Durham & Southern Railway

[BoxcabE50]

Well, OK. Not quite ACL/SAL. But it was absorbed into the SCL.

Just curious- I don't want to buy a book. But was wondering- Is there a good web site for a little history about this company?

:D

Boxcab E50

[pjb]

Last operator was NELLO TEER Construction Co. The old man (Yes Virginia, like BERRY PINK of marbles
fame, there was a Mr. NELLO TEER ), liked playing
with trains and also wanted to get sand cheaply for the many aggregate plants he owned or used inthe area. The sand pits were down in Irwin near Dunn , that was the shop town for the D&S.

Theyhad dieselized with BALDWINS, and ran them 'til just before the SAL takeover, Prior to that they used mainline decapods. In fact, in 1932 , which was in GREAT DEPRESSION they were only Class 1 railroad in the country to buy a new steamer.

The N&W reached Durham on its line from Lynchburg. In order to keep turning traffic over to its then competitor the Southern , it used the
D&S where possible to reach the Seaboard Airline. Even after the merger of SAL and ACL , they continued this routing to SAL trackage at
Apex and ex ACL at Dunn. Overhead included
piggyback traffic and through coal trains.
Nello Teer built a headquarters in Durham , which was the north end of this 52 mile system.
When the routing was no longer profitable for the big boys to use ; and also when Nello Teer Construction, (that incidentally was major player in the urbanization of the areas known as the TRIAD, and RESEARCH TRIANGLE, in North Carolina) didn't need it to have aan advantage
it was sold. It had two Black and White EMD
switchers named "BUll" and "Durham" at the time.
It has been cut back to Durham -Apex. Their trackage on the north side of where it crossed
SAL there is now a tank car facility of pretty large size. The LPG sit south of the SAL tracks there is still big receiver. Dunn shops are gone,
the Durham Office building is no longer used by
anyone connected with old railroad. The old
circus loading piggy back ramp is still there
unserved. There is still lots of track and hardware laying around down in the sand pits , as of ten years ago, but I don't know what is current.
That's all for now. PJB

[BoxcabE50]

Can't believe that searching the web won't turn up some sort of site. All that I have located so far, is references to the RR name.

So, good thing you posted today. It's 100% more than I could find. And 100% more than I knew! Thanks!

:D

Boxcab E50

[hal]

This url is for them:

http://home.nc.rr.com/railroad/ds/

[chessie]

Last operator was NELLO TEER Construction Co. The old man (Yes Virginia, like BERRY PINK of marbles
fame, there was a Mr. NELLO TEER ), liked playing
with trains and also wanted to get sand cheaply for the many aggregate plants he owned or used inthe area. The sand pits were down in Irwin near Dunn , that was the shop town for the D&S.

Theyhad dieselized with BALDWINS, and ran them 'til just before the SAL takeover, Prior to that they used mainline decapods. In fact, in 1932 , which was in GREAT DEPRESSION they were only Class 1 railroad in the country to buy a new steamer.

The N&W reached Durham on its line from Lynchburg. In order to keep turning traffic over to its then competitor the Southern , it used the
D&S where possible to reach the Seaboard Airline. Even after the merger of SAL and ACL , they continued this routing to SAL trackage at
Apex and ex ACL at Dunn. Overhead included
piggyback traffic and through coal trains.
Nello Teer built a headquarters in Durham , which was the north end of this 52 mile system.
When the routing was no longer profitable for the big boys to use ; and also when Nello Teer Construction, (that incidentally was major player in the urbanization of the areas known as the TRIAD, and RESEARCH TRIANGLE, in North Carolina) didn't need it to have aan advantage
it was sold. It had two Black and White EMD
switchers named "BUll" and "Durham" at the time.
It has been cut back to Durham -Apex. Their trackage on the north side of where it crossed
SAL there is now a tank car facility of pretty large size. The LPG sit south of the SAL tracks there is still big receiver. Dunn shops are gone,
the Durham Office building is no longer used by
anyone connected with old railroad. The old
circus loading piggy back ramp is still there
unserved. There is still lots of track and hardware laying around down in the sand pits , as of ten years ago, but I don't know what is current.
That's all for now. PJB

Nice history there!

