A dreary day trackside along the former N&W & VGN

 Overview:

"I just stay at home when it rains,"some may say, "it doesn't produce good images." I have heard that stated more than once and I differ concerning my outlook on dreary/rainy day photography. In my personal experiences, some of my best images has been taken in less than ideal weather for photography. It proposes a challenge for the photographer and causes one to think outside the box. Certain elements on dreary days, can also produce wonderful moods and spooky atmospheres that create a masterful image. In this documentation of December 16th, a demonstration of rainy day photography is played out with a series of shots taken in dark, rainy, and foggy weather.

Documentation:

 I started off the day on Christiansburg Mountain along the former Norfolk and Western mainline spanning from Roanoke to Bluefield, WV. The morning yielded seven trains in just over an hour; which is extremely busy for this route. The backup was caused after signal problems at Montgomery and Arthur materialized overnight causing major delays. Once the problems were fixed the following trains negotiated Christiansburg Mountain within two hours: 186, I3G, 236, 67N, 17M, 823, 29W, 22A, 185, M7M, 755, 821, and 749.

 Dawn breaks in the quaint hamlet of Shawsville, VA as NS 67N negotiates a tight S curve with a empty train of ethanol cars in tow, as a layer of morning fog carpets the surrounding valley. This is actually the steepest section of Christiansburg Mountain; if a westbound will stall out, it will do so short of the crossing pictured in this photograph. If a train successfully climbs the first two miles of the grade, it will likely make the top of the mountain situated 10 miles to the west at Christiansburg. The town of Shawsville is quiet this dreary Sunday as the train abruptly ends the peaceful morning with engines in notch 8 and a horn echoing throughout the valley.

 The uniformity of ethanol cars are played out in this moody scene depicting 67N's train traversing the S curve pictured above at a different angle.

 After clearing a 10 MPH slow order back in Shawsville, the engineer on 67N has just opened up the throttle as it now moves uphill at trackspeed with a filthy Canadian National second in command as the train approaches Friendship Road just east of Montgomery Tunnel.

  NS 186 parades downhill through this nice early morning scene at Shawsville, VA with a pair of C40-9W's permeating the air with the sound of dynamic breaks whining holding back the heavy manifest train as it descends the 1.5% grade.

 After waiting for traffic ahead to clear, NS 823 struggles to get his train up to speed as the two big GE's shake the ground in notch 8 while it negotiates the hamlet of Shawsville, VA. This monster hopper train will take twice as long to climb grueling Christiansburg Mountain because of his heavy train consisting of roughly 150-170 empty coal cars.

 NS 29W files through Elliston at trackspeed with a long string of autoracks in tow as it makes a running start for grueling Christiansburg Mountain that lies just ahead. The "Lights out indicate approaching train" crossing sign is a unique landmark that has stood here in Elliston for decades; it is presumably the last one still in operation and makes for a interesting photograph, especially in such moody weather like this.

 Now along the former Southern Railway south of Hurt and Altavista, we find NS 186 climbing uphill near Greene, VA with two GE's wide-open in notch 8 as they prepare to stop ahead to await the arrival of northbound #214. A vegetation called "kudzu" is a frequent plant that grows trackside along the former Southern and that is very apparent in this image of #186.

 "186 approach track two Motely, NS 186 out!", a statement heard over the scanner as #186 approached this former Southern Railway signal just north of Greene. The approach signal is for the meet with 214 that will take place just south of here.

 Hotshot intermodal #214 charges over the Staunton River in Altavista, VA as it files north through the quaint community with a trio of Norfolk Southern motors heading up the train. After arriving in Lynchburg, NS 214 will perform a speedy set off for Norfolk bound intermodal I3G to attach to his train for the trek east. Rain clouds begin moving into the area that will bring heavy rain to Central Virginia overnight.

 Now on the former Virginian Railway Altavista District, NS 820 is pictured splitting a pair of approach lit N&W CPL's situated in the small hamlet of Stone Mountain, VA. Dense fog moves into the area along with the approaching front coming from the south with heavy rain. Train #820 is making great time along this relatively flat section of the former Virginian with much slighter grades opposed to the P-D north of Princeton...

  Another view of #820 depicts the photographer shooting between old boards part of an old wooden overpass located here in Stone Mountain. A good percentage of the country roads required to access locations between Roanoke and Altavista cross the tracks on old wooden bridges; this is just one out of many I witnessed while exploring this intriguing route.

 Running just minutes behind #820 is Hyco bound coal train #764 pictured here charging east near the community of Moneta, VA just west of the location above. Another pair of approach lit CPL's are situated in the background of this image. The CPL's along this line are quickly disappearing as part of NS' plan to upgrade the signals along this route to the modern safetrain signaling system.

