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Chester to Bowlin - Carolina & Northwestern

The "Can't and Never Will" The broad gauge Kings Mountain Railroad built between Chester and Yorkville in the 1850s.  This line was completely wrecked in the Civil War and was abandoned after the war.  In 1873, the Chester & Lenoir Narrow Gauge Railroad was chartered to build from Chester to Lenoir, NC, using the former Kings Mountain ROW between Chester and York.  The new line started out of Chester and reached York in 1875.  The line was extended N to Gastonia, NC by 1876, and reached Lenoir with the help of the Richmond & Danville in 1884.  The line was reorganized in 1897 as the Carolina & North-Western Railway, and the line was standard gauged in 1902.  At the time, it was hoped that a line could be built from Lenoir to Boone and then to a connection with the "Virginia Creeper", thus allowing coal from the Appalachian coal fields to move S over the line. The expansion never was completed, and the Clinchfield ended up making the desired penetration of the Blue Ridge to tap into the coal traffic.  By way of the lease by and affiliation with the Richmond & Danville, the Southern Railway had a controlling interest in the Carolina & North Western, which affectionately became known as the "Can't & Never Will".  The C&NW was run as a separate operating unit of the Southern. The section of the line between Chester and York was abandoned around 1970.  The section from York to Clover was abandoned in the early 1980s.  By the late 1980s, the line had been abandoned all the way to the NC state line, near Bowlin. Towns on the line from Chester are Airlee, Dinber, Lowrys, McConnells, Guthries, Delphina, York, Filbert, Clover and to Bowlin at the NC state line.  The ROW generally follows US 321, and can be made out in many places.  The Southern depot in York still exists along with a flag signal.

Looking S in McConnells, the former C&NW ROW can be seen along US 321.  This section between Chester and York was abandoned around 1970, and is hard to make out in some areas.  (Photo from July 2003)