The New Hope Valley Railway is a heritage railroad in Bonsal, North Carolina operated by the North Carolina Railway Museum, Inc., an all-volunteer, nonprofit, and tax exempt educational and historical organization.
15-531: The railroad consists of a total of five miles of track between the communities of Bonsal, North Carolina and New Hill, North Carolina . The North Carolina Railway Museum, located in Bonsal, North Carolina , features a collection of antique train cars, artifacts and historic train memorabilia, and a G-scale model railroad layout and club. The railroad operates passenger excursion trains each month from April to December. Special trains are operated for Halloween on
30-618: A collection of historic railroad equipment used in North Carolina at the railroad's Bonsal terminal. This is a primarily outdoor exhibit, and is open to the public on ride days throughout the year. For more information, goto www.triangletrain.com. The railroad line was originally chartered to be the New Hope Valley Railroad in 1904. It was subsequently merged into the Durham & South Carolina Railroad in 1905 after
45-550: Is 27562. The community is near the southern terminus of the American Tobacco Trail . It is also the location of Duke Energy Progress's Shearon Harris nuclear power plant and the associated Harris Lake recreation center. A regional wastewater reclamation project has been completed in the area. The project was opposed by local residents who believed that placing the facility in the middle of their community would adversely impact their way of life. A settlement
60-487: Is an unincorporated community located in southwestern Wake County, North Carolina , United States, at the crossroads of old U.S. 1 (State Road 1011, running northeast–southwest), New Hill Olive Chapel Road (running north) and New Hill Holleman Road (running south). New Hill is located along the original alignment of the New Hope Valley Railway between Durham and Bonsal . The ZIP Code for New Hill
75-626: The American Tobacco Trail . To the south, the railroad is part of the Shearon Harris nuclear power plant and its surrounding land. Bonsal, North Carolina Bonsal is an unincorporated community in the New Hill, North Carolina postal district, in extreme southwestern Wake County, North Carolina , United States. Bonsal was a railroad junction between the Durham & South Carolina Railroad (D&SC) (originally chartered as
90-717: The New Hope Valley Railroad ) and the Seaboard Air Line Railroad (originally the Raleigh and Augusta Air Line Railroad ). The New Hope Valley Railroad route was abandoned in the late 1970s. The original name of the community was Godsey after the Godsey Farm in the area, but this was changed to Bonsal in 1905 after William Roscoe Bonsal , builder and first President of the Durham & South Carolina Railroad (see below). The community
105-724: The NHVRR had acquired land to build the line from Bonsal, NC to West End, NC (now known as Carborro), but before any track had been built. The line was constructed as the Durham & South Carolina Railroad (D&SC) in 1905-1906 to tap the timber resources of the valley of New Hope Creek , and served the communities of Bonsal, North Carolina where it had a junction with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad (now part of CSX ), Beaver Creek, North Carolina , Seaforth, North Carolina , Farrington, North Carolina , Blands, North Carolina , Penny, North Carolina , and Durham, North Carolina . In Durham it
120-521: The evening of the last three Saturdays in October. They have many other themed train excursions throughout the year. The New Hope Valley Railway offers various activities for the public. One of them is their Operate-a-Loco program. On select Saturdays and Sundays, anybody who wishes to (must be over age 18 and have a valid drivers license) may come and drive one of their diesel locomotives. You are guided along their 4 miles of track (8 mile round trip) under
135-516: The first Sunday of each month from May to November and both Saturday and Sunday the first two weekends in December. Other special event trains are operated at other times throughout the year. The railway north of New Hill, North Carolina has been converted into the American Tobacco Trail . 35°39′38″N 78°58′25″W / 35.66056°N 78.97361°W / 35.66056; -78.97361 New Hill, North Carolina New Hill
150-767: The supervision of one of their trained engineers. All equipment and other items are provided by the railway. The railroad is operated by an all-volunteer crew by the North Carolina Railway Museum formerly known up to 2008 as the East Carolina Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society, It is also a member of the HeritageRail Alliance The North Carolina Railway Museum also displays
165-603: The valley of New Hope Creek to form Jordan Lake . The line eventually became (briefly) part of the Southern Railway , and a 6-mile section was sold to the East Carolina Chapter, NRHS in 1983. This organization was subsequently renamed the North Carolina Railway Museum , Inc. early in 2008. The northern portion of the original railroad, from the community of New Hill, North Carolina north to Durham, North Carolina has been converted into
SECTION 10
#1732790573628180-535: Was briefly incorporated from 1907 to 1917 to allow the citizens to vote in favor of bills supporting temperance and prohibition. The town charter was revoked in 1917 when the citizens, having accomplished their purpose for being incorporated at all, refused to pay town taxes. Bonsal is now the site of the North Carolina Railway Museum (NCRM) and the operating New Hope Valley Railway (NHVRy) tourist line. The line owns approximately 6 miles of track between Bonsal and New Hill, North Carolina , operating for passengers on
195-678: Was leased by the Norfolk Southern Railroad in 1920 to provide the larger railroad with access to the City of Durham, North Carolina . In 1925 a spur was built at Durham, North Carolina to serve the new plant of the American Tobacco Company in that city. The line was rebuilt on a new alignment in the 1970s by the US Army Corps of Engineers when the B. Everett Jordan Dam was constructed, impounding
210-590: Was reached in early 2011 between the towns building the plant and the New Hill community. The Samuel Bartley Holleman House and New Hill Historic District are listed on the National Register of Historic Places . 35°40′52″N 78°56′08″W / 35.68111°N 78.93556°W / 35.68111; -78.93556 This article about a location in Wake County , North Carolina
225-518: Was the sole railroad with access to the American Tobacco Company for transporting tobacco products in an out of the plant. American Tobacco Company investors were also investors in the "old" Norfolk and Southern Railroad between Norfolk, VA and Charlotte, NC. The line was extended south from Bonsal, North Carolina between 1911 and 1913 to Duncan, North Carolina where it joined the "old" Norfolk Southern Railroad . The D&SC line
#627372