A busy coal yard on the Pokey, NS 750 puts a coal drag together before heading east toward the Elkhorn Grade. Traffic has picked up at Auville with new mines opening further south on the branches ... (more)
With a friendly wave from the crew, coal drag 82M with three pushers on the rear head up the grade to Bandy summit. Just around the corner are War and Yukon, both oddly named towns in the coalfiel... (more)
The morning sun has just hit the Dry Fork valley as 132 pound rail manufactured at the Lackawanna mill rusts away. Leading to the Amonate Consol prep plant, the rail will soon see a minerun.
NS 6598 and a primered unit heading east between Williamson and Matewan, WV, pulling a very long drag of coal mtys.
NS 9200 makes a backward move from Glen Alum Tunnel to the Gilbert Branch at Wharncliffe, preparing to load at Bens Creek. Towering bluffs, rock detector fences, and old style signals are the scen... (more)
NS 857 sits idling with a load of mtys awaiting signal work to finish just around the corner at Nolan. The Fall colors are beyond peak on the rocky, steep, WV hills.
At dusk, a NS autorack roars by War Eagle and the slide fences at 7:04 PM on a chilly evening on the Pocahontas.
Pusher set SJ50 drifts west after pushing a coal drag over the Elkhorn Grade and thru the tunnel. The set will continue it's day picking up another at Farm and repeating the shove.
18M exits Hatfield Tunnel, heading east in a sea of Fall colors on this early Oct. morning. Moments before, the fog was so thick the tunnels were barely visible.
Coal drag coming from Deepwater passes thru the Mullens Tunnel, enroute to Elmore Yard and the Hill. The train barely made it to Surveyor, even with three on the front and three on the rear, and t... (more)
U85 pulling 21 cars after cutting in half just around the corner at Covel when the third engine back, the 2534, ran out of fuel on the Hill. The first cut is about to enter Garwood Tunnel, then ma... (more)
U85, a Hill Run, exits Micajah Tunnel on the old Virginian between Covel and Weyanoke on the way up to Clark Gap. Spring is just days away as the trees begin to bud on this very remote stretch of ... (more)
NS coal drag makes its way thru Elmore Yard and cabooses used for mineruns, as it heads down the Gilbert Branch. Track to the upper right heads toward Princeton and the Hill at Clark Gap.
SU92 struggles to Lester, almost having to stop at Surveyor and double over the hill to Mullens on the P-D moments earlier.
NS coal drag awaits a fresh crew at Lomax, below War WV as mtys return northbound on the Dry Fork. Spring is in the air on this busy day on the Dry with redbuds just beginning to show their color.
NS 83E westbound smokes out of the twin Huger Tunnels with a load of mtys.
U38 retrieves coal cars after setting off mtys at Brooks Run Mining in Newhall, WV. The Jacobs Fork is located in the scenic tip of McDowell County, on the WV/VA line. The brakeman has just knocke... (more)
NS U22 makes it's way thru Cucumber, WV picking up loaded coal cars along the way. Not far down the grade sits the junction with the Dry Fork Branch at Rift, WV.
U22 putting together a string of loaded coal cars between Cucumber and Newhall, WV on the Jacobs Fork of the Dry Fork. Swags and dips are the norm for branch rail conditions in the coalfields of A... (more)
In a scene quickly disappearing from the Pokey landscape and WV, a signal on the Dry Fork Branch stands sentinel a little over 32 miles from Iaeger and Auville Yard.
Spring is in the air at the old Beartown prep plant location on the Dry Fork as redbuds put out their color. MOW action is on the siding as the main to the left is cleared to run coal southward ou... (more)
97J rolls down the line toward the Pokey main and Panco Siding, where it'll do some ditch work with a track hoe. Not far behind is U07 coming off the Marrowbone Spur.
On a cold and rainy January day, mine run SU24 crawls out of Glen Alum tunnel with just one motor. Having just come off the Gilbert Branch, the loads will be set off at Beech Creek before heading ... (more)
Time for a crew change along a remote part of the Pokey known as Cedar. With mine run U57 passing and Fall colors showing on the KY side of the Tug, the engines are idled while crews unload their ... (more)
Tied down between English and Yukon, WV at Lomax, this battered ol' girl awaits a fresh crew before lumbering south on the Dry Fork of the Pokey.
Left Fork Processing engine does switching work on the Stone Coal Branch, parking loads which will be picked up by NS U93 the following day. Note the engine is down in a sump, a common track condi... (more)
Power heads back for the second cut after problems on the Hill above Elmore Yard. Tunnel #12 looms ahead after dropping cars off at Weyanoke on the other side of Clarks Gap. This area is extremely... (more)
Pusher set returns to Elmore after shoving a Hill Run over Clarks Gap on the old Virginian.
An ancient GP38AC prepares to leave the small yard on the Lenor Branch to do MOW ditchwork. This won't be the only work on the main as nothing was moving on the mainline for hours.
Westbound coal drag and mine shifter U24 passes the high rock bluffs at remote Alnwick along the Tug Fork river. For brave souls, this area abounds in natural beauty and coal drag after coal drag.