 In the very last light of the day, NS 18M hits Tinker Creek Connect in Roanoke, VA to take the train south roughly one mile to join the former Virginian Altavista District and then the former Southern at Hurt. Two C40-9W's are in charge of this heavy Linwood, NC bound manifest as darkness quickly falls upon the community; the old N&W CPL stands tall and proud as it witnesses yet another train. These signals are on borrowed time though, as NS quickly is eradicating them from service.

Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoyed the read and photography!

A trip up the former Virginian P-D District

  In recent times, the former Virginian Princeton Deepwater District has become a favorite stretch of railroad for the photographer to visit. The former Virginian, in his opinion, stands as one of the most intriguing and fascinating railroads around. It hosts some of the steepest grades along with some of the most stunning scenery one can find in Southern West Virginia. In this little story, I will provide some history depicting the West End District of the former Virginian before my documentation.

History of the Virginian's West End 

The Virginian mainline spanning between Norfolk, VA and Deepwater, WV was constructed in the early 1900s by the Tidewater Railway that shortly thereafter became the actual Virginian Railway. The last spike was driven in 1909 just west of Glen Lyn, VA and the well-constructed route was then open for business. The grades in West Virginia are grueling, especially the 2.07% grade from Elmore to Clark's Gap, and gave the railway a major challenge in finding steam locomotives powerful enough to move a sufficient amount of coal over the hills. After experimenting with steam for a couple years and never being totally satisfied with the performance, the Virginian decided to electrify the line between Mullens and Roanoke in 1925 dubbing this section "The Electrified Zone". The railway purchased a fleet of LC-2 electric locomotives from Alco-Westinghouse in 1925-26 to operate within the electrified territory in sets of three. The engines dubbed "Squareheads" was capable of 2375 horsepower or a tractive effort standing at 92, 000 pounds each.

 The Electrification was just the solution the Railway was looking for in their West End District.. The Squareheads could move more coal over the mountains in WV and VA much more efficiently opposed to any steam locomotive they had in operation. In 1948, coal traffic had risen to new levels and the Squareheads were beginning to show age so the Railroad turned to General Electric for the solution.. Arriving in that year, the "Streamliners", EL-2B locomotives started polishing the tracks situated in the Electrified Zone. Producing 260,000 pounds of tractive effort and standing at 6,800 horsepower, the Streamliners was beyond anything the Railway had previously owned and proved to be the most powerul electric locomotive ever used in the world. Their arrival increased the maximum tonnage of coal trains immensely and were extremely effective. In December 1953, the Railway placed their first diesel locomotive order and purchased 25 locomotives from Fairbanks-Morse. They served the Virginian well until the N&W merger in 1959.


 On December 1st, 1959, the Norfolk and Western purchased the Virginian Railway acquiring the main and all branches between Norfolk and Deepwater. For two or three years, little to nothing changed on the former Virginian situated in the West End, but in late 1962, N&W ceased to use the electrified railroad between Roanoke and Mullens. The electric locomotives was shortly scrapped and N&W started using their diesel locomotives across the whole route.

 In modern times, much has changed on the Virginian's Western portion of the railroad. Signs of the electrification are far and few between and only a handful of old searchlight signals stand as they are falling fast to the new safetran signals. Many depots and part of the Princeton yard complex have also been eradicated. Instead of the Railways' intriguing electric locomotives, a plethora of wide-cab GE's and EMD's now rule the rails as any other railroad.

 Despite the changes, the Virginian will live on in the heart of many and the Princeton Deepwater District will remain a favorite line of mine due to the history and magnificent scenery that is associated with it. Witnessing a coal drag tackling the grueling Clark's Gap grade stands as one of my favorite things to see and hear.. The ground vibrating and the sound of engines in notch 8 permeating the air is nothing short of spectacular, in my opinion.

December 1st, 2012 documentation

 Exactly 53 years after the Virginian and Norfolk & Western merger, I set out to document the now Norfolk Southern owned Princeton Deepwater District on balmy December 1st, 2012.

 With fine morning light illuminating this impressive trestle at Ingleside, WV, NS 810 works downhill with a 150 car coal train, likely weighing in the neighborhood of 21-22,000 tons, as it descends the 1.5% grade from Ambrose, just east of Princeton, to Kellysville; also the junction with the Christiansburg District. Just to the west of this location lies VGN Tunnel #18 and the V344.5 signals situated at the westend of the short bore. This coal train departed Mullens, WV shortly after 3 AM and traversed the steepest section of the line witnessing many huge trestles while en route to Princeton; 810 also paused at the small yard situated in Clark's Gap to perform a common duty called "filling out tonnage". That basically means the train was short of its required tonnage upon departing Mullens and had to stop and acquire extra loads before continuing the trek to Norfolk.

