News

Ask Matt ... about Saluda Grade, gateway art

Any plans for public art on the southern gateway mound?

By Bill Moss, Published: October 26, 2015

Q. What is the current status of the rail line that goes through Saluda? Will it ever be used for train traffic again?

The rail line that bisects Saluda, commonly known as the Saluda Grade, once held claim to being the steepest standard-gauge rail line in the U.S. The 11-mile line begins its ascent at the foot of Melrose Mountain just outside Tryon and in the last 2.6 miles the track rises 606 feet until it reaches Saluda. The line continues nine more miles to East Flat Rock up a more moderate grade. Norfolk Southern still owns the rail line but it has been 14 years since a train last made the Saluda Grade.
Today much of the track is unserviceable due to washouts and dense vegetation growing in the railway corridor. Norfolk Southern, you may remember, sold 92 miles of its Western North Carolina system in 2014. Watco, under the new name of Blue Ridge Southern Railroad, owns the track up to milepost W-26 which is near the Zirconia Road crossing. Norfolk Southern still owns the remainder of the line which crosses Lake Summit, extends southward through Saluda, Tryon, Landrum, S.C. (the end of the inactive line) and on to Spartanburg.
Although the Saluda City website boasts of "future passenger excursions up the Grade," it ain't happening. When I asked Saluda Town Administrator John Cannon about the line he said he knew of nothing new. Across the state line, the Spartanburg County economic development folks see no movement either. They believe that Norfolk Southern is holding on to the line in case they need to move West Virginia coal. A Norfolk Southern spokesperson related to me that they are "reserving this line for future use should business conditions justify reactivation." Well of course.
Now if you want to see a cool display of the Saluda Grade plus the link to Hendersonville, chug on over to the Historic Courthouse and step into the Heritage Museum. It's free.

Q. What's going to go on the grassy hill at the south entrance to Hendersonville next to AutoZone? I thought they were going to put an apple sculpture in that park. Maybe a fountain?

According to city officials there are no plans to put a sculpture or anything else on the grassy knoll. I suspect the city fathers might be reluctant to opt for another fountain but as they say, hope springs eternal.