'ALIVE AND WELL'
Norfolk Southern's freight train returns to Old Fort after Helene's devastation
The train sat in Old Fort for around 30 minutes to give rail fans plenty of time to take photos and videos.
Cathy Moore, the local leader for the grassroots effort to bring passenger trains back to McDowell County and western North Carolina, looks at a set of plans that detail the repairs made to the railroad.
This railroad worker stands on the front of the locomotive in Old Fort.
A crowd waits at the Old Fort Depot to welcome the train back.
At around 10:45 a.m., the freight train arrived in Old Fort, and it stopped in the middle of town.
After around 30 minutes in Old Fort, the train continued its way west toward the Loops around Andrews Geyser, traveled through the mountain tunnels and made the steep climb up to Ridgecrest.
Eighteen months after Hurricane Helene tore up the railroad between Old Fort and Black Mountain, a Norfolk Southern freight train once again rolled through McDowell County and made its way through the historic Old Fort Loops as it headed west up the mountain.
A crowd of government officials, railroad buffs, curious onlookers and kids blowing train whistles were there waiting at the Old Fort Depot on the bright and sunny Saturday to welcome the train back.
The return of freight trains traveling from Salisbury to Asheville is a sign of normalcy after Helene's destruction.
The Norfolk Southern freight train traveled past Hickory, Valdese, Morganton, Glen Alpine and Marion. The train then continued toward Old Fort. It was the first train to travel through the segment of track that is east of Asheville, between Old Fort and Grovestone near Black Mountain, since Hurricane Helene wiped out much of the railroad there in 2024, according to Heather Garcia, spokesperson for Norfolk Southern Railroad.
"This is the last section of track damaged by the storm to be put back into service," Garcia said. "The terrain through the Old Fort area is some of the most complex railroad geography in the region, which made the work to restore it especially demanding as our teams had to account for steep grades, tight curves and limited access."
"In all, to stabilize hurricane-damaged sections of this final 15-mile stretch of track, we installed more than 51,500 linear feet of steel piles (that's equal to nearly 10 miles of steel driven into the ground to rebuild and reinforce walls along the corridor) and required us to ship in some 140,000 tons of aggregate to reconstruct the embankments and drainage systems that support the rail line and protect it from future washouts (that's equivalent to about 700 fully-loaded Boeing 747s)," she said.
Garcia said, "We know the community is excited to see train traffic resume and another sign of 'normal' return." She said the company would have a few people out at the Old Fort Depot with giveaways and rail safety reminders.
Indeed, on Saturday morning, crowds of anxious people were found on both sides of the track in Old Fort waiting for a train. Many carried signs saying, "Welcome back Norfolk Southern."
Cathy Moore, the local leader for the grassroots effort to bring passenger trains back to McDowell County and western North Carolina, said she and others were there to let Norfolk Southern know how much they appreciated the railroad giant's decision to restore this rail line.
"The Old Fort Loops are alive and well," she said.
She was there with a set of plans provided on Friday by R.J. Corman Railroad Group, the company subcontracted by NS to get the repair work done. Moore said the plans, which detail the work done every step of the way, will be placed on display inside the Old Fort Depot's museum to show this most recent development of the rail line's history.
Marion Mayor and railroad historian Steve Little, officials from the town of Old Fort, McDowell County Board of Commissioners Vice Chairman Lynn Greene and numerous others were on hand for the event. Crooked Creek firefighter Randy Vess was there with a drone to capture the scene from a bird's-eye view.
At around 10:45 a.m., the freight train arrived in Old Fort and it stopped in the middle of town so people could get a close look at it. The train sat for about 30 minutes to give rail fans plenty of time to take photos and videos. Then it continued west toward the loops around Andrews Geyser, traveled through the mountain tunnels and made the steep climb up to Ridgecrest.
