THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 14, 1995 TAG: 9510140287
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: By MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
Levin B. Culpepper, a former mayor and postmaster of Elizabeth City, is an old-time, steam-engine Democrat whose ability to pull a trainload of votes down the track is well known to Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. and other political leaders.
The 73-year-old Culpepper has been appointed to the North Carolina Railroad Council, a state agency created by the General Assembly in 1993 to ``promote and preserve railroads as vital to the state's economy.''
Hunt named Culpepper to the 14-member railroad council last month at a time when many of the governor's friends are predicting he will seek a fourth term next year. Hunt, in a time of Republican resurgence, can use all the help he can get.
Meanwhile, the single-track railroad in Northeastern North Carolina, which Culpepper will promote, will hardly put him in a class with Commodore Vanderbilt or other empire-builders. The Albemarle & Chesapeake occasionally runs for about 50 miles between Edenton and Norfolk.
At the moment, the A&C's diesel locomotives - both of them - are busy running to Hampton Roads with trainloads of corn for export and storage.
``I hate to travel, but I agreed to take the job when they told me the railroad council only meets four times a year,'' Culpepper said this week.
``Wouldn't you know - when I was sworn in I found out we'll now be meeting every month, and the next time will be in Asheville.''
Culpepper said the only thing he was sure about is that the railroad council has a lot of former mayors on it. Culpepper was Elizabeth City's mayor from 1957 to 1965.
``I'll be working with several of my onetime municipal colleagues, he said.
Culpepper said that in recent years passenger train service between Raleigh and Charlotte has been catching on. Modern rail transportation could solve a lot of economic problems in the future, he said.
For years there has been talk in the Albemarle about a commuter service for the several thousand local residents who work in Norfolk. The Albemarle & Southern roadbed was improved several years ago, and enthusiasts say it could handle high-speed passenger rail cars.
At one time, the old Norfolk & Southern railroad ran several fast trains daily over the tracks and across a now-abandoned Albemarle Sound bridge that carried Albemarle and Tidewater rail traffic as far as Charlotte and Morehead City.
Culpepper remains active in business affairs as a board member of the Wachovia Bank branch in Elizabeth City. For several years, he was chairman of the trustees of Elizabeth City State University.
Culpepper, a graduate of Wake Forest University and the Elizabeth City school system, spent 20 months in the Pacific as a U.S. Army Engineer.
He stepped out of the Elizabeth City mayor's office in 1965 and into the city postmaster's office and served in that federal position until 1987.
He remains an elder statesman among Albemarle Democrats and was one of the few political leaders to successfully turn out the votes for Hunt in 1984 when Hunt suffered a U.S. Senate defeat at the hands of Republican Sen. Jesse Helms. In Northeastern North Carolina, Hunt carried all but Currituck and Dare counties.
If Culpepper has anything to do with it, North Carolina trains will run on time.
Neighbors set their clocks at 9:30 a.m. when Culpepper appears each morning on Church Street to walk his Jack Russell terrier.
``Actually, the dog walks Levin,'' said his wife, Jane Aydlett Culpepper. by CNB