Towns Along the Line  ·  Milepost CF 120.8

Gulf, NC

Chatham County

History

Gulf is a town in south central Chatham County. The community is home to a general store and several historic homes. It received its name from its location at a wide bend in the Deep River. It was incorporated in 1913 but was long inactive in municipal affairs. It was an early 19th-century center of trade and coal mining. The geographic center of North Carolina is located nearby.

Gulf’s depot was one of a kind on the A&Y. Built to Southern Railway print No. 15/182, the Type 3 combination station wore a roof of Ludowici tile rather than the tin shingles used at every other station on the line — the only tile-roofed depot the A&Y ever had. It stood on brick piers, with a chert passenger platform and a separate cotton platform on creosoted posts. Gulf was a railroad crossing as well as a station: the A&Y met the Norfolk Southern Railway here (the R.C.&S. of the older timetables), crossing it at grade, and the depot itself was jointly used by the two roads. The valuation records are of two minds about exactly who owned what share of that joint station — the 1916 field note and a later annotation on the same page give different ownership splits — and the question has never been cleanly resolved.

Track Diagram

ICC valuation map of Gulf track and depot layout
Track and station layout from ICC valuation blueprint v27-31. Click for full size.

Industries

A Southern Railway Shippers Guide from 1916, together with later information, records the following industries at Gulf shipping or receiving over the A&Y (some may have used the station or team track rather than a dedicated siding). Notably, the clay pits of the Deep River district shipped raw clay to the Pomona Pipe Products works near Greensboro.

IndustryGoods ShippedCompany Name
gravel, sand, clayclayPomona Pipe Products
gravel, sand, clayclayPomona Pipe Products
livestockcattle, hogsM. J. Jordan
planing millpine and oakPennsylvania Lumber Co.
sawmillpine and oak roughM. J. Jordan

Odds and Ends

I don’t know anything much about Gulf. If you know anything about this town or the businesses and industries that might have used the railroad for shipping or receiving products, please let me know.

During my trip in September of 1999 I was able to take some photographs of the revised trackwork. Originally, there was a crossing at grade and junction between the A&Y and the old Norfolk Southern. Today the ACWR and the new Norfolk Southern interchange cars here. Some scrap loads go to Sanford, but mostly grain cars are interchanged here. Before the revised trackwork in 1999, there was an interesting “Gulf shuffle” during the interchange in order to move the cars around but keep the locomotives at the lead of their respective trains. The revised trackwork will likely eliminate this and now allows for larger trains. Below are some photos I took of the grade crossing, interchange tracks, and some aggregate hoppers parked there to provide materials for the trackwork. This junction is not too easily reached by main roads! Thanks again to Gareth McDonald for his help and insights.

Sign at the ACWR / NS dividing line at the Gulf junction
Sign at the ACWR/NS dividing line, Gulf junction. Click for full size.

The sign designating the dividing line between the new Norfolk Southern and the ACWR at the junction.

Inside the interchange triangle at Gulf, showing ACWR and NS trackage
Inside the interchange triangle at Gulf. Click for full size.

A shot from inside the triangle formed by the interchange tracks. The ACWR comes from the right-hand side and the NS runs along where the cars are spotted.

Looking down the NS line at Gulf junction, with the ACWR track branching off
Looking down the NS line at Gulf. Click for full size.

Another shot looking down the NS line with the track branching off to the ACWR.

Another leg of the NS at the Gulf junction, curving toward Sanford
Another leg of the NS at Gulf, curving toward Sanford. Click for full size.

Another leg of the NS heading around a bend a bit further down the line from the junction heading towards Sanford.

View from the car window at the Gulf grade crossing, NS heading toward the junction
Looking across the grade crossing toward the NS junction at Gulf. Click for full size.

Shot from the car window at the grade crossing, showing the NS line heading into the junction where the cars are spotted.

MoW equipment at the Gulf junction during trackwork, September 1999
MoW equipment at Gulf during trackwork, September 1999. Click for full size.

MoW equipment still needed as the trackwork progresses.