New Hope Valley Railway


The New Hope Valley Railway is a heritage railroad in Bonsal, North Carolina operated by the North Carolina Railway Museum, Inc., an all-volunteer, nonprofit, and tax exempt educational and historical organization.
The railroad consists of a total of 5 miles of track between the communities of Bonsal, North Carolina and New Hill, North Carolina.
The North Carolina Railway Museum, located in Bonsal, North Carolina, features a collection of antique train cars, artifacts and historic train memorabilia, and a G-scale model railroad layout and club.

Excursion trains

The railroad operates passenger excursion trains each month from April to December. Special trains are operated for Halloween on the evening of the last three Saturdays in October. They have many other themed train excursions throughout the year.

Operate-a-Loco

The New Hope Valley Railway has many different special activities that people can participate in. One of them is their Operate-a-Loco program. On select Saturdays and Sundays, anybody who wishes to may come and drive one of their diesel locomotives. You are guided along their 4 miles of track under the supervision of one of their trained engineers. All equipment and other items are provided by the railway.

Organization

The railroad is operated by an all-volunteer crew, and it is a member of the HeritageRail Alliance and the East Carolina Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society.

Collection

The North Carolina Railway Museum also displays a collection of historic railroad equipment used in North Carolina at the railroad's Bonsal terminal. This is a primarily outdoor exhibit, and is open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily throughout the year.

Locomotives

The railroad line operated as the New Hope Valley Railway was originally constructed as the Durham & South Carolina Railroad in 1905-1906 to tap the timber resources of the valley of New Hope Creek, and served the communities of Bonsal, North Carolina where it had a junction with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, Beaver Creek, North Carolina, Seaforth, North Carolina, Farrington, North Carolina, Blands, North Carolina, Penny, North Carolina, and Durham, North Carolina.
The line was extended south between 1911 and 1913 from Bonsal, North Carolina to Duncan, North Carolina where it joined the Norfolk Southern Railroad. The D&SC line was leased by the Norfolk Southern Railroad in 1920 to provide the larger railroad with access to the City of Durham, North Carolina. In 1925 a spur was built at Durham, North Carolina to serve the new plant of the American Tobacco Company in that city. The line was rebuilt on a new alignment in the 1970s by the US Army Corps of Engineers when the B. Everett Jordan Dam was constructed, impounding the valley of New Hope Creek to form Jordan Lake. The line eventually became part of the Southern Railway, and a 6-mile section was sold to the East Carolina Chapter, NRHS in 1983. This organization was subsequently renamed the North Carolina Railway Museum, Inc. early in 2008.
The northern portion of the original railroad, from the community of New Hill, North Carolina north to Durham, North Carolina has been converted into the American Tobacco Trail. To the south, the railroad is part of the Shearon Harris nuclear power plant and its surrounding land.