State University Railroad
| Reporting mark | SUR |
|---|---|
| Locale | North Carolina |
| Dates of operation | 1873–Present |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Length | 10.2 miles (16.4 kilometres) |
| Website | www.nscorp.com |
The State University Railroad is a 10.2 mile railroad spur of the North Carolina Railroad that began offering service from Glenn, North Carolina, near Hillsborough to a point west of Chapel Hill, North Carolina on January 1, 1882.
The company was incorporated in February 1873 as the Chapel Hill Iron Mountain Railroad Company, but was not organized until after the name was changed to the State University Railroad in March 1879. In order for the students at the University of North Carolina not be tempted from their studies, a state statute decreed that the end of the spur be located at least a mile from the school's campus.
The first train, known as "The Whooper," was a locomotive and two passenger cars that made the run from University Station to Chapel Hill Station twice daily. The trip from university station to Chapel Hill Station took an hour traveling southbound and 70 minutes northbound. The current town of Carrboro, then known as West End, started to grow as a result of the railroad. Elizabeth 'Libba' Cotten's famous song "Freight Train" was written when, as a young girl, she heard the train pass behind her house on Lloyd Street in Carrboro.
The company still exists as a subsidiary of the Norfolk Southern Railway. Passenger service ended in 1936.
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