New Hope Valley Railroad

The New Hope Valley Railway is a heritage railroad in Bonsal, North Carolina operated by the North Carolina Railway Museum, Inc., an all-volunteer, nonprofit, and tax exempt educational and historical organization.

The railroad consists of a total of 5 miles of track between the communities of Bonsal, North Carolina and New Hill, North Carolina.

The North Carolina Railway Museum, located in New Hill, North Carolina, features a collection of antique train cars, artifacts and historic train memorabilia, and a G-scale model railroad layout and club.

The railroad operates passenger excursion trains on the second Sunday of each month from May to November and both Saturday and Sunday during the first two weekends in December. Special trains are operated for Halloween on the evening of the last three Saturdays in October. They have many other themed train excursions throughout the year.

The New Hope Valley Railway has many different special activities that people can participate in. One of them is their Operate-a-Loco program. On select Saturdays and Sundays, anybody who wishes to (must be over age 18 and have a valid drivers license) may come and drive one of their diesel locomotives. You are guided along their 4 miles of track (8 mile round trip) under the supervision of one of their trained engineers. All equipment and other items are provided by the railway.

The railroad is operated by an all-volunteer crew, and it is a member of the Association of Railway Museums and the East Carolina Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS).

The North Carolina Railway Museum also displays a collection of historic railroad equipment used in North Carolina at the railroad's Bonsal terminal. This is a primarily outdoor exhibit, and is open to the public from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on weekends only throughout the year.

The railroad line operated as the New Hope Valley Railway was originally constructed as the Durham & South Carolina Railroad (D&SC) in 1905-1906 to tap the timber resources of the valley of New Hope Creek, and served the communities of Bonsal, North Carolina where it had a junction with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad (now part of CSX), Beaver Creek, North Carolina, Seaforth, North Carolina, Farrington, North Carolina, Blands, North Carolina, Penny, North Carolina, and Durham, North Carolina.

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