Durham & Southern Railway Company

This is reference for modeling the old Durham & Southern railroad which ran 59 miles from Durham, NC to Dunn, NC from 1906-1979. It began as the Cape Fear & Northern Railway in 1899 from Apex to Harnett County. The D&S ran their last train on July 5, 1979. After which time it was mergered into the Seaboard Coast Line and what is now known as present-day CSX.
I don't know of a Historical Society for the D&S, but I try to collect information here as I find it. This is in addition to my work with the Norfolk & Southern Historical Society (http://www.norfolksouthernhs.org/). Sometimes the two of them overlap in historical photos or whatnot.
If you have any stories or want me to post photos on this website, please send me an e-mail here. I am also looking for annual reports, timetables, bills of lading, track warrants, etc. Thank you! - Rob R., KI4BKE

The wiki is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durham_and_Southern_Railway

Click here to continue to D&S model railroad website

History

Taken from Richard Prince's book, Norfolk Southern Railroad Old Dominion Line and Connections:

Durham & Southern Ry operates 59 miles of track extending southward from Durham to Dunn, NC, where it connects with the old ACL RR. An important junction with the Seaboard is at Apex. The road was built by the B.N. Duke tobacco interests as the Cape Fear & Northern Ry that was completed in 1904 as the D&S Ry. The 100 series locomotives included 4-4-0 and also at least five Tenwheelers new from Baldwin, Nos. 200 to 202 were Baldwin 2-10-0 built in 1930 and 1932 for the road. Later N&W Ry No. 1140 4-8-0 and AT&N 403 2-10-0 were acquired without renumbering.

A brief history taken from the Angier Chamber of Commerce website:

"It was Jake Williams' farm that the railroad, which put Angier on the map, was built in 1899. The railroad was little more than a tramway leading from Apex, in Wake County, to the Jake Williams' farm in Harnett County. It was first known and chartered as the Cape Fear and Northern Railroad; later, about 1906, the line was extended to Durham and the name changed to the Durham and Southern.

The purpose of the railroad was to haul lumber and logs. The area around Angier had a vast sweep of fine saw timber, from short and long straw pines. The trees had been bled by the turpentine workers, leaving long stems of southern pine ready to be cut and sawed into lumber. When the turpentine business came to an end, workers and their families moved south to find un-bled timber; and a new era began. A new way of making a living and supporting a family began-saw milling. No longer was the ox cart and mule-drawn wagon efficient to move lumber and logs. Now the building of the railroad was hailed as a step forward. Farming was becoming more important; growing cotton and tobacco took the place of sawmill work as that era came to a close.

The late Col. John C. Angier married the niece of the late Washington Duke whose "golden leaf' had found its way north after the war. The demand for more tobacco is said to have been the impetus for Mr. Duke and his sons to establish the American Tobacco Company.

Col. Angier owned and operated a lumber plant in Cary and decided to build a railroad down along the pine ridge from Apex to Harnett County. Supposedly with the backing of the Dukes, he built a railroad to the farm of Jake Williams where a "Y" was also built for turning the engine around. In time, a station house was erected for the train crew to stay at night and daily round trips were made to Apex.

Jake and his son Benton operated a general store and a turpentine distillery. Goods were transported to and from Raleigh or Dunn by two or four-horse wagons. The coming of the railroad was a boon to farmers, merchants and lumbermen.

After much discussion and numerous suggestions, the station house was named Angier to honor Johnathan C. Angier who played a major part in bringing the railroad to the area.

In July 1899, Jake Williams secured a noted surveyor, Daniel E. Green, to map and plot the land surrounding his home and the newly erected depot. Streets were laid off and named and Angier had its beginnings. By act of the North Carolina Legislature of 1901 the town received its charter.

During the 1930's, The Angier Woman's Club undertook a project to have crepe myrtles planted on roadsides leading into town from all directions. The trees make a spectacular show during June, July and August. The town chose "The Town of the Crepe Myrtles" as its slogan. Every year a Crepe Myrtle Festival is held in September with food, crafts and entertainment for all.

The Durham and Southern railroad which had run through the center of town since 1899, had its last run from Apex to Dunn on July 5, 1979. No longer was the railroad the cheapest way to transport goods to and from the industries of Angier and was no longer realizing a profit. Mayor Jack Marley and other town officials requested that railroad officials donate to the town the depot and the one hundred foot right of way within town limits. That was done and so ended another era."

