N.C. Railroad plans to repair downtown warehouse
By Matt Shaw
Published in News on January 4, 2005 2:02 PM
The N.C. Railroad Co. plans to repair a historic warehouse in downtown Goldsboro and put it back to work.
The railroad will spend more than $100,000 to repair the roof of the warehouse and make other repairs, President Scott Saylor said Monday.
News-Argus/Dennis Hill
The railroad will restore this historic old building.
The building would then be available for lease as warehouse space on the busy line between Morehead City and Charlotte, via Raleigh. Eventually, it could also serve as a depot for passenger or commuter rail, Saylor said, although there are no plans for either service now.
The company is still evaluating the structure, and the repairs are not yet scheduled.
But "this is not something we'd like to do; it's something we plan to do," Saylor said in a telephone interview from his Raleigh office.
The warehouse, on James Street next to the switching yard, was built in 1915 by the W.P. Rose Co. of Goldsboro, Saylor said. It was used for several decades, and a small section still serves as offices for Norfolk-Southern.
The Rose Co. also built a depot in Raleigh that the railroad company recently renovated and is trying to lease.
North Carolina Railroad Co. is a private company that has been wholly owned by the state of North Carolina since 1998. Since then, the company has worked with the N.C. Department of Transportation to improve rail service along the entire 317-mile stretch of track linking Charlotte to Raleigh to the Morehead City port.
Amtrak operates two passenger trains along the railroad's line. Passenger service is not available east of Selma.