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W094 breaks the adjusted silence as it passes through Clinchco in the late afternoon. Led by a pair od SD40-3's, the 50-car train of empty ballast gons are heading north from Erwin to retrieve more rock for the Clinchfield rebuild project on the Blue Ridge. The lack of through freight has left a wave of silence on this stretch of the former Clinchfield most days, only interrupted by the small selection of traffic that still ventures south from here. In a small sliver of sun, it was nice to see some classic-ish EMD's buzzing by.
Amidst our chase of W094, we dropped back by McVicker for a shot or two. While there, we noticed that there has been much more of the site torn out for scrap, including the belt structure that connected to the loadout. It is only a matter of time before the remainder falls with it.
R282 is awaiting a crew on the east end of Shelby to board and take its train of empties south to McClure. the following morning, another crew will bring more loads back from the last set of empties taken down the morning prior.
W094 this afternoon is led by a pair of SD40-3's and are seen rumbling through the yard at Elkhorn City. This yard was the former meeting grounds and interchange point between the Chesapeake & Ohio and the Clinchfield Railroad, with coal and freight being shuttled around here something rampant. The vast number of tipples in the yard as well only added to the action that could be found here back in the day, a hint of that suggested by the presence of Apex 2 in the distance. Over the years, the series of mergers and unition of the routes left Elkhorn a strict coal yard, and the absence of active tipples here leaves it for nothing more than storage for empty tubs in the background. Nonetheless, the historic silence is still broken from time to time by the whirr of a passing train venturing through the old meetin' grounds.
L200 rolls into Shelby, passing the power of R282 on the east end.
What truly tickled my fancy this afternoon was to stumble across a ballast gon still with L&N reporting marks. To add to the neat-ness, both SD40-3's on the head end are former L&N units. The "Ol' Reliable" is still reliable and is now helping to rebuild the Clinchfield.
A set of C&O era signals still stand on the west end of Shelby yard guarding the main. In the background, W094 sits with no crew, led by a pair of SD40-3s.
After venturing through the Cumberland Valley sub the week prior, the pair of SD40-3's had done their duty with the rock loaded from the old East Yard in Corbin and were now heading northbound, or west by railroad terms, back up the Clinchfield and Big Sandy towards Russell. As they whirred past us in Elkhorn City, it sure made me wish that more of these would make their way into the coalfields. We had the time of our life picking a spot for our catch, and after my failed idea of shooting off the bridge (too many power lines) it was too late to move the truck. Thus, we grabbed our equipment and jumped the guardrail, sliding down the bank and making our way across the tracks. Shew, the things we do for trains.
Fellow railfan Christian Lowe walks along an access road in Shelby yard alongside W094's train.
Emerging from the weathered portal of Perkins Tunnel, southbound CSX freight train M693 roars into the light of the autumn morning on October 25, 2022, near Clinchco, VA.
