Slater’s Lane Ghost Train

[Zack]

@Judd 207956 wrote:

Has anyone experienced a ghost train on Slater’s Lane before? I was headed to the MVT this morning and the railroad crossing lights lit up and the arms came down for about 2 minutes. No train came through. As far as I know this piece of track was to bring coal to the power plant and hasn’t been used since the power plant shut down.

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Twice, I have seen CSX park its track inspection equipment down this track but stop short of Slaters Ln. I think they use it when the line is less busy but occasionally store equipment during the day.

[lordofthemark]

@Zack 208046 wrote:

Twice, I have seen CSX park its track inspection equipment down this track but stop short of Slaters Ln. I think they use it when the line is less busy but occasionally store equipment during the day.

So back during the Reagan years, when I was young (and oh, so callow) I was, as some of you know, a financial analyst for CSX (actually Seaboard, but you dont want to know). I was tasked with organizing the economic analysis of the “South Carolina Plant Rationalization” – determining which of the spaghetti of lines that CSX had there, a result of mergers, would make sense to keep – the determinants being customers on the line, operating needs for through freights, maintenance and operating costs, salvage and land sale opportunities, etc – all neatly folded into a cash flow analysis and tied up with the ribbon of an internal rate of return (ROI, but not exactly). With a side helping of internal RR politics as the marketing dept fought with the operating department, with us finance dept folks trying to keep the peace.

As part of this I and my boss spent two days (I think two? Or was it one?) criss crossing all the lines in question on a “high rail vehicle” driven by some operations guys. Basically a pick up truck, that also had a set of small steel wheels able to operate on tracks – you got on the tracks at a grade crossing and off you went. Now the truck set off the grade crossing gates and lights, just like a train, and just like a train we did it at some distance. So we would come down the track, across the road in some small town, and the drivers waiting, expecting a locomotive at least, stared on this bizarre contraption filled with guys in suits (did we wear suits for that? I forget)

[lordofthemark]

@Judd 207956 wrote:

Has anyone experienced a ghost train on Slater’s Lane before? I was headed to the MVT this morning and the railroad crossing lights lit up and the arms came down for about 2 minutes. No train came through. As far as I know this piece of track was to bring coal to the power plant and hasn’t been used since the power plant shut down.

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The line also served the Robinson Terminal which handled newsprint for the Post. I am not sure when the last delivery by rail there was made, but the terminal was put up for sale in 2013.

[Judd]

@lordofthemark 208071 wrote:

The line also served the Robinson Terminal which handled newsprint for the Post. I am not sure when the last delivery by rail there was made, but the terminal was put up for sale in 2013.

I was hoping you’d drop into the thread as the only railroad tycoon I know. One of those trucks with train wheels was my thought. If it was that, then it must have been up the line a bit because nothing crossed Slaters.

[Author]

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