[chessie]

The modern Norfolk Southern has honored the original D&S with the "D&S Jct." on its line....

Harold

[chessie]

Don't forget that Nello Teer used his many aggregates to assist him in his highway road building ventures, which lowered his costs so he could outbid others for contracts around the area!

Harold

[BoxcabE50]

[quote=hal;317636]This url is for them:

http://home.nc.rr.com/railroad/ds/ [/quote (http://home.nc.rr.com/railroad/ds/ [/quote)]

I was just looking at this again. And something started bothering me. That web site says they ran their last train on July 5, 1979. Then were merged into CSX. AFAIK- CSX as a RR holding entity, did not happen until about Fall of 1980. Something seems wrong here.

:confused:

Boxcab

[CP&E 3207]

"...last train on July 5, 1979. Then were merged into CSX..."

The word "then" fills a space of time in the article, the D&S merged into the SCL, which became part of CSX later.

[BoxcabE50]

Pat-

I'd figured they must have gone into SCL/Family Lines. However, bridging well over a year with "then" seems to be a bit lengthy. And surely skips across an important step in history. "Then" seems as though something more immediate is happening.

Boxcab E50

[Dave Jones]

I last visited the D&S in ~1965. For a short line it was a first class operation. Believe at that time they had four Baldwin RS-12's and a fleet of 3-bay hoppers all meticulously maintained - all of the engines and a lot of those hoppers shined.

The mainline trackage was also first class. Estimate that the rail was 100 lb. plus and talking to one of the trainmen he told me that they were allowed a top speed of 50 mph.

[BoxcabE50]

I last visited the D&S in ~1965. For a short line it was a first class operation. Believe at that time they had four Baldwin RS-12's and a fleet of 3-bay hoppers all meticulously maintained - all of the engines and a lot of those hoppers shined.

The mainline trackage was also first class. Estimate that the rail was 100 lb. plus and talking to one of the trainmen he told me that they were allowed a top speed of 50 mph.

From photos I have seen over the years, it did look like a solid operation. Wasn't there an article about them, way back, in Railfan & Railroad magazine? My memory is saying there was...

Boxcab E50

[Dave Jones]

BoxcabE50 - There have been several articles on the D&S including, I believe R&R. I have about a 30 year accumulation of various model and fan magazines - which of course I don't have cataloged or even organized.

[BoxcabE50]

I subscribed to R&R, from day one, until about five years ago. It's all packed in boxes downstairs. I wonder if the magazine index search would tell me what issue? Too bad that it wouldn't also help move a mountain of boxes!

:eek:

Boxcab E50

[Frank Campagna]

Give me a few days, I'll look up some photos of a former D&S RS-12, sitting forlornly in the Kentucky woods. Took these a few years ago. I asked my son to stop by and see if it's still there. I believe I read somewhere that it belonged to the Louisville chapter of the NRHS. Frank

[BoxcabE50]

Give me a few days, I'll look up some photos of a former D&S RS-12, sitting forlornly in the Kentucky woods. Took these a few years ago. I asked my son to stop by and see if it's still there. I believe I read somewhere that it belonged to the Louisville chapter of the NRHS. Frank

Hmmm. This doesn't sound good. Hope it's moved to a better place now.

Boxcab E50

[Dave Jones]

Yes, I've read about that RS-12 which I believe was sold to the ??Morehead & North Fork?? railroad.

However with rail removal following abandonment I understand that the nearest live rails are four or so miles away. I also remember reading that the North Carolina Rail Museum was trying to acquire this same locomotive.

[BoxcabE50]

I hope there's a road way nearby? Moving it, unless they have some cash come in, or someone donates the use of equipment, (such as a lowboy and crane), could be expensive. Regardless of how they get it together, I hope this can be saved.

Boxcab E50

[pjb]

For those interested in discussing the Durham and Southern there
is a YAHOO group devoted to the railroad, where images of
various elements of the operation can be found in the photo
and files section along with the usual threads discussing the
road.
Good-Luck, PJB