Aberdeen Carolina & Western Railway " The Carolina Route " ®

Connecting Globally

We are a shortline or regional railroad, which means that we focus on getting shipments from industrial facilities to the larger railroads that span across North America, and vice versa. We focus on the shorthaul while the Class I railroads focus on the long haul. This collaboration allows for the best in both over the road and local freight service. Read more about the differences between shortline and the major railroad companies.

About Our Railroad

The Aberdeen Carolina & Western Railway is the largest privately held shortline or regional freight railroad in North Carolina that connects with both CSX and Norfolk Southern national rail networks. Our lines run from Charlotte towards Raleigh, and extends south towards Pinehurst. Logistically, our railroad is centrally located between all major metropolitan areas in NC. We actively market greenfield industrial sites along our corridor to attract new industry.

Our Customers

Our freight customers manufacture or distribute various commodities including plastics, poultry, dimensional lumber, wood chips, aggregate, brick, butane, ethanol, propane, among others. You can find our railroad map below. We also service locomotives and freight cars belonging to shippers and other railroads.

Please click here for fullscreen map

Contact Us

For Emergencies: (877) 533-6913
Main Office: (910) 974 - 4219
Fax: (910) 974 - 4282
967 NC Hwy 211 E
Candor, NC 27229

Railroad Overview

Connections: CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern
Markets Served: Raleigh, Charlotte, Fayetteville, Greensboro
Ownership: Privately Held
Miles: 150
Founded: 1987

Paul Hoben

Paul Hoben is the Director of Business Development the Aberdeen Carolina & Western Railway Company.

Paul comes to the ACWR after 27 years in the concrete and construction materials industry as both a sales and marketing representative as well as a transportation coordinator. Paul attended Catawba College where he earned his bachelor’s degree and later attended Pfeiffer University and received his master’s in business administration. Paul brings a shipper’s mentality to the ACWR which offers our customers and prospective customers an added consultative advantage. Paul has extensive experience in working with the Class I railroads and looks forward to
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Robert Menzies

Robert Menzies is the Owner and Chairman of the Aberdeen Caroilna & Western Railway Company.

He acquired the Aberdeen Carolina & Western in 1987 from the Aberdeen & Briarpatch Railway. He has had a lifelong interest in the transportation industry. He began his undergraduate studies in transportation at Arizona State University. He continued on to receive a graduate degree in transportation and logistics at Michigan State University. Bob then taught transportation at Murray State University in Kentucky as well as Tri-State University in Indiana. He has owned businesses in other service industries across the U.S., and always stresses the need
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Dale Parks

Dale Parks is Vice President of Mechanical at the Aberdeen Carolina & Western Railway Company.

He began his Railroad career in 1986 at the Mid Atlantic Railroad in Chadbourn N.C. Having been in Train Service as a locomotive engineer, he worked his way up to Chief Mechanical Officer. In 1989, he took a job opportunity to work with Railtex at the Georgia South Western where he was responsible for the locomotive and freight car fleet. Then in 1992, he was transfered to the North Carolina & Virginia Properties, where he took care of The Chesapeake and Albemarle Railway and the
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Ed Thum

Ed is Vice President of Transportation/Maintenance of Way at the Aberdeen Carolina & Western Railway Company.

He began his railroad career in 1990 at the North Carolina & Virginia Railroad as an Engineer/Conductor for RailTex. In 1994, Ed attended the University of Tennessee and received his certification as a FRA Certified Track Inspector. In 1995, Ed accepted the position as Train Master at the Virginia Southern Railroad in Keysville, Virginia, for RailTex. Also, in 1995, Ed received his certificate for DSLE training and in 1998 received his certificate of completion for Hazardous Material Operations in Pueblo, Colorado. In 2005, Ed
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Jennifer White

Jennifer is President of the Aberdeen Carolina & Western Railway.

After graduating Magna Cum Laude with a BS in Business Management at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Jennifer worked for a prominent commercial real estate firm in Charlotte for 3 years. After getting a strong understanding in the commercial and industrial sector, she moved back to Pinehurst to begin her railroad career beginning as Director of Marketing and Sales.
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Anthony Menzies

Anthony re-joined the Aberdeen Carolina & Western Railway after working as a management consultant at Ernst & Young's (EY) Supply Chain & Operations practice. He has a passion for helping companies improve logistics, transportation, warehousing, and inventory management processes.

Prior to his five years at EY, he received his MBA at the University of Tennessee with a focus in Supply Chain Management and interned at CAT Logistics (Caterpillar). He also holds a Master's in Business Analytics and an undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

As the Head of Strategy & Logistics Services, Anthony's main focus at the
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