The ACWR is headquartered at Star, N.C., a small town in the
center of North Carolina. There's an odd collection of
passenger equipment there that can be seen from a public road.
(I was last there about a month ago.) Most of the work on
passenger cars is done outdoors. There's only a small shop
building.

Though there is currently no regularly scheduled dinner train,
passenger trains can be chartered for special events.

For major golf tournaments at Pinehurst, N.C., a variety of
railroads usually bring passenger cars to nearby Aberdeen, N.C.
That's the only place with plenty of storage tracks near
the golf courses. So, most of the interchange and storage
tracks at Aberdeen are filled up with passenger cars.

I've seen a large number of NS business cars at Aberdeen in one
of these situations. (Aberdeen is where CSX connects with both
the ACWR and the Aberdeen and Rockfish, with the latter having
its shop there.)

The ACWR also has some open-air cars with tables and seats made
from flatcars. These are popular for parties at these events,
usually coupled up to a passenger car equipped with a bar and
other amentities.


If I recall correctly, when the ACWR did briefly run a dinner
train, it ran out of Aberdeen. However, as the ACWR runs almost
all the way into Charlotte, that metropolitan area may offer a
much better market, provided the railroad can find a good location
for boarding and stocking the train near Charlotte.

The ACWR is basically a class outfit. It keeps its locomotives in
a well-maintained attractive scheme. Most of the engines are
relatively modern wide-nose (ex-Canadian) units. Though it is a
shortline/regionalrailroad, it has a substantial amount of welded
rail and even runs some unit grain trains to feed mills.

The ACWR is also fairly active in the N.C. chapter of Operation
Lifesaver.

The line doesn't get much attention as it runs through a largely
rural part of the state without any remarkable scenery.

For more information, see http://www.acwr.com/

-- Ernest