Lynchburg & Durham — Durham to Timberlake

NC · Durham → Timberlake

A tobacco-country railroad with steel bridges still standing in the woods.

Heads up: Norfolk Southern still runs trains at both ends — the Durham cement plant up to the Geer St bridge, and Roxboro down to Camp Chemical. Stay well clear of those, and get permission before riding anywhere on the line.

The Lynchburg & Durham Railroad opened around 1890. It ran from Lynchburg, Virginia, south through Roxboro to Durham, the tobacco capital of North Carolina. The Norfolk & Western leased it in 1892 and took it over in 1896, and it became the N&W's Durham District.

The steel bridge over the Eno River, just north of Durham, still carries its builder's plate: American Bridge Company of New York, 1903. Further north the line crosses the Little River in the game lands and the South Flat River.

Trains stopped running between Roxboro and Durham around 1983. The rails were left in place. Since then the track and the North Flat River bridge have been pulled from Timberlake north into Roxboro. From Timberlake south to Durham, riders say about 20 miles of track are still down, overgrown in the pines.

Both ends are still alive. Norfolk Southern serves Roxboro as far south as Camp Chemical, and a Durham yard job still shoves cement hoppers up to a plant on Drew Street.

⚠️ Before you go: every railroad on this map is private property. A line that looks abandoned may still be owned by a railroad, used to store rail cars, or put back into service at any time — sometimes with no warning. Before going near any track, make sure it's truly abandoned (no recent use, rails not polished, no signals or cars stored on it) and that you're allowed to be there. Never assume a track is dead.

📷 Photos & stories from riders

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