Still, as is well recorded in the A&R’s archives, some of the railroad’s toughest times lay ahead. Federal control of the nation’s railways through the united States Railway Administration during World War I was not kind to the A&R. Writing in the November 20, 1938, issue of the Raleigh, NC, News and Observer Newspaper, reporter C.G. Thompson summed up this period in the A&R’s history: “While the larger trunk lines were tearing up their rails and installing new ones, buying up new rolling stock and engines to haul it and practically renewing all their physical properties at the government’s expense, the A&R had to sit back with hurt pride and hope for crumbs that never fell
“The roadbed went bad, ties, rail and labor were scarce. Derailments caused delays and damaged cars that had to be repaired. Expenses piled up, customers scoffed at the service and became dissatisfied.”
For a time it appeared the line might be sold to other interests. There was talk that the Virginia & Carolina Southern might buy the line, and the Laurinburg & Southern, which had wanted to build through A&R territory earlier, came calling. After much negotiation, John Blue sold the Raeford-Wagram line to the Laurinburg & Southern in November 1921, a deal that provided badly needed cash to keep the A&R going. To trim costs, the A&R did away with its passenger service, substituting a rail motor bus known locally as the “jitney” to handle mail and carry passengers.
Founder John Blue died in 1922, leaving to his children the task of rebuilding the A&R. Will Blue became president and chairman of the board of directors. One of his first major acts was to create a rail connection with the U.S. Army’s Camp Bragg, which had been opened in 1918 as a field artillery training center. The military base took in some 200 square miles, including some of the old lands that had been logged in the years when the A&R was new. Even the area once occupied by the Endon branch became part of the military post. It was renamed Fort Bragg in 1922, and the Army had its own base railroad, the Cape Fear Railway, with which the A&R established a connection in 1926 just outside Fayetteville at Skibo (SKY-bo) Junction. This move, as we shall see later, proved to be extremely important for the A&R and the war effort during World War II.