South Carolina’s Palmetto Railways reactivating route dormant since 2012
By David Lassen, Senior Editor – Trains PRO
HAMPTON, S.C. — Palmetto Railways is reactivating operations on its 40-mile Salkehatchie Subdivision, a former short line through Hampton and Colleton counties in southwestern South Carolina that last served customers in 2012.
With two new customers building facilities along the line, the state-owned railway has invested more than $3 million in route rehabilitation, including bridge improvements, tie replacement, track servicing, and upgrades to safety equipment. An additional $6.5 million in infrastructure work is planned over the next two years.
The Salkehatchie Sub, which interchanges with CSX at Hampton, S.C., is currently seeing training of train crews, along with continuing maintenance-of-way activities. Railcar movements are expected to begin later this month. With train movements beginning late in March, Palmetto has begun a campaign to raise local rail safety awareness, working with county leadership, local law enforcement, and fire and emergency services.
Jennifer Brown, Palmetto’s director of industrial development, said in an email that Heidelberg Materials has begun development of its facility along the railway. Heidelberg, a supplier of cement, aggregates, ready-mixed concrete, and asphalt with more than 450 U.S. locations and about 9,000 employees, announced plans last year to locate on the line. Also, wood products company Boise Cascade will begin construction of a new facility this fall.
The railroad continues work with the state Department of Commerce, Colleton County Economic Alliance, and Southern Carolina Regional Development Alliance to recruit additional clients to rail-served locations including the Colleton Mega Site, a 1,481-acre industrial park, and the Stokes Tract, a 457-acre parcel adjacent to I-95 as well as the railroad. Both are in Walterboro, S.C.
The Salkehatchie Subidivision is the former Hampton & Branchville Railroad, which ceased operations in 2012 following the closure of the South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. (now Dominion Energy) Canadys Station coal-fired power plant. Palmetto Railways and Colleton County purchased the line in 2017 through a partnership with the state of South Carolina. Since then, Palmetto has used the line for railcar storage.
Palmetto Railways operates four non-contiguous sections of right-of-way in the state, with a fifth — a new route to connect to the Camp Hall Industrial Park and its Volvo assembly plant — expected to be completed this summer [see “South Carolina short line begins construction …,” June 13, 2023]. More on Palmetto is available at its website.