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Train tunnels, tracks, and miscellaneous stuff
A general catalog of pictures of tunnels and train-related items in Southwest Virginia, Kentucky and East Tennessee. The main focus is on the original Clinchfield line from Elkhorn City KY to the Tennessee/North Carolina state line, but we’ve got our eyes on that remarkable 6-tunnel looped line near Little Switzerland NC.
Patches (not the one by Clarence Carter)
Each of these is a little over 3″ wide. I found them at the flea market in Weber City VA.
Presentation Piece
Neat little 5.75″ x 2″ presentation piece made by Varney Scale Models, Miami Florida. This dates to pre-1970.
Operation Lifesaver
In 2014, CSX 900020 was in and around Seneca IL. In 2016, it showed up here in Kingsport. It’s been in Kingsport yard and out by Eastman since then, but it’s in pretty bad shape now. Operation Live Saver was up and running in the early 2000s for this CSX area (that’s where I got this pin). Operation Red Block was something entirely different.
N&S Belt Buckle
Norfolk Southern belt buckle unearthed at a local antique store by my buddy. It’s 3.75″ long and 2.5″ wide. Made by Hoover’s Mfg. Co. of Peru IL. The buckle has been treated fairly badly; scratched up.
Dante Yard
Bristol VA Yard
This is the yard looking NNE from the Mary Street bridge (36.6001, -82.1760) in Bristol VA. That’s an active locomotive on the left.
This is looking SSW.
Wes Davis Greenway
I’ve gone by this many times. I always thought “I’ll get a picture of that next time I go by.”
So, I did. A passenger car (the Bristol) and a Southern caboose on the Wes Davis Greenway in Bristol TN.
Doe River Ice
Some of the ice we ran into hiking up the Doe River Gorge in 2011. It was also raining…and cold.
Appalachia VA
Yuma Yard – Smith
This is Norfolk Southern’s Yuma yard looking east (top photo) with the Smith signal unit to the left. Bottom photo is looking west. This yard, 3 miles west of Frisco yard, is mostly used for storage now. It is .86 mile long with seven tracks. Thanks to the CSX Transportation Historical Society website for information on this yard.
Coming Through 2!
This is on Hwy 606 just below Lower Exeter VA…N&S stallion locomotives coming slowly up the grade
#3 Towers
Towers Tunnel is at 37.257, -82.327. The date on the facing is 1926, but that only notes when the tunnel was reinforced and faced with concrete. The actual tunnel is older than that by maybe 10 years or so. This tunnel is 921’in length and cuts through a ridge between two geological features in the park “The Chimney” and “The Towers”. You can’t see the end because it curves to the right.
The ORT
Conrail
From 1986, this 2″ pinback recognizes a campaign to keep Conrail alive, after a takeover attempt by Norfolk-Western. In 1987, Conrail was released by the government to become a private enterprise. As of the late 1990’s, both CSX and Norfolk-Southern share ownership of Conrail.
Clinchfield Fob
I don’t really know how to date this little key fob. It’s made of that plastic material that feels like a gummy bear would. Disclaimer: I enhanced the gold lines a bit. They’ve faded badly.
Reader Railroad
I found two post cards of the Reader Railroad recently. Here’s a link: Reader Railroad
It’s really annoying. I thought I had a handle on the dating of these cards, but, when I told a colleague about it, I realized that I had been totally wrong. The cards were printed by Koppel Kolor (or Color) Cards in Hawthorne, New Jersey. The company’s main building appears to have burned down in the mid 80s.
Update on the dating for these cards: mid-1960s. See comment below courtesy of thedigitalphilatelist
Pullman Diplomat
The Audio-Visual Designs Company did a lot of railroad-related postcards in the latter half of the 20th century. Railroad-line.com states that the company was famous.
St. Joe Route
As of 8/24/19, this was parked on a siding near Memorial Park in Johnson City TN.
Copper Creek Viaduct
The lower bridge was built in the late 1890s by the Virginia & Southwest Virginia rail road (V&SW). That line was absorbed into the Southern Rail Road in 1916, just a year after this card was mailed.
The upper one, the Copper Creek Viaduct (a word the Marx Brothers had fun with in The Cocoanuts) was built by the C.C. & O in 1908. The stated height now is 185′ , measuring from the river below.
You barely read the writing down the length of the viaduct, but I believe it says “crossed this just today” or something to that effect.
The post card itself appears to have been printed in Germany before WWI.
“The Clinchfield Route”
This is looking south at approx. 36.0720N, 82.3987W.
The card was printed by Curt Teich in Chicago. It’s one of the “C” series of post cards issued between 1905 and 1926. The Curt Teich records for this period are scanty and this number isn’t listed anywhere that I can find. Nicely printed, though, and hand colored at the factory before the separations were shot for the print run.
ET&WNC in the Gorge
Following the track of the old ET & WNC Rail Road through Doe River Gorge is a fine hike, except in winter. If there’s been some snow or freezing rain, getting across the derelict bridges can be dangerous.
This card was published by the American News Company of New York, but it was printed in Germany before the start of WWI.
I can’t read the place name on the postmark, and I’ve tried. All I can see if the final “…ONE”.
I hope Dolly got home okay, though.
Coal Mine (somewhere)
This is a Real Photo Post Card. The paper was made by Ansco of Binghamton NY. The trademark is CYKO. That trademark seems to have been discontinued in 1928, when Ansco merged with Agfa.
I acquired this card in East Tennessee from an individual who also didn’t know where it was, but was sold to me on the basis of the railroad stuff in the picture. I figured I could work out where it was. But I’ve had no luck. These places came and went fairly quickly in the early days of commercial coal mining.
CRR Patch
Actual size is 4″ x 2″. It’s not an iron-on. I found this at the 2019 Antique Bottle and Collectibles sale at the Appalachian Fairgrounds. I always find something at that sale.
Trip Pass
T. D. Moore, Jr. was General Manager from 1968 until, according to Goforth’s Building the Clinchfield, he was dismissed for fraud in 1979.
The pass is 5 x 3.25″ and is blank on the reverse.
GSI Hopper Tanks
A line of Washington County (VA) Co-op GSI hopper tanks in Abingdon.
Ballast Regulator, Old
This old ballast regulator, devoid of any nameplates or other information (except that its motor was made by Detroit Diesel), sits just east of the former Greenbrier (sic) Dock near Vansant in Buchanan County VA. The Greenbrier facility closed in 2006. I have been unsuccessful in finding out when it was constructed. In early 2000’s, Greenbrier Dock was loading coal from the Lovers Gap mine, just a few miles away.
Rail Gang
Rail Gang MOW unit parked near Glade Spring in early November, 2018. Nobody home.
Snappy Caboose
West Jefferson NC. Built in 1970. Its history is here. It’s equipped with Barber Bettendorf trucks with leaf springs…for a smoother ride.
I don’t know what this gizmo is. A generator of some sort?
Fred Harvey Postcards, Pt. 2
On the back: San Francisco Chief En Route in California. Santa Fe’s San Francisco Chief parallels a picturesque route through the San Joaquin Valley of California
On the back: A Santa Fe Streamliner. With its streamlined powerful 6.000 H.P. Diesel-electric engine, a Santa Fe transcontinental train is an impressive sight as it climbs the ramparts of Cajon Pass in California.
Blogging the Railroad Tunnels 