For the first time since Helene, a train passes through NC's Old Fort Loops [View all]

[littlemissmartypants]

It’s been a long time since a crowd of people gathered at the center of this small town at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains to watch a train pass by. But this was no ordinary train.

The Norfolk Southern freight train that rumbled into Old Fort on Saturday morning was the first since Hurricane Helene ravaged Western North Carolina more than a year and a half ago. More than 200 residents and rail fans from around the region came to see the 59-car train hauling a hodge-podge of goods, including rolls of paper, cement, plastic pellets and hops and barley malt bound for Asheville breweries.
Residents and rail fans from throughout the region gathered in Old Fort on Saturday, April 18, to welcome the first Norfolk Southern freight train to pass through town since Hurricane Helene in September 2024. Photo credit: Norfolk Southern

Lamar Hicks and his 12-year-old son Parker came out to cheer the return of trains that pass near their house in Old Fort.

“Trains are just part of our culture,” said Hicks, an Old Fort native who works as a nurse at the local hospital. “It’s great that they’re able to come back through again. We were afraid after the flood that it was going to be over, after seeing the devastation. It’s like the town’s coming together again.”

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https://www.newsobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article315435595.html

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