Wayne County, NC - Heritage Series Reprinted with permission of the Mount Olive Tribune and cannot be reproduced without permission. Transcribed by Barbara Kawamoto. The North Carolina Railroad "Our Heritage" By Claude Moore Friday, June 14, 1991 Railroads had their beginning in England after the first railroad engine was invented in 1825. The next year the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was begun which aroused much interest in other parts of the United States, more especially in those areas which were far removed from navigable waters. Archibald D. Murphey of Orange County is given credit for advocating a statewide system of roads and canals. Joseph Caldwell, the President of the University of North Carolina, proposed that a state-funded railroad system be undertaken by the State. These proposals began to be carried out when the Whig Party came into power in 1836. The real leaders in railroad building were Governor Edward Dudley of Wilmington and Governor John M. Morehead of Guilford County. The Wilmington and Raleigh (later change to the Wilmington and Weldon) Railroad was built between 1836-1840 with Governor Edward Dudley as the founder and builder. This was known as the "life line of the Confederacy" during the War Between the States. This railroad now known as the Seaboard Coast Line, still operates from Weldon to Wallace from Warsaw to Clinton, and is reportedly doing a flourishing business hauling pulpwood, hog, turkey, and broiler feed. The Raleigh-Gaston Railroad from Raleigh to Gaston on the Roanoke River was completed in 1840 and later connected with railroads to Petersburg and Portsmouth. There were proposals from Piedmont, North Carolina, to build a state-owned system in that area. The Honorable William S. Ashe of New Hanover County sponsored a bill in 1849, which passed, chartering the North Carolina Railroad Company. Former Governor John M. Morehead was made president of the company. The State was to furnish two-thirds of the capital and private individuals were to purchase the remainder. The railroad began in Charlotte, and then on the Concord, Salisbury, High Point, Greensboro, Hillsboro, Durham, Raleigh, Smithfield and to Goldsboro, a distance of 223 miles. The railroad was completed in January 1856, and was widely acclaimed as the opening of the Piedmont to the markets of the world. Factories and villages sprung up along the route and soon this became the most prosperous section of the State. The State later increased its ownership to three-fourths of the stock. In 1854, the State extended the railroad from Goldsboro to New Bern to Beaufort, which was completed in 1858. Goldsboro had its beginnings in 1847 when the county seat was moved from Waynesborough to its present site. It became an important town since it was at the junction of two railroads. In 1860, it had a population of 1,000. In 1895 Governor Elias Carr leased the North Carolina Railroad to the Southern Railway (now the Norfolk and Southern), which was at that time owned largely by J. P. Morgan of New York. The lease was for 100 years and will expire on January 1, 1995. Many North Carolinians were furious at this move, but they may be just as upset in 1995 when the fate of the railroad will be in the hands of an unpredictable legislature. The North Carolina Railroad is again in the limelight with the modern Carolinian Train, part of the Amtrak System, running each day from Charlotte to Greensboro, to Raleigh, to Wilson, to Rocky Mount, to Richmond, Washington, and to New York. The train is underwritten by the North Carolina State Department of Transportation. The train leaves Charlotte at 8 a.m. and arrives in New York (Pennsylvania Station) at 11 p.m. This train has become popular and one is able to recapture the thrills of earlier days when there was no other way to travel to distant places. And too, air travel has become expensive, and driving cars in large metropolitan areas, has become a problem for older country people. ============================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. The electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Barbara Kawamoto ==============================================================