  Operating in full dynamics, NS ES44AC #8062 provides extra breaking to safely get train 810 downhill to Kellysville as it whines across the Ingleside trestle. These new AC units Norfolk Southern acquired from General Electric are 4,400 horsepower along with being excellent pullers and are essentially built for coal service like pictured. After cutting off from 810 roughly 7 miles to the east, 8062 will then return light to Elmore operating as J92.

  Five engines idle in Elmore yard as they await their next assignments; Norfolk Southern's Monongahela Heritage Locomotive brightens up the scene as it sits dead last in line. The tracks in the foreground is the Guyandot River Branch that spans South toward Gilbert and eventually reaches the ex N&W Pocahontas mainline at Wharncliffe, WV. Multiple spurs exist along this route and NS operates on average 2-4 trains over this branchline daily. Also, to the right of #8025 lies the main Elmore yard office where crews will first report before a PTI driver will take them to their train.

  Just after arriving in this small hamlet by the name of Tralee, which is situated just east of Elmore, NS 755 sits short of a small crossing after the crew had just tied the train down with a pair of NS' newest horses on the point. NS will often park westbound trains here if another crew doesn't go on duty for a while and that is evident in this scene.

  Shortly after departing Elmore, NS U87 powers across magnificent Covel Trestle, V366.4, with two C40-9W's wide-open lugging their train toward Clark's Gap traversing a 2.07% grade along the way. The quaint town below watches and listens as the train roars uphill permeating the still valley with the unremitting sound of engines in notch 8 struggling to maintain 7 or 8 MPH. This is just one of many impressive trestles constructed along this route, the ex Virginian never fails to impress!

 By the time the helpers operating as J93 reach Covel Trestle, #U87 continues loosing speed as the train grinds away on the steepest grade situated on the whole Virginian. Between the head-end power and helper engines, this train has 21,000 horsepower but is still barely making the hill. That tells an individual how grueling and steep this grade is! Providing extra color to this scene, the Erie and Reading Heritage Engines are pictured crossing the impressive structure with ES44AC #8111 sandwiched in the middle; the Erie is definitely showing signs of being in coal service because part of the paint appears totally black!

 With its whole train over the hill, #U87 rolls downhill between Clark's Gap and Weyanoke as it begins slowing for a meet with westbound 775 just ahead. At this exact time, the head-end crew is chatting with the helper crew as they begin the process of removing the units from the rear while on the move; J93 will then follow J92 back to Elmore to await another coal drag to shove up the hill. This location is in middle of no where as one can easily see by the baron wilderness!

  In golden afternoon lighting, NS 775 creeps through the tight twists and turns situated in the historic community of Matoaka, WV as it passes one of the only surviving Virginian depots that still stand. Just below the depot, lies the old abandoned N&W Bluestone Branch that spanned from Bluestone, along the Pokey mainline, to Weyanoke a few mile west of this community. N&W last operated a train on the branch in the mid 1980s but has remained unused ever since, with the exception of Bluestone itself where NS will occasionally store freight cars. Matoaka used to be a booming town back in the day, but in recent years has dried up where practically nothing of interest remains except for the railroad. The train will shortly begin a stiff 1.5% climb to Weyanoke before topping the hill just east of the location above where I captured U87.

 After completing a meet with opposing westbound empty train 775, #U87 rolls downhill into Matoaka, WV as it enters a very tight S curve in golden afternoon backlighting. The crew on board has just 15 miles left before reaching Princeton and the end of their run just west of the beautifully restored Virginian Depot situated in the downtown area of the community.

  As seen charging out of the blinding late evening sun, #U87 roars across Blacklick Trestle in the community of Kegley, WV as it battles the relatively slight 0.5% grade spanning from Rock to Princeton. This trestle is actually the highest ever constructed on the former Virginian and is comparable to the former Clinchfield Copper Creek trestle in terms of height to those familiar with it. With being just minutes away from Princeton , #U87 has successfully traversed the western end of the P-D district witnessing some of the most stunning scenery in Southern West Virginia.

 The shot above from Blacklick trestle concludes my December 1st documentation depicting modern day action on the former Virginian. It was a fantastic day that I will never forget. Modern day operations are not near as fascinating as operations in the 50s, but it still never fails to impress me.

 Be sure to check back for future articles on this line as I will certainly return in the near future to capture more stunning scenery along this intriguing route! The link below depicts the video I shot on December 1st.. The sound from Covel is amazing, but still cannot adequately express the feeling of actually being there and hearing it in person.

December 1st video