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 frontend loader gets down as it loads a Top Gon. Not seen very often, this style of loading coal in Appalachia is very expensive due to fuel costs though is a necessity when there are no loadout... (more)

Watseka Farmers & Grain 7210, an ex-LTV Mining Alco, idles away beside the mammoth grain elevator at Pittwood, IL.

Pulling a gaggle of seven engines including an SD50, SD60M, Dash 8, MP15DC, and a B36-7, the hillhelper powers up in a rare move to pull Q540 north over Duff Mountain.

Let the loading begin. With 8,000 tons of coal above our heads, the first mpty is loaded from the control room at the Kopper Glo prep plant.

A bright and shiny NS 167 pops out of Tunnel 23 and crosses the Emory River, which enters the Obed to the left. The ventilation cuts are reminiscent of tunnels of the Great West.

An eastbound 194 pops out of Laurel Tunnel, showing the signs of the Heartland Corridor project around the arch. The tunnel will be notched and the ceiling raised as high as the marks shown.

Hand braking down the steep grade at Virginia Energys loadout, mty coal hoppers are rolled under the loadout in a scene reminiscent of the forties.

Loading coal the hard way with frontend loaders. The old loadout has fallen into disrepair behind the stockpile and beltlines.

Work train 97J has the brakeman set the switch as it idles out to the Pokey main to do ditch work, caboose and all. The Pokey was slow the first half of the day with work going on from one end to ... (more)

Grain train 52V heads east thru what once was the thriving town of Davy, now reduced to rubble and burned out buildings on mainstreet.

With a mixed freight lumbering by, NS crews mix and build an excursion train scheduled to go from Knoxville to Asheville, NC and back. Special thanks to F unit hobbyist Jacob Gwinn for directions ... (more)

Hammerhead. A closeup study of a helper units business end. Some crews run a rope from the cab door to the knuckle release, allowing them to release on the fly after shoving coal drags over.

Grain train G796 needs no help today with three motors for the Duff Mountain grade. Good thing as the helper crew has just turned their motor and the helper equipment isn't cooperating.

Mine run U22 runs long hood forward on a trip to the Keystone preparation plant. The massive coaling tower dwarfing the engine is a holdout from the old N&W steam days.