Cliffside Railroad was a Class III railroad

Class III railroad

A Class III railroad, as defined by the Surface Transportation Board, is a railroad with an annual operating revenue of less than $20 million . The term only applies to United States railroads, but is sometimes applied to other countries...

 operating freight service in southwestern North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

 from 1905 until service ended in 1987. The line was formally abandoned in 1992.

History

The Cliffside Railroad Company was incorporated on March 2, 1905, and the 3.7-mile railroad line was opened between Cliffside, North Carolina to Cliffside Junction that same year.

In 1984, the railroad acquired the Seaboard System Railroad

Seaboard System Railroad

The Seaboard System Railroad was a former Class I railroad created by merging the railroads of the Family Lines System. Although sharing common ownership, the railroads of the Family Lines System used different names when conducting business...

 branch line between Ellenboro, North Carolina

Ellenboro, North Carolina

Ellenboro is a town in Rutherford County, North Carolina in the United States of America. The population was 479 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Ellenboro is located at ....

 and Cliffside Junction, increasing the railroad's total mileage to 8.14.

By the 1980s, the railroad's traffic mix included textile products, waste, and scrap, and the railroad was owned by the Cone Mills Corporation

Cone Mills Corporation

Cone Mills Corporation was a world leader in textile manufacturing of corduroy, flannel, denim and other cotton fabrics for most of the 20th century. The company was based in Greensboro, North Carolina and its mills were mostly in North and South Carolina...

and others.

Late in 1987, the railroad's service was suspended. The line was formally abandoned in January 1992.