Rolling Stock

Check out the Durham County Library Photo Archives of D&S steam engines - New 12-8-2006

S. A. McCall's hosam.com Roster - In Memorian

George Elwood's rr-fallenflags.org Roster - Lots of photos

Help bring back D&S #1201 to the North Carolina Transportation Museum! This is the last D&S unit in existance that I know of. They are currently stored at the Morehead & Morgan Fork RR in Kentucky and would need to be trucked out since there is no connection track. Here are some photos here: http://www.railimages.com/gallery/frankcampagna

I have only seen photos for four D&S cabooses, X-83, X-84, X-85, and X-86.
X-83 and X-84 had a windmill on top of them to generate electricity.
X-85 was an ex-SAL caboose.
X-86 currently sits at Durham's Museum of Life and Science.
2 flatcars, #101 and a second unnumbered flatcar used with an unnumbered derrick. You can see both flatcars on the left in a photo called "DSDUNNSHOP1973.JPG" on Warren Calloway's photo CD of the D&S.

In 1970, the D&S obtained 50 77 Ton triple hoppers lettered Durham & Southern (#6000-6049) for carrying sand out of Erwin, NC. After the merger, the hoppers were returned to the lenders.
The NMRA MER Carolina Piedmont Division 13 recently had some HO scale D&S Hoppers made in Oct. 2005. They are now all sold out. There were 6 different numbers. http://www.cpd13.org/clubcar.html
http://home.nc.rr.com/railroad/ds/images/ds01.jpg
http://home.nc.rr.com/railroad/ds/images/ds02.jpg

NEW!!! Athearn has announced (June 12th, 2007) that it will be producing 3 of the Durham & Southern GP38-2 engines!
D&S 2000 http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=ATH78901
D&S 2001 http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=ATH78903
D&S 2002 http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=ATH78902

Diesel Roster

Steam Roster added Feb. 15, 2007

Photo of the 1140 4-8-0 from the Durham Co. Library Archives
Compare that to the HO scale brass Precision Scale model of the N&W 1157 - I think they are very close!

Structures & Stations (updated 11/20/2007)

**Please note that some of these links go to the Piedmont & Western Railroad Club's NC Railroad Station Photo page and we kindly thank them for allowing us to do so.

Durham HQ (and Dispatcher?) building down on Ramseur St. Does anyone have the correct address?

Carpenter Freight Depot
http://www.pwrr.org/nstation/carpenter.html

Apex Union Passenger Depot and Freight Depot are still standing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:ApexUnionDepotSmall.JPG

Varina Depot has been moved ~50 feet to the southeast and is fully restored. It is now host to a furniture consignment store called My Front Porch. This photo was taken after it was moved, but before it was restored. In this photo, they were putting in the new foundation underneath it at the time.
http://www.norfolksouthernhs.org/images/Structures/VarinaDepotMoved.jpg

Angier Depot is surviving as the Chamber of Commerce. http://www.angierchamber.org/history.cfm
http://www.pwrr.org/nstation/angier.html

Barclaysville Noted for a DS wreck in 1975 and as a crossroads and Inn on the Old Stage Road: http://barclayvilla.com/history.htm

Coats Depot is serving as a business (not sure what kind, hair stylist maybe?) Town info: http://www.coatschamber.com/aboutcoats.cfm
http://coatsmuseum.com/
http://www.pwrr.org/nstation/coats.html

Dunn Depot is still there, serving as a cement business. However, there is nothing left of the engine shed except the concrete pad. Town info: http://www.dunn-nc.org/history-of-dunn-nc-499.asp
http://www.pwrr.org/nstation/dunn.html

Postings (updated 11/20/2007)

I've created a new Yahoo Group here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DSRy/

I've also collected a few posts from the Southeastern Model Railroaders Forum (SMRF) mailing list and others:

Bob Graham - Nov. 24, 1999

Warren Calloway - Nov. 24, 1999

Mike Schwarze - Mar. 7, 2000

Bob Graham - Mar. 8, 2000

Russell Underwood - Mar. 8, 2000

Warren Calloway - Mar. 9, 2000

Durham & Southern Railroad and Amtrak - Dec. 2001

Durham and Southern Passenger Service?

Articles

Magazine articles that talk about the Durham & Southern:

Books

Please note that I've heard that a book is currently being written about the Durham & Southern. We hope that we will be among the first to hear when it is published.