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Aberdeen Carolina & Western F-units Debut in North Carolina

Aberdeen Carolina & Western’s cab units pass the depot in Candor, NC on their maiden run on May 16, 2021. Photo by M.T.Burkhart.

Aberdeen Carolina & Western F-units Debut in North Carolina

By M.T. Burkhart

CANDOR, N.C. – Aberdeen Carolina & Western Railway unveiled its freshly-painted former Norfolk Southern business train locomotives over the weekend.

Following a Sunday morning shop tour, the magenta and gold F9A and F7B led the shortline’s office car train on a round trip over the Sandhills Division from Candor to Aberdeen and return, then Candor to Star and return. It included a 2-hour stop near the famed Pinehurst Golf Course clubhouse for viewing and photos.

In 2006, Norfolk Southern acquired two F9A units (4270 and 4271) and two F7B units (4275 and 4276) for use on its business train. Rebuilt at the Juniata Shops in Altoona, Pa. to GP38-2 standards, they barnstormed the system for more than a decade carrying company officials, shippers and guests. They were later renumbered 270-271 and 275-276 to avoid conflict with AC446CM locomotives coming onto the roster. Norfolk Southern recently dedicated a pair of SD60E locomotives for its business train.

Numbers 270 and 275 were sold in late 2019 to the Reading & Northern, which has been using them in business train and excursion service in Pennsylvania for the past year. Locomotives 271 and 276 went to the Aberdeen Carolina & Western.

The A-units were built in 1952 as F7’s for the Baltimore & Ohio and refurbished in the early 1980s as “F9PH” locomotives for MARC, the Maryland commuter authority, for service out of Baltimore. Following retirement in the early 1990s, they went to Rail Cruise America, which ran dinner trains out of St. Louis. The B-units were originally Chicago Great Western.

AC&W was incorporated in 1987 and runs on about 150 miles of track between Aberdeen and Star. It also runs between Charlotte and Gulf and interchanges with CSX and Norfolk Southern.

This article was posted on: May 17, 2021