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On the railroad's first revenue run, the
Pickens Railroad suffered a serious derailment that was caused by a local group of boys that had placed spikes on the rails, in their words, "to see what would happen." No one was seriously injured, but caused the fledgling company a serious financial setback,
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In the early 1990s NRUC became
Emergent Group and sold the railroad to CLC-Chattahoochee Locomotive Corp., which renamed the railroad Pickens Railway Company, according to the Federal Register, 1 May 1996. On April 2, 2013, Pickens Railway pulled the last train to Easley because of lack of business.
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located a sewing machine cabinet plant on the
Pickens Railroad. The plant eventually became the railroad's biggest customer and the line was purchased outright in 1939 by Singer. In 1927, the Appalachian Lumber Company built a network of logging lines in the upper portion of Pickens County. By 1939,
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In 1959, The Singer
Company consolidated its sawmill and cabinet operations with the woodworking operations from Arkansas and the Craftsman power tools from New Jersey to the Pickens location. In 1963, Poinsett Lumber and Manufacturing Company announced that the Pickens Railroad was for sale. James
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in 1994, the
Pickens expanded further by leasing the Belton-Anderson line from Norfolk Southern. This line was built in the 1840s as part of the Blue Ridge Railway. Included was former Anderson trackage that had belonged to CSX previously owned by the Piedmont & Northern and Charleston &
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In its early years, it was nicknamed the "Pickens Doodle" because the train would run backwards to Easley and forward to
Pickens, which "looked like a doodlebug," according to area residents. The Pickens Railroad, at the time did not have turning facilities until the line built two
269:) for use in passenger excursions. Jones purchased the trains for little more than their scrap value, and partially refurbished two of them at Pickens' newly established car rebuilding plant, the third train used for spare parts. These tours ran mostly between
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344:. The 2-6-2 steam engine was sidelined until 1955 when it was sold for scrap. Number 2 is still on the property on the original Pickens trackage but has been out of service for some time as a switcher for CLCX, Inc. as of 2009.
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leased the Belton-Honea Path line to the
Pickens under the "Thoroughbred Shortline Program." This line was built in the 1840s by the Greenville & Columbia, eventually becoming part of the Southern.
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The Easley-Pickens line was chartered on
December 24, 1890, by the South Carolina General Assembly after two failed attempts to build a railroad through Pickens from Easley. The line connected with the
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Traffic included transportation equipment on the original
Pickens line (in the form of locomotive remanufacture CLCX, Inc. located in Pickens until 2013), while the Anderson-Belton handles
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it too was also acquired by Singer and organized under the
Poinsett Lumber and Manufacturing Company. Passenger service was discontinued in 1928 as better roads were built in the region.
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F. Jones of North Carolina purchased the line for approximately $ 50,000. Jones built a new enginehouse and established a carshop for rebuilding and renovating railroad cars.
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The first Pickens locomotive was a secondhand 4-4-0 that was damaged in a derailment on its first trip. It was replaced in 1909 with a new 2-6-0 from
359:#6005 before it became Pickens #3. It was sold to Duke Power in the mid-1970s, which used it to haul construction materials for the building of the
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hosts on excursions further afield. In 1967 Jones Tours ended its rail-excursion service and parked the trains on a siding of the G&N at
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The Southern Railway briefly acquired control of the Pickens around 1910, however, it was reverted to local interests several years later.
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The final run was pulled by Pickens #9502 and CLCX #12132. The last train ended an era of over 100 years of running to Easley.
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diesel-hydraulic prime-movers of the trainsets remained operational for short trips over the Pickens and the
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prime movers. Number 6 remained on the property, stored inoperable, until 2010 when it was scrapped onsite.
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300:-based National Railway Utilization Company (NRUC), which expanded the carshop to build new freight cars.
