A friend sent me the announcement below. What type of train service is being planned to Asheville? What happened to the last Southern Ry. depot in Asheville?

Carter & Burgess Awarded Asheville Train Station Contract
Carter & Burgess has been selected by the North Carolina Department of Transportation Rail Division to develop site plans for the City of Asheville, N.C., Train Station.

David Simpson, Raleigh-based project manager for the Asheville project, said, "Our firm successfully carried out a similar project in the Winston-Salem area, and we are looking forward to replicating that success in Asheville."

Simpson said that Carter & Burgess will develop conceptual plans of the building and site plans, including a passenger platform and parking accommodations. He said that a second conceptual site plan will show an expanded building area to be developed by a private partner for retail use.

The station will be constructed at the Biltmore Station Shops, an area bounded by Garfield Street, North-South tracks, Elliott Road and Decatur Street, with access via Biltmore Avenue, Thompson and Decatur Streets.

> A friend sent me the announcement below.
> What type of train service is being planned
> to Asheville? What happened to the last
> Southern Ry. depot in Asheville?

North Carolina has announced plans to extend its state-subsidized Amtrak service west to Asheville from Salisbury, along the route of the old SR train that served this route (The "Asheville Special"). This includes the scenic "Old Fort Loops" where the tracks don't actually loop but twist back several times to gain altitude. I thought I heard there would even be a dome car involved on this route, with good reason--SR used to assign domes to this route in its last days.

Last time I was in Asheville it still had a depot, but like most such situations it would be poorly-sited for today's traffic and more building than Asheville's passengers will need.

lner4472@bcpl.net

> A friend sent me the announcement below.
> What type of train service is being planned
> to Asheville? What happened to the last
> Southern Ry. depot in Asheville?

There is a wye at the old Biltmore station, with the mainline coming east from the yard and splitting into northwest (to Salisbury) and southeast (to Spartanburg) legs. The Biltmore station sat outside the wye on the Spartanburg leg, if I remember correctly. Last time I passed it it was a restaurant or shop, but still standing.

Based on the street names, the new development will be outside the wye along the Salisbury leg.

JAC

Atlanta from the Air - 1949

> What type of train service is being planned
> to Asheville

It will be an extension of NCDoT's "Piedmont" train. The dome car they'll use is an ex-Milwaukee Road full dome.

hi_plain@yahoo.com

Don't get your hopes up too high... the latest timetable for this has now been pushed back to 2008.

Location is right across the street from the old suburban Biltmore depot (which replaced Asheville proper, a Spanish Mission-style building ripped out in '69), in a site once occupied by Lowe's and adjacent to where 4501 and other excursion power laid over during visits to Asheville in the late 70s and early 80s.


http://nctrans.org
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