Freight trains westbound toward Asheville are back on the tracks for the first time since Tropical Storm Helene ravaged railroad infrastructure in the North Carolina mountains, bringing with them a welcome boost to local economies and a revived hope that passenger service may finally return to the region.
On Saturday, April 18, Norfolk Southern’s NS 9900 train carrying freight departed Hickory shortly after 8 a.m. and rumbled into the Asheville rail yard around 2:30 p.m. With 59 cars carrying cement, paper, plastic pellets, hops and barley malt, it was the first revenue train to complete that route since the devastating floods, Norfolk Southern spokesperson Heather Garcia told Carolina Public Press.
A crowd of rail enthusiasts gathered at the historic train depot in Old Fort, close to where the final repairs had taken place, to celebrate Norfolk Southern’s return and to watch the train roll by…