The coal moves through the night at Thurmond, WV

I arrived in Thurmond to stay the night as was happy to see a clear signal as soon as I pulled up.

The signal was for westbound empty coal. Hours later I was surprised by a nearby horn, and realized it was a mine run off of the R.J. Corman line. Here it is crossing the New River in the rain.

The mine run pulled to a stop at Thurmond to wait on both an eastbound loaded coal train and westbound empty coal train. I chatted with a member of the train crew, who said this was the second of two 50 car cuts being assembled on a nearby siding into a 100 car train to head east.

The westbound empties pass by.

Waiting for a signal.

An approach is given as a Corman employee opens up the derail. The dwarf signal would soon also display an approach.

The train gets rocking over the sharp jointed rail to join the mainline.

Cars passing Thurmond station.

The train crossing the New River Bridge.

The EOT trails into the distance.

The next morning the train was parked, ready to depart east, on a nearby siding. The approach signal is for an eastbound train on the main.

The eastbound turned out to be a monster 150-car coal train for Newport News.

I was surprised to see a helper on the end; I read elsewhere of a .4% ruling grade for the area.