Tied down in a snowstorm, loaner BNSF motors hold back a unit train already loaded and headed down to Weller Yard.
Not having seen action in a decade and with rail made in 1923, a switch stands sentinel on the abandoned and remote Dismal Branch below Jewell Ridge. The switch controlled what once was the Seng C... (more)
A set of pushers heads back to Weller Yard and will be entering Riatt Tunnel on the Buchanan Branch in a few yards. This branch has one of the steepest grades on the Pokey.
A plethora of spikes cover the ground trackside at Hagans Switchback, the only mainline switchback in the continental U.S.
Working on an ancient, antique Whiting Trackmobile that's probably older than the broken Ford truck across the tracks. The site used to be home to Cumberland Collieries and is now Mountain Energy ... (more)
Judging from the looks of the brakewheel, leathered hands have set the brake on this caboose thousands of times. Almost forgotten, they still are in service on the many branches around St. Charles... (more)
Crawling under the hood, a worker labors to keep an old Whiting trackmobile operational.
A well worn brake wheel, after a few decades of use.
Still in use, primarily on the plethora of coal branchlines in the area.
End of the line. Not often you find new trackage on a mainline built within the last year. The south tail track of Hagans Switchback has been extended to allow for no doubling of the trains as in ... (more)
A worktrain consisting of a freshly painted GP40-2 and a Jordan spreader prepare to head north, leaving the great state of VA and entering KY on the other side of the tunnel at Hagans Switchback.
With the old Consol VP #8 prep plant looming in the background, an old workhorse rusts under the coal loadout. This Consol met coal operation was closed down several years ago and is currently bei... (more)
An old Alco with the cab removed and a "phonebooth" added to the front for an operator, deep within the coalfields of Virginia.
Riding a loaded Top Gon down the rails, hoping the brake works. Coal is still loaded in Appalachia the same way it was in the 40's in places, using gravity and light braking to roll the mty under ... (more)
On a sweltering summer day with humidty so thick you could cut it, coal is loaded the oldfashioned way at Mountain Energy Resources. The Model 4200 Trackmobile is shuffling mtys one at a time unde... (more)
Nothing says coal country like cabooses and Top Gons.
With a herd of six horses, doublestack freight NS 233 rushes west thru Flat Top. As the sign attests, the move will be in the great state of West Virginia in seconds on this bitterly cold and snow... (more)
Push/Pull. It's all in the details on an ancient battle scarred Top Gon.
With the smell of fresh paint seemingly in the air, one of the Norfolk Southern heritage cabs waits for duty in Alfrdon Yard. In my opinion the cab will look alot better after a few revenue runs u... (more)
With fresh prepped coal piled in the background, a Trackmobile sits on a storage track between shifts. The track is barely capable of supporting the machine with the decrepit ties and rail in plac... (more)
Occupied Camp Car...a holdover from the old days and the only RR still using them, NS still has a collection of camp cars that track gangs still call home at various times of the year. This string... (more)
Working the switch at Hagans Switchback, U016.18 prepares to put the two pieces back together before heading north under Cumberland Mountain and into Harlan County, KY. The brakeman had to follow ... (more)
Ever wonder how a coal hopper gets filled with 100-110 tons of black diamonds?
The rear motor on a five engine set is a surprise. One never knows what they'll use for power on the Q542, though the switcher is probably being shuffled from Knoxville to Corbin yard.
MP 246.6 along the Rathole.
A mixed freight crosses Hickory Creek enroute to Corbin Yard after being held up for hours by three southbounds.
With an original blue-gray 7588 unit three back, a faded Dash 8 backs the second cut of mtys up toward the coal loadout on Straight Creek.
A light engine move, two motors, rumbles out of the Hickory Creek tunnel and onward to Chaska.
Dwarfed by the walls of the Hickory Creek gorge, a loaded coal drag makes its way to daylight and across the creek. With the grade already slowing momentum, this one will need a helper across Duff... (more)
Bursting out into the last light of day, Q539 snakes thru the many rock cuts in the Hickory Creek gorge. Rockslide detector fences line the cuts to warn of slides throughout the area.
