HISTORY

CLNA began operations in 1989, leasing the line from the current Norfolk Southern Railway. This 17-mile route serves the stations of Pinetown, Acre, Terra Ceia, Bishops Crossing, Pantego, and Belhaven. The line between Belhaven and Bishops Crossing was built in 1887 as part of the Albemarle & Pamlico Railroad’s line to Mackeys, NC, where it continued on to Norfolk,, VA. The A&P became part of the original Norfolk Southern, which built its Charlotte through route from Mackeys to Plymouth and Washington. The line from Pinetown to Bishops Crossing was built by Norfolk Southern as a “shortcut” to Belhaven in 1907. The original Norfolk Southern became part of Southern Railway, which was then merged into the new Norfolk Southern in 1981. CLNA was created in 1989 as part of the “Thoroughbred Shortline Program” and was a subsidiary of Rail Link, Inc., which became a subsidiary of GWI, Inc. in 1995. Current management acquired the line in 2003.

*Photo by J. Stuart Connell