Major disaster for CSX and NS in the Appalachian mountain areas

[west point]

Hurricane Helene has delt both RRs severe damages.
1. CSX ex Clinchfield RR probably near wipe out in Erwin. Unconfirmed reports several wash out on to Bostic. The water in Erwin even flooded hospital.
2. NS from Bulls gap on to Newport (dam failure) along US25 reports still coming in on to Ashville. Ashville completely isolated both road and rail. I-40 wash out west of Ashville. East not confirmed. I-26 not known both ways however it was washed away south of Henderson toward Spartanburg just before completion by another Hurricane. NS to both Old Fort and Canton also wash outs??
Report only way in and out of Ashville is by air?

 

[Jdub]

I saw a picture of a rail line in Asheville with locomotive and cars parked on a bridge. I suppose that is to try to keep weight on the bridge so it won’t wash away. At any rate every. rail line in the path of Helene has been affected.

 

[JamesWhitcombRiley]

Hurricane Helene has delt both RRs severe damages.
1. CSX ex Clinchfield RR probably near wipe out in Erwin. Unconfirmed reports several wash out on to Bostic. The water in Erwin even flooded hospital.
2. NS from Bulls gap on to Newport (dam failure) along US25 reports still coming in on to Ashville. Ashville completely isolated both road and rail. I-40 wash out west of Ashville. East not confirmed. I-26 not known both ways however it was washed away south of Henderson toward Spartanburg just before completion by another Hurricane. NS to both Old Fort and Canton also wash outs??
Report only way in and out of Ashville is by air?

Asheville is accessible from the south, but the water plant is out. Hundreds of miles of highways further out are closed, parts covered in mud or demolished. Here's what NC 511 https://drivenc.gov/ says about I-40: "This is a long-term closure, the estimated clearance time is unknown." The placeholder date for re-opening is Sep. 30, 2025. The NC map has links to 511 in surrounding states. Google maps has the same re-opening dates, ranging from the end of the month to Sept. 2025.

NOAA did a good job predicting this storm, which in just three days went from a depression in Belize to Cat 4 in the bend of Florida. The track did move slightly east, but you can look at the archived animation at NHC and see it was mainly accurate. Flooding in the Appalachians was predicted pretty much from the beginning. But everyone gets so many watches and warnings, it's hard to emphasize the most catastrophic predictions.

 

[west point]

Now at least one interstate to Asheville is now open. It is amazing I-26 from 'Spartanburg. That goes up the mountain just east of Saluda. This route was washed away many years ago just before paving by another hurricane. I would guess that anyone driving to Ashville area to locate missing relatives would need to gas up at Spartanburg taking along extra gas.

When driving in this area on the many water level US routes in NC and TN you could see houses across the river / creek connected to the highway by a flimsy bridge across the water. Imagine that these persons are stranded or washed away.

 

[Jdub]

Here’s a link to information in NC — bridges, rail connections and outages. https://www.trains.com/trn/news-rev...-largely-unrecognizable-after-historic-flood/

 

[thefirewarde]

Does NS value the Asheville to Salisbury link enough to rebuild the Old Fort loops? That line has been relatively quiet over the last few years...

 

[Palmland]

As bad as it is for CSX, they can reroute most of the traffic that had moved on the Clinchfield. In fact they essentially did that as a cost saving effort a few years ago. NS has more lines in that part of NC and it will take a while to get it all back.

 

[JamesWhitcombRiley]

https://www.npr.org/2024/09/30/nx-s...ne-quartz-microchips-solar-panels-spruce-pine
With deaths approaching 200, just a note about the CSX line north of Asheville. The quartz mined from these very old mountains is essential to the semiconductor industry, with little chance of replacement sources. It is shipped by rail over CSX's former Clinchfield RR. Forty miles washed out.

 

[jis]

https://www.npr.org/2024/09/30/nx-s...ne-quartz-microchips-solar-panels-spruce-pine
With deaths approaching 200, just a note about the CSX line north of Asheville. The quartz mined from these very old mountains is essential to the semiconductor industry, with little chance of replacement sources. It is shipped by rail over CSX's former Clinchfield RR. Forty miles washed out.

The Spruce Pines Mines have some of the best quality natural Quartz found anywhere. However, it is not even the largest source of Quartz that is actually used in the manufacture of Electronics. There are other sources in the world in Brazil, China and Russia, and heck even in South Carolina. And today a significant proportion of the Quartz used in electronic goods is artificially made using what is called the Hydrothermal Synthesis Technique. So while the loss of the production from NC is significant, it is by far nowhere near a showstopper for the electronics industry.

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

The Spruce Pines Mines have some of the best quality natural Quartz found anywhere. However, it is not even the largest source of Quarts that is actually used in the manufacture of Electronics. There are other sources in the world in Brazil, China and Russia, and heck even in South Carolina. And today a significant proportion of the Quartz used in electronic goods is artificially made using what is called the Hydrothermal Synthesis Technique. So while the loss of the production from NC is significant, it is by far nowhere near a showstopper for the electronics industry.

I was telling my mother about the quartz mine and mentioned the name (she's from Tennessee) and was "Oh, Spruce Pine, yes, I know it" - she had a college classmate from there (She's class of '49, undergrad).