Despite warm temperatures, spring has not yet made itself evident in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina. For now, westbound manifest #135 rolls through the bare forests as it reach... (more)

CSX manifest Q540 rolls north along the Clear Fork River. The L&N's route through the Cumberland Mountains is shared with this river and highway 25W, collectively making use of all the space avail... (more)

As the sun sets on this section of the former-L&N, southbound manifest Q539 roars up Crooked Hill. The helpers from East Bernstadt are now shoving on the rear, enabling the train to slowly work it... (more)

The helpers from East Bernstadt are shoving hard on the rear of southbound manifest S539 as it assaults the intense curvature and grade that give Crooked Hill its name.

S539 starts to crawl up Crooked Hill with the helpers from East Bernstadt shoving on the rear.

A northbound empty grain train rolls along the Clear Fork River as it nears the end of the mountainous terrain traversed by this section of the former L&N. A few miles north of this location is th... (more)

After being stopped by a defect detector north of Saxton, KY, southbound manifest Q539 is flying upgrade to clear the way for a parade of 3 trains backed up in the gorge. Despite having a train in... (more)

Southbound manifest Q539 tops the Duff Mountain grade as winter storm Jonas continues to dump snow across northern Tennessee. The storm practically shut down the KD Sub with signal failures and tr... (more)

Northbound manifest L542 crawls downgrade through a snow squall in northern Tennessee, passing the former coaling tower at Chaska. The coaling tower is a relic from the days of a steam helper base... (more)

The Pennsylvania heritage unit shoves an eastbound coal train through the tunnel at Elkhorn. While these signals still stand, the mast for the new Safetrans signals is standing behind me here.

A southbound loaded coal train rolls downgrade over the trestle at Ivydell on a frigid January morning. Coal is no longer king on the former L&N, and only a handful of loaded trains run south from... (more)

Southern Appalachia Railway Museum's recently acquired ex-SCL SD45 (2024) is on the head of a freight train bound for Blair and interchange with Norfolk Southern.

Southern Appalachia Railway Museum's recently acquired ex-SCL SD45 (2024) is on the head of a freight train bound for Blair and interchange with Norfolk Southern.

A southbound coal train on the CSX CV Subdivision is rolling past the old Baptist church in Ocoonita, bound for Big Stone Gap with a final destination of Kingsport, TN.

A southbound coal train on the CSX CV Subdivision is rolling upgrade on the middle track of the Hagans Switchback. With the pushers leading the way upgrade, the head end will clear the switch and ... (more)