Railroad Crossing:

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TR4

Railroad Crossing:

Post by TR4 »

xxxx
Last edited by TR4 on Sun May 10, 2015, 3:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
Bruce Osburn
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Re: Railroad Crossing:

Post by Bruce Osburn »

I remember the crossing and its location well, although I doubt I ever knew the name or even that it had a name. I was nearly squished near there one day, about 1951 or so, when I was 13 years old, just a few feet from where the tracks crossed Lackey Street extention (now Gin Mill Road). I had barely outran an engine all the way from the tressle on Marks Creek.

I always thought the full name of the road was Rockingham and Bennettsville Railroad, and never heard until now that it was part of the ACL system. The condition of the road and cars certainly didn't reflect well on ACL.
Bruce Osburn
--We live so long as we are remembered... old German adage.
Jody Meacham
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Re: Railroad Crossing:

Post by Jody Meacham »

I remember the Rockingham Railroad growing up and the bridge on 177 that went over the line. It was a great treat to be going over the bridge when a train happened to be going under because the railroad was the only nontourist railroad, such as Tweetsie, that I knew of that still used a steam engine.

But as to the name of its crossing with the SAL, which is where Bruce noted and is visible on Google maps, I have no idea. The Rockingham Railroad's rails may have been there in the early '70s when I worked for the SCL but it was no longer in operation.

One thing I remember from working on the railroad is that virtually every signal, every switch, every siding, every crossing, had a railroad name that wasn't necessarily known to non-railroaders. Where different railroads crossed, the same point might be known by one name on one railroad and another by the other railroad. Many of these places were timetable points used by crews to check their progress and whether they were complying with train orders. They were listed in employee timetables but not the passenger timetables that would be seen by the public. When railroads were constructed out here in the West, where there was much unsettled land, the names often came from the names of men who worked on the crews laying rail or surveying the routes. In the East the names might come from the name of the farmer whose land was crossed or something nearby that had a name. Like one of the mills, Gin or Freeman, whose names were applied by the two country roads that cross near where the railroads did.
Jody Meacham
HHS Class of 1969
TR4

Re: Railroad Crossing:

Post by TR4 »

xxxx
Last edited by TR4 on Sun May 10, 2015, 3:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
Bruce Osburn
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Re: Railroad Crossing:

Post by Bruce Osburn »

Jody's post raises an interesting point regarding the naming of roads. I lived on the road now known as Gin Mill Road for 5½ years (1948-1953) and during that time it was generally referred to as Lackey Street extension or Bridges Street extension. How it came to be named Gin Mill Road is a mystery because I don't remember there being anything remotely resembling a mill of any sort during those years. And I was familiar with practically all the structures on that road from the SAL crossing on Lackey Street all the way to the dead end at the Airport Road. In those years there were fewer houses than now; first building after the SAL crossing was a small store run by "Pig", then came Gene, Mr. Hadley, the Heltons, the Osburns, two families of Knights, the Hatchers, an unknown, the Chavises, Mr. Barlow (his two-story house is still standing and is just as impressive now as I remember it from years ago. My classmate, Phoebe Martin and her husband lived there in 2006), the Rogers, and finally the Robinsons just before the dead end. But no Mr. Gin or Mr. Mill. So how did the road get its name?
Bruce Osburn
--We live so long as we are remembered... old German adage.
Jody Meacham
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Re: Railroad Crossing:

Post by Jody Meacham »

Ernie Morrison, who was in my class, lived on a farm between 177 and the SAL tracks and just south of that railroad crossing. On Google maps it shows up as Airport Road.
Jody Meacham
HHS Class of 1969
Jody Meacham
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Re: Railroad Crossing:

Post by Jody Meacham »

In answer to Bruce's question, my guess is that there was a cotton gin around there somewhere that perhaps predates his time. When I grew up, the closest cotton I remember seeing was in Scotland County. But Bruce posted a newspaper story here http://ourhamlet.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=8101 from 1918 that talks about Richmond County cotton.
Jody Meacham
HHS Class of 1969
Wayne Terry
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Re: Railroad Crossing:

Post by Wayne Terry »

Hamlet Gin & Supply was around back in the 40's and 50's, maybe earlier.
Bruce Osburn
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Re: Railroad Crossing:

Post by Bruce Osburn »

Yes, Hamlet Gin was there alright, on the east side of Bridges Street, between Hamlet Ave. and Highway 74 (Spring St.). It was there in 1948 and by the appearance of the building and equipment it was there many years before 1948. (It was in operation during the time l lived in Hamlet.)
Bruce Osburn
--We live so long as we are remembered... old German adage.
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