NS 8910 and two sisters sit idling in snow showers as workers attempt to fix a derailment. Hopper doors came open and spilled the load, then derailed when pulled forward.

With the rear coal hoppers still coming out of the Cumberland Mountains at Big Creek Gap, the front power passes the old Lafollette station, now used for track and MOW crews.

Leaning into the curve at the remote village of Mohegan, pusher set J51 heads east to Farm to assist a coal drag up the Elkhorn Grade. This bridge will also undergo changes due to the Heartland Co... (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.

With frontend loaders preparing to fill the first cut of 55 cars, NS 77G glides downhill to the scalehouse first to weigh the mtys.

A mixed freight lumbers east out of the seldom seen east portal of Coopers Tunnel on the Pokey. The icicles tell a story of bitterly cold temps and heavy snow over the last few days that had the r... (more)

Complete with NS brakestick and American flag, coal drag 81W bursts out of Glen Alum tunnel and runs along the slide fence.

Riding the rails. An RJ Corman crewmember serving as brakeman backs the rear of a 76 car unit train under the loadout. The rail is being extended to hold 108 cars in the near future.

An old high hood still putting coal trains together in Eckman Yard after all these years. Better get them while you can.

From green to red under the new signals, a grain train is shown weaving from Main 1 to Main 2 due to work just east at Panther. The rugged Tug Fork river is just to the right.

The bay window has been altered into a bayless version on this Chessie System caboose, still wearing it's B&O lineage.

Tied down in a snowstorm, loaner BNSF motors hold back a unit train already loaded and headed down to Weller Yard.

Typical of the Pokey, grain train 52V pops out of beautifully named Laurel Tunnel and immediately crosses a bridge.

Crawling out of the swag below the Duff Mountain grade, an engineer who's apparently extremely glad to see me works toward Lafollette and the end of the Cumberland Mountains.

A closeup of the Heartland Corridor project work. Both sides of the tunnel have been notched in anticipation of doublestacks once the project is completed. Note the test bores ringing the portal f... (more)