See link... 26 miles of SC railine to succumb to waterfront development and possibly a trail.

Rob

http://www.beaufortgazette.com/local_news/story/30

> See link... 26 miles of SC railine to
> succumb to waterfront development and
> possibly a trail.

I happen to know both this area and that railroad, having had a girlfriend whose parents lived in Beaufort. This line has been hanging by a thread for nearly two decades; the only reason it still exists was that the state wished to maintain access to the Port of Port Royal, south of Beaufort, which is (according to press reports) slated to close sometime early next year. Without the state support this line has had, it probably would have shut down ages ago; it was recently seeing a weekly-at-best trip hauling liquid fertilizer and dry concrete. The only "waterfront" property being eyed for development at this point is apparently the port facilities themselves; however, the railroad does traverse some rather nice waterfront property in Beaufort as well (well, potentially nice if developed).

Oddly, this line has a better chance of survival than most; apparently every option imaginable is being examined, from a trail to a dinner train to a contract freight operator to what we would call "railbanking". Indeed, the article linked below indicates that the line is considered a strategic emergency evacuation route--by hi-rail truck! There was also a "test" passenger run made in 2002; see second link below.

See also http://www.lowcountrynow.com/stories/11 ... road.shtml

http://www.lowcountrynow.com/stories/03 ... rain.shtml


Emergency rail transport of hospital patients?

LNER4472-NOSPAM-@bcpl.net

Photo shows typical scenery between Beaufort and Yemassee--and a gentle, indirect reminder that the Beaufort County Mosquito Control Bureau has more clout and respect down there than the county commissioners.......


LNER4472-NOSPAM-@bcpl.net

I did a thorough feasibility analysis of this property for a tourism project for the Town of Port Royal. It was actually a pretty good market due to the constant influx of visitors to Parris Island Marine Corps base graduations - Every six weeks a big flow, with all the extended families, and then some kind of celebration. The restaurant and motel business is quite good there, and it is a pleasant town and a relatively solid rail property - state kept track and bridge maintenance up.

It appears like the political and development winds have changed. The photo posted on this link was from the test train trip the last time I was down there, and that that time, they were very enthusiastic about doing a startup with an operator. After that, everything went very quiet. I also know there were some personnel changes at Ports that may have affected decisionmaking.

If anybody wants to take another run at this one, hey, give me a call. But you can see what you're up against at this point.



randygustafson@stoneconsulting.com