The Atlantic Coast Line used the branch for freight and transport passengers to Myrtle Beach, which was becoming a popular tourist destination.

From Chadbourn, the Myrtle Beach Branch proceeded south-southwest to Tabor City and crossed into South Carolina.

Once in South Carolina, it continued its south-southwest trajectory to Conway and then turned southeast to its terminus in Myrtle Beach.

[6] The same year, the current bridge over the intracoastal waterway near Pine Island was built in 1937 (which also carried the parallel US 501 highway).

[8] In the late 1940s, the Atlantic Coast Line was operating one mixed train (containing both passengers and freight) six days a week from Elrod to Myrtle Beach.

[14] In November 1984, Horry County, South Carolina purchased the line from Conway to Myrtle Beach.

In 1987, the South Carolina Department of Transportation declared the section east of the Pine Island Bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway to be unsafe.

The first train crossed the repaired bridge June 22, 2001 after Carolina Southern spent $900,000 to bring the section east of the waterway up to the standards needed for regular service.