[1] When it opened in 1840, the line was the longest railroad in the world with 161.5 miles (259.9 km) of track.

During the American Civil War, the railroad was used heavily by the Confederacy for transporting troops and supplies.

The cities of Wilmington and Goldsboro fell in 1865 at the end of the war, and the railroad was badly damaged.

By 1866, the bridge over the Cape Fear River was rebuilt, which reconnected the line to Wilmington.

[6] By 1869, the W&W and other railroads in the Carolinas were purchased by a group of Baltimore capitalists including William T. Walters.

In 1980, the Seaboard Coast Line's parent company merged with the Chessie System, creating the CSX Corporation.

The former W&W from Contentnea south is now CSX's W&W Subdivision (named in reference to the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad).

It connected with the main line at Pender (just south of Halifax) and ran southeast to Scotland Neck.

In 1882, the Albemarle and Raleigh Railroad was built which extended the branch east to Williamston on the Roanoke River.

It was originally chartered as the Smithfield and Goldsboro Railroad and it was built by its parent company, the Midland North Carolina Railway.

The branch closely paralleled the North Carolina Railroad (which was operated by the Southern Railway).