As the sun sets in the west, Amtrak's westbound Cardinal is near the top of the Blue Ridge grade on the old main line via Staunton and Waynesboro. This is the "passenger" main once trod by the lik... (more)

An eastbound unit coal train rolls down the east slope of the Alleghanies at Mud Tunnel. This is the former C&O main line.

The southbound Auto Train is making time through the curve at Ruther Glen. A southbound CSX intermodal is just ahead on the east track, so the dispatcher intends 53 to overtake it and pass it. Thi... (more)

Amtrak's westbound Cardinal is making its station stop at Charlottesville one chilly winter day. The train has a clear signal for departure over the crossing with the NS (ex-Southern) double track... (more)

Amtrak's westbound Cardinal is making its station stop at Clifton Forge as a gaggle of CSX and Conrail units await assignment on the right.

A rider on the PV "Georgia 300" appears to be holding on for dear life as Amtrak's westbound Cardinal is on the last lap to the top of the mountain at East Alleghany, VA. This train had Superliner... (more)

On the former C&O main line across the Alleghanies, train 50 rolls out of Mud Tunnel on the east side of the mountain. The Cardinal was using Superliner equipment at the time, but by 2002, the tra... (more)

A pair of CSX ACs hustles an empty hopper train back to Kentucky. Here, the two GEs and consist roll into Dryden, VA after regaining home rails at Big Stone Gap, some 15 miles back. A light snow f... (more)

At first glance, this Fordyce & Princeton unit from the Arkansas short line looks out of place switching the huge Eastman Chemical complex in Kingsport--until you know the F&D is a Genesee & Wyomi... (more)

A southbound coal train is ready to roll from Erwin on a nice fall day in 2006. The unit on the right---AC44 number 343---is the Erwin-Poplar pusher, which is just returning after shoving an earli... (more)

The Fourth Mine Run on the Interstate Railroad is using a pair of "bald face" engines today (F-units, in the terminology of the crews who used them here). Southern F7A 4262 and F3A 4172 cut off th... (more)

A northbound CSX mty hopper train follows the former Clinchfield main line through rural Green Mountain, NC, and along the Toe River.

A morning CSX unit coal train from Loyall, KY to Erwin, TN has just gained NS trackage rights on a colorful fall morning in 2006. Two more AC units are shoving on the rear of this 90-car train.

Normally F7 units handled virtually every road train on the Southern out of Appalachia in the '60s. A rare visitor---an F3A--has somehow made it there on a December afternoon in 1964. The veteran ... (more)

A big event, of sorts, was this 1965 NRHS special at my then-home town of Appalachia. The train was operated by the Old Smoky Chapter and made a round trip there from Knoxville. Even then, an FP7 ... (more)