Climax (milepost CF 82.2)
History
This community in southeast Guilford County is at an altitude of 824 feet above sea level. It was established in 1853 and named for its location on high ground. In the days of the A&Y, the town was on the CF line where it curved from its southeastern direction out of Pleasant Garden to head directly east for a short while before turning southeast again to Liberty. Just after the turn east Climax was located near the junction with the CR line to Ramseur. In 1934, the A&Y employee time table indicated that Climax trackage could hold 19 cars.
The ICC Valuation documents included this photograph of the Climax station. Track Diagram
Industries
A Southern Railway Shippers Guide from 1916 indicates the following industries in addition to LCL shipments, passengers, and mail were located in Climax and used the A&Y for delivering and receiving products by rail (although some may have used the station or team track rather than having a dedicated siding). I will add other industries as I receive information about them:
Industry Goods Shipped/Rec'd
Company Name
cotton gin cotton M. L. Allred & Bro. sawmill oak, pine, poplar Greyson Lumber Co.
Odds and Ends
Some of the buildings from the A&Y era still exist.
Here's a photo I took of the building that housed the Climax post office and M.L. Allred and Son. This building as you can see faces the tracks. Here are a couple of photos of the Security Feed Mills, another of the ubiquitous feed mills in the region. At first, I thought this mill was abandoned, but the vehicles parked in front made me rethink that conclusion. The state of the rail spur suggests that NS does not serve it anymore, though the A&Y and maybe the Southern probably did. I am including the shot in Climax below to help modelers get a feel for the countryside through which the A&Y ran. Remember this was a rainy cloudy day. You'll have to look at the shots of towns north of Greensboro to see what the countryside looks like on a sunny day.
