I have included links to their sites. I think you will find very special information at their sites. If you have or know of other sites please email me so I can include links to more info on the A&EC.
I have always been a fan of the Southern Railroad. I loved the Crescent and the attitude of the Southern employees. I was fond of the Atlantic Coast Line as well. When I started the design of my model railroad I started looking for a portion of the South that would include some of the things that I enjoyed in operations. I love switching, yard and local freight. I loved the concept of a train running straight down the middle of the street. Of course I couldn’t forget passenger service.
I had sat in a clinic that Lloyd Keyser had put on that encourage us to find a RR we liked, did the thing we like to see and do on it. Do the research and build a Model close to what we would like.
My grandfather was Superintendent of Fire & Police Telegraph in Augusta Ga. I have a 1909 city code book that has rules about how long a street can be blocked, how fast it could run and other rules. I had lived in Albany Ga. and taken the train to Washington DC as part of the "Safety Patrol" in the 6th grade.
Then when my son was 2, in the evenings we would go down to the local yard in Americas GA and watch the local switcher prepared the local freight for the east and west bound trains to pick up.
I had started collecting Pepsi memorabilia and was doing some research on Pepsi an where it was founded. When I looked it on the map I found New Bern was just north of my birth place at Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base. On the map it showed RR tracks from the base to New Bern. That got me started. I found a city map that showed that RR ran right down the street. It showed that Southern ran on it , but it had "A&EC" next to it. I found out what that meant and I was on my way.
The Atlantic & East Carolina Railroad became my Railway. It had everything I wanted and I could see I could model it on my home laayout. This is the results of some of that research. There are a lot of people that helped along the way, whether it was a layout tour, operating session, article in a magazine or my Wonderful Wife. I have enjoyed this part of getting ready for my layout.