Railroads 101: What to Know About Rail Freight Service
You can always put a non-rail industry on a rail-served site, but you can't put an industry that needs rail service on a non-rail site. What are the requirements for a site to be rail served?
1Slope: A rail site must be able to overcome the elevation changes between the mainline and unloading pad. The siding must meet the following requirements:
- Single Car Service: siding must have less than a 2.5% slope for single railcar service
- Unit Train Service: siding must have less than a 1.5% slope for Unit Train Service
2Siding Curvature: Trains cannot turn as sharply as trucks. Therefore, the turning radius can be as much as 600 feet for a train compared to 60 feet for a truck. I like to use the ballpark analogy where trucks only need the infield to make a complete turn around while trains need the entire ballpark.
- Recommended Curvature: less than 10 Degrees
- Maximum Curvature: curvature over 12 Degrees requires written approval of the Chief Engineer
3Track Layouts: Track configuration is driven by freight volume requirements and are also driven by the slope and curvature requirements. Here are the most basic types of configurations:
- Basic Stub-In: this configuration allows cars to be placed and pulled out in one direction only. {boxfolder 108985928}
- Runaround: Usually parallels the mainline and can accomodate traffic from either direction. {boxfolder 108985912}
- Loop Track: designed to support continuous movement for faster unloading or large trains.{boxfolder 109056236}
4Nearby Obstacles: turnouts for rail sidings also cannot be located near:
- Rail Curves: Siding turnouts cannot be located within 200 feet of a curve
- Road Crossings: Siding turnouts cannot be located within 200 feet of a road crossing
- Bridges & Tunnels Siding turnouts cannot be located within 200 feet of a bridge or tunnel.
- Another Turnout: Siding turnouts cannot be located within 200 feet of another turnout.
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
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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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