Mines
Potts Creek Local
23/03/10 15:05
In October of 1983, Norfolk & Western Geeps were hauling a local up the Potts Creek Branch in Giles County, Virginia. The train served several large gypsum mining operations.
The mines were at Kimballton and Kernes. Gypsum was crushed and dehydrated in large mills.
The mills received carloads of coal, and shipped covered hoppers of gypsum.
The local would stop with the caboose immediately adjacent to the entrance of a mill. The conductor would go to the mill office to set up his drops and pickups.
Taking advantage of the steep grade on the branch, cars were rolled by gravity into position to be loaded.
Workers rode the cuts of cars, using the brake wheel to keep their speed under control.
The mines were at Kimballton and Kernes. Gypsum was crushed and dehydrated in large mills.
The mills received carloads of coal, and shipped covered hoppers of gypsum.
The local would stop with the caboose immediately adjacent to the entrance of a mill. The conductor would go to the mill office to set up his drops and pickups.
Taking advantage of the steep grade on the branch, cars were rolled by gravity into position to be loaded.
Workers rode the cuts of cars, using the brake wheel to keep their speed under control.
Good Pulls at Pickens
13/12/09 13:49
Pickens, West Virginia is one of the most remote places I have ever been.
I arrived at Pickens by driving east from Webster Springs to Monterville, then north to the Kumbrabow State Forest, then west down a twisting, narrow dirt road in a caravan of coal trucks to Pickens.
Pickens marks the end of a long, isolated branch of the old B&O Railroad. Once a lumber town, at the time of my visit Pickens was an on-again, off-again source of coal traffic. On that particular October day in 1985, they were indeed loading coal.
The trucks that had made the drive through Kombrabow Forest a little more interesting than I cared for were headed to this small transloading facility on the edge of town.
I talked to the train crew when they stopped for beans at Alexander. The conductor was happy to be getting “good pulls out of Pickens”, which I took to mean that 20 or so loads out of this far corner of Randolph County was as much as anyone could hope for.
I arrived at Pickens by driving east from Webster Springs to Monterville, then north to the Kumbrabow State Forest, then west down a twisting, narrow dirt road in a caravan of coal trucks to Pickens.
Pickens marks the end of a long, isolated branch of the old B&O Railroad. Once a lumber town, at the time of my visit Pickens was an on-again, off-again source of coal traffic. On that particular October day in 1985, they were indeed loading coal.
The trucks that had made the drive through Kombrabow Forest a little more interesting than I cared for were headed to this small transloading facility on the edge of town.
I talked to the train crew when they stopped for beans at Alexander. The conductor was happy to be getting “good pulls out of Pickens”, which I took to mean that 20 or so loads out of this far corner of Randolph County was as much as anyone could hope for.
LeMoyne Mine
19/12/08 13:49
In October 2002, Steve Robbins, Tom Sullivan, and I were headed north on Route 16 down Middle Creek when we came across what was left of LeMoyne Mine
Deep in Clay County near Hartland, the B&O once served this loader on a short branchline up from the Elk River.
This car puller was up the creek from the loader, and was used to move coal cars for loading.
At least some of the coal processed here arrived by truck. A light bridge crossed Middle Creek to a tipple for holding coal.
A conveyor belt moved the coal from the truck dump to the coal plant for loading into railroad cars.