Tabor City tribune. (Tabor City, N.C.) 1946-1991, 1950-12-13
ACL Officials Explain Train
Service; Improvement Sought

J. F. Rogers, acting superin.
tendent, and C. E. Brown, freight
service agent, of the Atlantic
Coast Line Railroad met with
local officials of the merchants
association here Tuesday to dis.
cuss the many recent complaints
against the company's service in
Tabor City.
For several weeks, the train
schedule has been highly cratic
and uncertain with the train act
ually arriving several hours long
after the local depot had closed
for the day. Shipments to local
merchants have been haphaz.
card and complaints numerous
throughout the town.
Following an editorial in The
Tribune two weeks ago, which
found their way into the hands
of railroad officials, members of
the company called here to in
vestigate the complaint.
Rogers. who was here last
week inquil':..; about the fault
being found with the service, re.
turned with Brown on Tuesday
for a discussion of the matter.
The general picture Of the local
freight situation is something
like this. Up until the new diesel
engines were put on the local
line about three months ago, the
train made up in Elrod and
Travelled to Myrtle Beach and
back. On each of these runs, local
freight was picked up in Chad
bourn. With the disseminating of
the Elrod track, the Tabor City
train was then made up in Flor
ence and travels to Myrtle Beach
and back. The distance being
greater and with business better
on the line that in some in.
stances, the train has had diff
Guilty in making the trip in it's
maximum number of hours al.
lowed by the law.
The train is scheduled to leave
Florence each day at $50 A. M,
but congested conditions in the
Florence freight yard have held
it up two or more hours on sew
eral occasions and delaying it
that long in arriving at various
points along the route.
According to Rogers, the new
syste moi making up in Florence
should give local merchants who
are receiving carload shipments
a service "a hours ahead of the
old service. However, merchants
here were not inclined to go
along with the statement based
on actual time of shipments be.
ing received now as compared to
the old schedule.
Further trouble has been in
Cured through the failure of the
train to properly locate cars SO
that they could be unloaded here.
The coastline officials pointed
out that this has been done on
occasion when it was evident
that the crew could not make
! it's run in 16 hours unless it cut
loose and ran. The law makes it
mandatory that they not be on
duty more than 16 hours.
Under consideration but by no
means a certainty, is the posi-
bility of revising the train route
and schedule to make up daily
in Myrtle Beach, go to Chad
! bourn and return to Myrtle
Beach in the same day. This
would tend to put the train in
here more regularly but not ne
cessarily speed up the delivery
of freight. Also of consideration
in this step is the fact that it
might hurt the shipment of pota-
toes out of here in that it would
bring the train into town around
lunch time or possibly before
and perhaps not give loading
crews sufficient time for filling
the cars.
Rogers and Brown pointed out
that the local line is doing good
business and that they have as
many friends along this so mile
local freight track as anywhere
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