For interest’s sake, here is the Southern RR’s 1970 era Asheville Special timetable.
4 hours between Asheville and Salisbury, but it includes 8 extra stops along the way:
- Azalea
- Swannanoa
- Ridgecrest
- Glen Alpine
- Valdese
- Connelly Springs
- Conover
- Newton
Cutting 8 stops should save a good bit more than 15 minutes.
While the time on the slow, winding mountain climb between Old Fort and Ridgecrest is actually faster than I would have expected (13.3mi, 29min, → 27mph), some of the straight, wide-open sections (like Statesville - Newton) seem a little slow (23.2mi, 37min → 37mph). So assuming the mountain section actually is possible at the speed suggested by the old timetable, and that the rest of the line can be sped up to an average of, say, 45mph (including stops) that would make the journey in 3h 15m. Get the non-mountain speeds up to 50mph average, and that’s 3h flat.
2.5 hours from Raleigh to Salisbury, and 3 hours from Salisbury to Asheville, for a final journey time of 5.5 hours is… better, but still a bit long, TBH. The timetable goal could be to make a 2-day weekend with a single night’s stay worth it:
- Leave Raleigh early AM Saturday, arrive Asheville before lunch
- Leave Asheville Sunday after an early dinner, arrive in Raleigh by midnight
That’d be possible with a 5.5 hour journey time, but just barely.