COVID killed the railroad line.
Cited as decline in business due to COVID19, Norfolk Southern announced they would be reducing operations at Linwood yard in Salisbury, NC. 85 positions will be eliminated including the daily trains 123, (Decatur, IL to Salisbury, NC) and 135, (Salisbury, NC to Chattanooga, TN) which will no longer pass through Asheville, NC or the Old Fort Loops. The impacts of COVID are being felt everywhere, including the small tourist town of Hot Springs, NC as the last 123 to transit this line passes through town.
