Norfolk & Southern

Trestle Into Pounding Mill Tunnel

Bob Lawrence1 Comment

This is the trestle leading into the Pounding Mill Tunnel #1 in Tazewell VA (at 37.07660, -81.71674). Norfolk and Western (after 1980 Norfolk and Southern) ran this line through to the coal fields between 1887 and 1890. One abutment dates to 1930 and the other to 1941, so a bit of work has been done on this trestle. I originally posted Pounding Mill Tunnel #1 on October 1, 2012, which was a view from the opposite side, complete with signage.

Conrail

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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.

Greer tunnel

Bob Lawrence2 Comments

This is the last tunnel on what is now the mostly abandoned N&S line coming from Knoxville to Cumberland Gap.  This is Greer tunnel, close to a feature called “Greer Lake”  (not seeing a Greer Lake, folks) and New Tazewell.  This portal, the northwest, is at 36.423103, -83.591183.  The tunnel, soggy and drippy, seems to be about 350′ long.   The history of this railroad and the changes in its trackage provide interesting reading.
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