New Horry County railroad owner seeking federal money to increase train speeds

Trains should begin moving through Horry County next month, but the cars won’t be chugging along as fast as the railroad’s new owner would like.

R.J. Corman, the Kentucky-based firm that purchased the struggling rail line last year, plans to have locomotives rolling through the county by March 1, though the cars will be traveling at a speed of about 10 miles per hour.

“[That speed] is neither efficient nor is it optimal,” said Bill Henderson, Corman’s vice president of sales and marketing.

The company hopes to eventually see trains moving at 25 mph, but Henderson said that will cost “tens of millions of dollars.”

Henderson appeared before Conway City Council this week to present an update on the railroad’s progress and to ask Mayor Barbara Blain-Bellamy to write a letter of support for Corman’s application for a federal grant.

The company is seeking $15 million in grant money, though Henderson noted that even getting a small portion of that sum would be difficult because the grant process is highly competitive.

Council members agreed to the company’s request, though they also quizzed Henderson about other projects.

Councilman Tom Anderson asked him if Corman could pay for safety arms at Conway area railroad crossings.

“You’re telling me you want, want, want,” he said. “You want to raise your speed. But I’m wondering about my people who are crossing the tracks.”

Henderson said the state studies railroad crossings and pays for any safety arms.

“There’s no reason for us to pay for something that is always paid for by the state,” he said.

Councilman Randy Alford wanted to know about the feasibility of passenger service on the railroad.

Henderson said Corman runs two dinner trains in Kentucky, but he stressed that Horry’s infrastructure doesn’t support passenger travel at this point.

“To operate a passenger rail type system, you have to have the highest quality rail on the rail line,” he said. “We’re eons away from that currently.”

One project the company hopes to tackle soon is the removal of the coal ash from the 82-acre site of the former Grainger electric plant.

Santee Cooper officials had planned to remove the ash by truck, which could take six to eight years. But Henderson said the railroad is in talks with the state-run utility to haul off the waste in less than two years.

The resurgence of the railroad is a positive sign for local leaders, who have watched the tracks sit idle for nearly five years.

The rail line stretches from Mullins to Myrtle Beach and connects to North Carolina. Its previous owner, The Carolina Southern, shut down most operations in 2011 because some of its bridges didn’t meet new federal standards.

Corman purchased the line in August for nearly $14 million. The company hoped to have trains moving through the area last year, but October’s heavy rains washed out some of the infrastructure, pushing back the start date.

Henderson said crews have worked overtime restoring the tracks and the company has already poured millions into repairs.

“They’re working literally seven days a week around the clock,” he said. “This rail line was in absolute dilapidated condition, the worst condition we’ve ever seen in a rail line.”

This story was originally published February 4, 2016 at 1:00 AM with the headline "New Horry County railroad owner seeking federal money to increase train speeds."