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In 1963 and 1964, "Jones Tours" (named after Pickens Railways' owner, James Jones) purchased all three of
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In 1963, after the line was acquired by James F. Jones, the Pickens acquired an
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When the Pickens expanded in the early 1990s, it acquired a pair of
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Ardinger, Ken (September–October 1996). "Locomotive Notes II".
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141:: 9.9 miles (15.9 km) - abandoned and lifted in 2013.
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Port Utilities Commission of Charleston, South Carolina
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sections of track at each end of the line years later.
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List of United States railroads by political division
186:, synthetic rubber, rubber processing oil, plastics,
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In 2000, the Pickens acquired a fleet of former CSX
382:#701 in 1951. It became Pickens #5 (which named it
122:that has operated on two separate divisions in the
408:numbered 9500-9508. One (9501) is used for parts.
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378:was purchased by Pickens. It was built as
605:Port Terminal Railroad of South Carolina
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211:which operated in the red until 1905.
201:Atlanta and Charlotte Air Line Railroad
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498:Photos and a roster of Pickens's U18Bs
681:Railway companies established in 1890
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462:(5). Montoursville, Pennsylvania: 61.
353:Union Terminal Railroad Of St. Joseph
175:on the Anderson-Honea Path segment.
171:on the Easley-Pickens segment and 85
163:at Easley and Anderson, and with the
336:The line dieselized in 1947 with a
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296:Jones sold the Pickens in 1973 to
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650:Former carriers in South Carolina
570:East Cooper and Berkeley Railroad
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428:"Pickens Railroad Started 1898".
351:locomotive. It was built for the
580:Hampton and Branchville Railroad
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443:The Baldwin Diesel Zone - RP-210
432:. September 30, 1968. p. 2.
355:as their #5, it later served as
615:South Carolina Central Railroad
575:Greenville and Western Railway
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390:in 2001, becoming their #102.
291:Travelers Rest, South Carolina
207:) and was completed in 1898.
165:Greenville and Western Railway
159:Connections are made with the
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585:Lancaster and Chester Railway
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620:Waccamaw Coast Line Railroad
371:in 1989, becoming their #1.
361:Cherokee Nuclear Power Plant
249:lightweight trainsets, (the
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539:Railroads of South Carolina
167:at Belton. Rail was 85-100
155:: 28.5 miles (45.9 km)
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560:Carolina Piedmont Railroad
555:Carolina Southern Railroad
325:Pickens locomotive history
86:4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (
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503:HawkinsRails Pickens page
380:Youngstown Sheet and Tube
357:Missouri Pacific Railroad
283:Greenville & Northern
271:Charlotte, North Carolina
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676:South Carolina railroads
590:Norfolk Southern Railway
331:Baldwin Locomotive Works
314:Norfolk Southern Railway
194:Pickens Railroad History
493:Pickens Railway website
365:Gaffney, South Carolina
51:Upstate South Carolina
595:Pee Dee River Railway
374:In the early 1970s a
98:37 miles (60 km)
430:The Pickens Sentinel
369:Thermal Belt Railway
333:and was numbered 1.
227:Singer Manufacturing
239:Pullman Car Company
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629:Passenger carriers
565:CSX Transportation
321:Western Carolina.
267:New Haven Railroad
120:shortline railroad
57:Dates of operation
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203:(later the
82:Track gauge
65:Predecessor
60:1898–
670:Categories
648:See also:
456:Diesel Era
412:References
153:Honea Path
147:, through
42:PICK, PKHP
312:In 1991,
255:from the
245:nine-car
184:limestone
76:Technical
406:GE U18Bs
395:ALCO S1s
145:Anderson
22:Overview
287:Class-1
252:Xplorer
243:Train X
139:Pickens
118:) is a
636:Amtrak
349:EMC SW
273:, and
188:silica
180:kaolin
173:pounds
169:pounds
149:Belton
135:Easley
95:Length
71:(PKHP)
47:Locale
363:near
116:PKHP
112:PICK
241:’s
217:wye
151:to
137:to
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