Thanks. So they are saying the line from Asheville to the west will be restored by the end of January. I'm not sure where the damage was worst; the old fort loops are not that long compared to the other line but don't get much use anymore.

Anyone know how much damage there is on the Watco lines?

The August 1940 flood did significant damage to the ET&WNC between Cranberry and Boone, NC leading to the abandonment of this section. It was reported that for large sections the roadbed and fill were washed out leaving track dangling in the air according to John R Waite's “Blue Ridge Stemwinder.”

Speaking of Tweetsie:

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews ... hurricane/

RE: The Tweetsie The article doesn't indicate any damage to their infrastructure. It sounds like they are closed for other related (but unstated) issues.

Probably the same reason the Biltmore Estate is closed in Asheville - the surrounding community was hit extremely hard and to reopen too early is not good optics.

Agree. I think both attractions realized that the state of the area is such that they won’t get enough visitors and/or employees to make opening a viable option.

An interesting editorial from several days ago, not sure the Class Is will agree: "Railroads have no choice but to rebuild after Hurricane Helene: Commentary"
https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews ... ommentary/

Based on various photos and posts on Facebook, CSX seems to be working all out to restore the Blue Ridge sub north from Marion, NC to Spruce Pine, NC. North of that, things are gonna get a LOT harder, so we’ll have to wait and see.

Tweetsie sent out this email on October 11, 2024:

I think the entire blue ridge sub will be rebuilt; I don't see them having much choice otherwise. From what I can tell the only Class One trackage that might not be rebuilt is the Old fort loops but even that I think will eventually get done; possibly with a big government subsidy to bring passenger service to Asheville.

Old Fort Loops will eventually be rebuilt. As I understand it its mainly along bodies of water that the AS line is damaged. Places in the loops like the High Fill are in good shape, but down near Andrews Geyeser and Old Fort its completely destroyed. That said, it will likely take some greasing of the wheels from the State of NC to make it happen (educated speculation on my part there).

As for the WATCO line between Asheville and GSMR as well as whats left of the old line that went to Saluda, its very bad. As its been put to me by people in the know, if it wasn't for GSMR's need for a link to the outside world, this would probably be the death knell for that particular line. Even then, its going to be tough for WATCO to get it back into service without some heavy funding from outside entities (read: NC or the Feds).

Article on CSX rebuild efforts:

https://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonvill ... elene.html

Behind a pay wall.

So?

The "pay wall" appears to me just to be a subscription pop-up. I closed it and read this:

Bridges toppled. Tracks gutted. Hurricane Helene’s cataclysmic path through parts of North Carolina and Tennessee tore apart significant portions of the CSX Corp. Blue Ridge Subdivision – leaving the Jacksonville-based rail carrier with at least a $200 million bill to restore its network.

The Blue Ridge Subdivision that runs through parts of Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina remains out of service weeks after Hurricane Helene. Work to restore the network is expected to go into 2025.

CEO Joe Hinrichs said the hurricane destroyed a 500-foot bridge and 60-foot bridge and flooding stripped away miles of rail and track bed, adding up costs as the wreckage is difficult to get to in mountainous terrain.

“We're gonna have to rebuild that bed into the mountain side. So that's why it costs so much as you got miles of that,” Hinrichs said. “It's hard to get to, and you've got bridges to rebuild.”

Funds for the rebuild will come from CSX’ cash flow, Hinrichs said, and the company would be able to absorb the costs.

CSX, however, still anticipates significant headwinds from the work.

The rail carrier saw modest year-over-year growth in its latest earnings report, but expects the damages from the storm and repair costs to soften the growth of its operating income and margins into Q4.

But the restoration is set to bring much-needed upgrades to the tracks.

“When we do rebuild, we'll rebuild it in a way that it's a lot more resilient because these things were done 100 years ago, so that it can withstand, hopefully, if something were to happen again the next 100 years,” Hinrichs said.

As if one storm wasn’t enough, CSX’ network was tested again as Hurricane Milton barreled over the company’s tracks in Florida.

CSX’ railroads mostly sustained damage in parts of Tampa, and smaller bridges experienced several washouts.

The rebuild for damaged infrastructure in Florida is mostly complete though, which Hinrichs credits to the resilience of his employees.

“We had a number of employees whose homes were out of power for four days or so, and they're still coming to work and doing a great job for us,” Hinrichs said. “So we reached out to all of them, offered them help and assistance and et cetera, so Milton was impactful, but it's not going to have the long standing effect that Helene has had on our network.”

The CEO anticipates challenges from rerouting train cars to the east or west of the Blue Ridge Subdivision and tilting the network back in balance. As trains are rerouted, more cargo can end up jammed in rail yards for longer periods of time and delay arrival to customers.

Hinrichs pointed to Hurricane Milton delaying trains into Florida, leaving 1,500 trains cars stuck in Waycross, Georgia as an example.

“That jams up Waycross Yard, and also doesn't get those cars empty and back to the customer to fill again like they normally would,” he said.

Helene is the most devastating storm CSX has seen since Hurricane Katrina, the CEO said. While damage from Katrina was worse, Hinrichs said he believes the changing culture around the company and making workers feel more valued and appreciated had made the company become more resilient.

As a long road to rebuild lies ahead, employees have worked around the clock to clear fallen trees, put power back into single boxes and rebuild smaller washouts between Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia, the CEO said.

“We've had a lot of work, so it's really just trying to get everything rebuilt and get it back and running and give our people a little bit of breather. They've been working, really around the clock, to get this all rebuilt,” Hinrichs said. “I applaud their work they've given us and the effort they've given us,” Hinrichs said. “It's amazing to me how quickly we can get things back running when you see the devastation that happens in some of these storms and some of these weather events.”

We're a closed group, so this isn't a republication violation of copyright. But it can be deleted if mods think otherwise.