North Carolina Railroads - East Carolina Land & Railroad Company




North Carolina Railroads - East Carolina Land & Railway Company

Acronym	Year Chartered or Incorporated	Year Line Operational	Year Service Ended	Original Starting Point	Original Ending Point
ECL RR	1887	1893	1893*	New Bern, NC	Jacksonville, NC

*1893 merged with the Wilmington, Onslow & East Carolina Railroad to form the Wilmington, Newbern & Norfolk Railroad, which was almost immediately renamed to the Wilmington & Newbern Railroad. The East Carolina Land & Railway Company was chartered by Craven County, North Carolina and the city of New Bern, North Carolina in 1887 to construct a 37-mile rail line connecting New Bern with Jacksonville, North Carolina. $60,000 was asked for the rail line from the county, plus an additional $40,000 to extend the rail line to either Washington, North Carolina, Greenville, North Carolina, or Pantego, North Carolina. The county commissioners agreed to underwrite $50,000 worth of bonds, provided the East Carolina Land & Railway Company's plans were approved by Craven County voters in a special referendum. In January of 1888, however, the railroad company withdrew its proposal and interest in the project waned. In 1889, interest in the East Carolina Land & Railway Company was renewed, when citizens of New Bern petitioned the county commissioners to call a special referendum to allow the city of New Bern to vote on a proposition to provide $50,000 to the railroad company, provided that the railroad company connected New Bern with Jacksonville. The referendum was approved by the voters, and by 1893 the line was completed. The same year, the county commissioners officially approved the town of New Bern’s purchase of East Carolina Land & Railway Company stock. However, the promise of lowered local taxes, owing to the proposed revenues that were to be generated by the railroad’s operation, never occurred, and in fact, taxes were raised to pay for the city’s stock purchase. Also at this time, the East Carolina Land & Railway Company was merged with the Wilmington, Onslow & East Carolina Railroad to form the Wilmington, Newbern & Norfolk Railway Company. Most of this line was abandoned in 1985, and tracks and cross-ties were removed in September and October of 1985. All of the bridges, including the trestle at Jacksonville, and a steel lift span at Pollocksville were gone by December 1986, as were all crossing signals at various highway crossings. Click Here for photos and more info on this abandoned line.

Towns on Route: New Berne > Newbern (1892) > New Bern (1918) Debruhls (1888-1896) Polloksville > Pollocksville (1947) Maysville Kellum (1901) Jacksonville