It has been "railbanked" for about 10 years now. NS says the grade is still considered "active", but the line is cut, south of Hendersonville NC, and north of Landrum, SC. The grade itself is only 3 miles long, but the only other way to get traffic from Spartanburg SC, to Ashville NC, involves a run to Spencer NC, (another great place), thru Old Fort and Swananoah NC. (Sure hope I spelled that correctly.)
This has been one of my most favorite places to watch trains run. First time I was ever really impressed with di-easels, was there in 1993. Three SD-60's were pulling 1/3 of their train, about 22 cars long. The locos were in notch 8 I believe, and moving about 5 mph! The engines sounded like 3 jet engines running!
I sure hope that economic conditions get to the point that NS re-opens the grade. Saluda is some exciting railroading!
Just ask Mikey! He likes it!