Raleigh Yard

A view from the North end of Raleigh Yard. Because of floodloaders and unit trains I suspect these yard tracks get much less usage than in an earlier era.

The Southern end of Raleigh yard. Those black hoppers are a variety CSX I thought had scrapped, so maybe they are in MOW service. The track in the foreground is curving away to head west to Suryeor, while the track on the right heads Southwest to Sophia.

This is the wye at the South end of Raleigh. The track in the foreground heads west to Surveyor, I think it is the Piney Creek Sub. The other leg of the wye is the Winding Gulf Sub that meets with NS.

At the South end of the yard I found some interesting cars that looked to be in MOW service.

This was a surprise: an untagged, un-relettered PC gondola. Note the drop ends.

I wonder how this escaped change...

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.

RJ Corman to Mount Hope and CSX in Prince/Quinnimont

I wish I could've gotten this angle on the bridge at some point with a train.

Interchange tracks just south of the New River.

The R.J. Corman line to a mine near Surveyor was rebuilt a few years ago and looked to be in quilt good shape, including portions of heavy jointed rail. This surprised me though.

A cat on the tracks near Mt. Hope.

Before heading to Surveyor I went to see the CSX main at Quinnimont. This is the Piney Creek sub bridge crossing the New River from Prince.

This is the west end of Prince, where the Piney Creek Sub rejoins the mainline.

The yard in Quinnimont has a striking backdrop of the New River Valley, and features more nearly untouched old equipment.

This equipment loading track had quite a drop.

Looking railroad east at Quinnimont, with yard tracks in the distance.

I didn't catch a train on the mainline but these two were sitting on yard tracks at Quinnimont, I'm guessing with cars for or from the Piney Creek Sub.

CSX and NS near Surveyor

Heading over towards Surveyor, I stopped by this I think Georgia Pacific mill R.J. Corman serves in Mt. Hope.

And this transload station for Ammonium Nitrate. Scarcely any other coal branch in the state as industry other than the mine being served.

Northwest of Beckley, WV, NS's former Virginian Princton-Deepwater District crosses this impressive trestle.

I've only seen one photo of a train on here; it seems the trestles east and south of Elmore get most of the attention.

NS's P-D district features impeccable maintenance, though I understand it only carries a few coal trains a day.

North of Surveyor CSX and NS both wind through the same valley. NS's P-D line is in the foreground, while a CSX spur is headed towards more mines.

At Surveyor CSX crosses over the NS line, which heads south to Mullens/Elmore.

This view is looking towards that over-under crossing, and it appears that the CSX line is either out-of-service or infrequently used. The railheads were quite rusty.

Following the CSX line to Glen daniel this spur breaks off and quickly dissapears; the other side of the road has no track. Only in coal country could a rail spur with heavy welded rail and good looking ballast just stop like this.

NS in Elmore and Mullens, WV

With very little time before I had to be in Beckley I followed the P-D line on Route 97 south to Mullens and Elmont. The scenery and terrain for this drive was quite stunning. The heavy-duty mainline seems to have a long and brutal grade to get north out of Mullens, though only empties would head this route. NS track in Mullens itself is minimal. This photo shows the former Virginian Shops, which used to host electric locos. On the right in the distance is NS's route that joins with CSX in the Winding Gulf Area. Regrettably I didn't get a look at the rails, but I'm really curious whether it is active.

At the southern end of Elmore Yard is this hefty trackwork forming a wye between the Virginian north to Deepwater, east to Virginia, and West to the Gilbert Branch of the N&W. This is the last route, which I've heard takes much of the coal traffic at this point. I wish I had time to explore it.

A view of the yard office in Elmore, looking North.

I was surprised at how huge Elmore Yard is; it looks like a modern classification yard compared to the dinky old relics CSX mine branches have. Yet there was only one cut of cars in the long yard tracks, and I suspect there usually isn't much more.

I did "catch" a train in Elmore, this empty sitting near the yard office aimed to head west to a mine somewhere on the Gilbert branch.

Midnight meet at Meadow Creek and 436 in Clifton Forge and Richmond

Leaving West Virginia I couldn't help hopping of I64 at Meadow Creek. I was lucky again, as moments after I arrived an eastbound pulled to a stop at this classic signal bridge.

It had to wait on a train of coal empties because the dispatcher wanted it to crossover.

After a bit of a wait, the empties clear and the headlight of the loaded coal train lights up the signal and I64 overpass at Meadow Creek. Where else would an interstate bridge have no traffic for a minute-long exposure?

Further delaying my Richmond arrival to early morning, I couldn't help stopping again in Clifton Forge. It was packed again, with a grain train entering the yard, an empty coal train lined through here with an approach, another empty on the outskirts, and Q302 departing. The engine on the left, #436, is the same consist and train I saw that morning in Thurmond now arrived in Clifton.

Finally, some 30 hours after I saw the train in Clifton Forge, it came through Richmond, VA, on the way to Newport news. Here it is in Richmond's Fulton yard getting a crew change in early morning.


The cars of coal all the way from near Pax, WV, passing by my apartment window in Richmond, VA.