Selma, NC – Passenger Rail is being celebrated in Selma, North Carolina July 19 – 20, with the 100th Anniversary of Selma’s Union Station.
Activities will begin Friday evening as representatives gather for dinner while learning more about a projected Raleigh to Wilmington passenger rail project in an exclusive presentation by Eastern Carolina Rail. Eastern Carolina Rail is a non-profit organization seeking to promote this new passenger train route project, to include stops in Selma. The organization has invited the NC Department of Transportation Rail Division to share this exclusive presentation with numerous local, state, and federal representatives and organizations.
The conclusion of the Friday evening event will include a brief celebration and invitation for the representatives to return the following day, Saturday, July 20th, to join the community at Selma Union Station.
The public is invited to attend the Centennial Celebration of Selma Union Station, located at 500 E Railroad Street, Selma, to celebrate the depot’s history. This is a free event open for the public to explore the depot and learn about renovations and plans for the property. It will include a traditional farmers market that will begin at 9:00 AM on the loading dock of the depot, where vendors will take you back in time with handmade woodcrafts, cornshuck dolls, metal art, pottery, antiques, loom weaving, and more for purchase. Wood & Steel will kick off the next portion of the celebration on stage with live music starting at 10:00 AM. Activities for the kids will include trackless train rides, inflatables, and a locomotive simulator.
The community will enjoy a pig pickin’, hotdogs by Carolina Packers, watermelons from Crooked Row Produce, and some Old-Fashioned Ice Cream. The event will conclude with a time capsule ceremony at 2:00 PM, marking the celebration with a train-shaped marker to remain in the community for the next one hundred years.
Support for this event has been provided by Town of Selma Annual Event Sponsors and 2024 Selma Railroad Days sponsors including Coffee on Raiford, Academy Sports, Johnston County Visitors Bureau, Old North State Food Hall, Eastfield Crossing, Activate Selma, Gateway Engineers, WithersRavenel, Rhinehart Fire Services, DeWayne’s, KS Bank, Brio Wellness Center, and HTR Southern Properties.
100 yrs of heavy govt subsidies when no one wants to ride the train.
Is it any different when the government heavily subsidize all the farmers?
@Jimmy: I’m not a fan of government run monopolies, but facts matter:
1. Ridership is up 20% from last year.
2. Ridership is up 36% from pre-Covid (2019)
3. NC “subsidies” for the train are lower than air industry (92%), short/long haul trucking (61%), highway & personal transportation (38%), and intra-city bus service (6%).
4. NC Train spending accounts for slightly less than 5% of NC budget spending.
#factsNotOpinions #falseComplaints
Lol. Thats just wrong. Increase from 2 to 3 is a 50% jump. There are more people who choose moped than train. Most of the subsidies are from the feds not the state its still a handout scam. Truckers pay ridiculous taxes so i have no idea where you got your dumb numbers.
@Jimmy: Just wrong? You sound like a snowflake how can’t handle the facts.
1. Ridership in the first 6 months of 2024 is +342,000 — much more than 2 or 3. Duh
2. NCDMV reports just under 19,700 moped registrations (2023). Even if only half of owners actually get insurance and register, that’s still 94% more train riders than moped owners.
3. Although Amtrak (who does get Fed money) owns the trails, the routes are owned (and paid) for by NC by Rail (who gets state but not Fed subsidies).
4. Cost-per-mile by train is 1/5 that of trucking, that’s why state subsidies for trains are so much lower than trucking. (I see you employed another snowflake tactic by shifting to “taxes” instead of “subsidies” in your response.
All this info is publicly available from NC DOT, NC DMV, and NC by Train. In typical Lib Snowflake fashion, you can’t handle facts, so you make up stuff.
#factsNotOpinions #falseComplaints
You need to check federal subsidies. Amtrak is highly paid for by the feds.
@James: Amtrak yes, but not NC by Train. You (just like Jimmy) are conflating the two — another typical Snowflake tactic.
Maybe as a surprise part of the celebration they’re going to announce repairs to the degraded, absolutely painful, almost dangerous to go over Anderson street crossing next to the station…..