Madison

Line #5 - Climax to Ramseur:

Red Cross > Climax (1891)

Millboro (1887)

Cedar Falls

Franklinville

Columbia Factory > Ramseur (1889)

Line #6 - Fayetteville to Wilmington (1890):

Fayetteville

Vander (1890)

Blockers > Stedman (1890)

Shepard > Autryville (1890)

Hayne

Roseboro (1890)

Hives (faded 1902)

Mints (1900)

Parkersburg (1890)

Garland (1890)

Tomahawk (1890)

Kerr (1890)

Ivanhoe (1890)

Atkinson (1890)

Odessa (1891-1895)

Rooks (1901)

Cedar Dale > Currie (1890)

Montague (1891)

Richards (1914)

Wilmington