Moving material was a problem from the very
beginning of the mill. It was necessary to bring in the raw cotton, in the
form of bales, to be made into cloth. In turn, the finished cotton cloth
had to be sent out to world markets. In the beginning, the cotton bales
were transported from the railroad in Pacolet Station on big horse or mule drawn
wagons over dirt roads. This was difficult when the roads were dry and almost
impossible when the roads were wet. Probably in the beginning, some cotton
was also brought directly from local gins to the mill. The finished cloth,
usually in the form of rolls, was also taken from the mill back to the railroad
at Pacolet Station in wagons and faced
the same problem with the roads.
A cotton wagon - not in
Pacolet
Another cotton wagon - not in Pacolet
Moving cotton - not in Pacolet
Since the mill used a great deal of cotton and made lots of
cloth, transportation proved to be a continuous problem. A solution was
found about 1903. A railroad spur was built from Pacolet Station to serve
the mills and the warehouses at Pacolet Mills.
This was a great success and the “Dummy Line” was in service until
the mills closed in 1983.
A copy of the agreement and contract between the Southern Railway and
Pacolet Mills can be seen at “Dummy Line”.
This also has blueprints of the construction drawings and a map of the
route of the line. This rare document is used with the courtesy of the
Pacolet Museum.
There was an article in the Spartanburg Herald- Journal on Feb. 6, 1954
about the "Dummy Line". This was on the occasion that the locomotive was
being upgraded. There were several different locomotives used on the line.
Probably the most popular with the public, especially the little boys,
were the steam engines that were still being used used in the 1940's and early
1950's. The engineer described in the story, Mr. I. W. (Dub) White
was also the engineer of the steam engines in the 1940's.
