Authorities raid rail car casino

Ledger photo / TARA JENNINGS A total of 119 gambling machines with an estimated value of $100,000 was removed from these renovated rail cars in Blacksburg. It's not uncommon for gamblers to want to spend some time at the track.

What authorities uncovered in Blacksburg brings new meaning to that term.

Deputies from the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office and agents from the S.C. Law Enforcement Division seized 119 gambling machines valued at more than $100,000 Monday afternoon, said Cherokee County Sheriff Bill Blanton.

Authorities executed a search warrant at 307 Quarry Road, Blacksburg, and seized $15,000 in cash along with the illegal devices, which were found in remodeled passenger train cars.

Claudia Louise Whitt, 28, of 135 Northgate Circle, Spartanburg, surrendered to police Tuesday. Whitt, who has been released on $10,000 bond, is accused of being in charge of the machines.

Nineteen other people were charged with gambling, according to the State Law Enforcement Division.

The casino had been open for about two weeks, with word spreading through fliers and word-of-mouth, Blanton said.

The owner of the rail cars told investigators he believed it was legal to have gambling on the rail spur because it is federal property, authorities said.

Of the four train cars located on a rail spur, two were remodeled into a casino on tracks where people could play the gambling machines, the sheriff said. The train cars were not attached to a train engine and were not on the main railroad line.

The sheriff said the devices filled a tractortrailer and have been placed in a secure facility.