Norfolk Southern (NS) is again rolling through the Old Fort Loops in western North Carolina. Also, BNSF and CSX celebrate customer growth in Sherman, Tex., and Newport News, Va., respectively.
NS
NS reported via social media that it is again rolling through the Old Fort Loops in western North Carolina. On April 18, it ran its first train since Hurricane Helene ravaged the area in 2024.
“We felt the love today as community members gathered to welcome us back in Old Fort,” NS said. “At the town Depot, the train stopped so we could celebrate the moment with the community and Team NS — together. The 59‑car westbound train traveled from Hickory and Old Fort before entering the iconic Old Fort Loops, climbing the mountains through tunnels and sweeping horseshoe turns on its way toward Asheville. To the WNC communities: thank you for showing up, for cheering us on, and for welcoming us back so warmly. We were honored to share this historic moment with you. More to come from this exciting day!”
Hurricane Helene swept through the Southeast in late September 2024, “bringing with it historic flooding, unprecedented damage and unanticipated topography changes to parts of the region,” NS reported in October 2024. “Hundreds of our railroaders got to work, restoring service and helping our network recover from the storm’s impact.”
NS reported at that time that “all core routes were open within 72 hours of Helene making landfall. Our Engineering team cleared more than 15,000 trees, repaired multiple washouts and more than 50 damaged slide fences, deployed 400-plus generators and safely operated in more than 1,000 locations without commercial power. In the hardest hit areas, along our AS Line (Salisbury, N.C to Morristown, Tenn., crossing the Eastern Continental Divide through the Blue Ridge Mountains and Asheville, N.C.), initial damage assessments discovered 21,500 feet of track washed out, more than 50,000 feet of track damaged by scour, more than 15,000 feet of fill failures and slides, and multiple bridges damaged. Engineering teams reopened the AS Line between Salisbury, N.C. and Old Fort, N.C., as well as between Newport, Tenn. and Morristown, Tenn. Oct. 9 [2024], working, in some cases, without access to public roadways.”
NS continued that it experienced difficulty assessing damage along portions of the AS Line around Asheville and over Black Mountain, where much track was destroyed, “due to the remote nature and mountain topography of the region, coupled with the conditions following the storm and subsequent flooding.”
In March 2025, NS and its contractors completed the Newport bridge replacement, which it called “a critical step in restoring rail service in and out of Asheville, N.C. for the first time since the storm. Built to modern specifications and designed to last at least 100 years, the new rail bridge reconnected a key western portion of our AS Line, which links Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina. Its replacement gave the community hope as residents welcomed it as a sign of return to normalcy post-hurricane.”…