The Wilmington morning star., 1943-07-22
RAILWAY IS SOLD
TO N. Y. COMPANY
W. B. And S. Line Purchas-
ed By Firm And Two
Private individuals

The Wilmington, Brunswick and
Southern railroad has been sold
IN three sections, subject to con-
firmation by the court, to the Ma
chine Tool and Equipment COM
pany of New York, J. D. O1rell
of Wilmington, and DR.. L. c. Fer
gus of Southport, for the total
sum of $72, the receiver for
the road disclosed here Wednes-
day.
The railroad was sold at pub
lie auction early this week at
Southport, where there were gath
cred many bidders from Chicago,
Charleston, W. Va, Philadelphia,
Norfolk, and Charleston, S. C.
The property was bought in Sec
tions as follows:
Rail line and equipment was bid
IN for $48,500 by the Machine Tool
and Equipment company; and bus
line, franchises, and motor freight
line by the same New York firm
for $4,000; real estate at South
port and Bolivia by Mr.. Orrell
and Mr.. Fergus for $4,000.
Under order of the court, the
bids will be held open until July
20, during which time it is pos
sible for them to be raised, the
receiver said.
Fred Friedeberg, vice president
of the New York concern which
will hold protecting interest in the
railroad, said that the bus serv-
ice and transportation will be in
creased" but declined to add
whether any other developments
are planned.
He pointed out that any plans
are tentative since there is pos.
sibility that the bids may be
raised, and then we might raise
them in that case, before the court
confirms the bids"
Abandonment of the railroad
was granted on May by the In.
terstate Commerce Commission
which leaves Southport without
rail transportation, the receiver
said.
The short line extension from
Navassa to Southport is 80 miles
in length and has physical connec
tlons with the Atlantic Coast Line
at Navassa. 1t also runs within q
few feet of the tracks of the Sea.
board Air Line and some years
ago an order was granted permit
ting physical connection with this
road, when and if such connections
became essential.
Scheduled to have been sold Nav
"a by the receiver, under a SUI
perior court order from Judge
Henry A. Grady, the public auc
ton, which had been advertised
was called off when the Machine
Tool and Equipment company
made an offer for a private sale
This was rejected by court Or
der signed by Judge @. K. MIN
ocks, Jr. and the railroad was re
offered for scle at public auction
The railroad was chartered ir
1905 and received backing from
many of Wilmington's ablest men
including M. j. Corbett, z. W
Whitehead, R. F. DeVane, A. J
McKinnon, Walker Taylor, H. C
Mcqueen, ]. W. Brooks, and Johr
F. McNair, of Laurinburg.
At that time it largely handled
lumber and enjoyed a period Of
prosperity for a number of years.
During World War No. l, when
Fort Caswell was fully manned,
troop trains were operated into
Southport.
During that prosperous period,
the railroad borrowed $50, 900 from
the Railroad Administration, a
branch of the federal government,
which has never been repaid.
After the war the lumber was
cut out of the area, and trucks and
automobiles took the traffic so
that the rail line went into de-
cline and has never since proved
profitable, the receiver said.