Midnight on the Big Stony Railway
The Potts Valley Branch has always struck me as a short but fascinating branch line. All 4.5 Miles of it consists of sharp curves, rural farmland, tree tunnels, and for the majority of it, running alongside the tiny but picturesque Stony Creek, known throughout Giles County for its Trout Fishing.
All of these features that shape the Line make it seem like the ideal place for anyone seeking action on an authentic Appalachian branch line, but it comes with one sharp disadvantage- it hosts no Daylights. It hasn't for over five years. I would get lucky in August 2025 with a daylight move via train V34, but here in July of 2023, there seemed like no hope for such a move.
Here at Kerns on a Chilly summer evening, Radford's V33 rolls up to the Mainline Derail at Lhoist/Chemical Lime with a Handful of empty lime hoppers. At the time of this photo, Lhoist operated two Limestone Mines on the Branch, but now just this one (known to Radford Trainmen as the Upper Plant) keeps the old Big Stony Railway relevant to the infinitely larger Norfolk Southern Corporation.
Midnight on the Big Stony Railway
The Potts Valley Branch has always struck me as a short but fascinating branch line. All 4.5 Miles of it consists of sharp curves, rural farmland, tree tunnels, and for the majority of it, running alongside the tiny but picturesque Stony Creek, known throughout Giles County for its Trout Fishing.
All of these features that shape the Line make it seem like the ideal place for anyone seeking action on an authentic Appalachian branch line, but it comes with one sharp disadvantage- it hosts no Daylights. It hasn't for over five years. I would get lucky in August 2025 with a daylight move via train V34, but here in July of 2023, there seemed like no hope for such a move.
Here at Kerns on a Chilly summer evening, Radford's V33 rolls up to the Mainline Derail at Lhoist/Chemical Lime with a Handful of empty lime hoppers. At the time of this photo, Lhoist operated two Limestone Mines on the Branch, but now just this one (known to Radford Trainmen as the Upper Plant) keeps the old Big Stony Railway relevant to the infinitely larger Norfolk Southern Corporation.