NS Elkhorn, WV
The Pocahontas Division mainline of the Norfolk and Western was built west from the original mainline to Bristol, Tennessee to access the high quality bituminous coal discovered in southern West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky. Once reaching a summit of the Flattop Mountain west of Bluefield, the route west chosen to access coal reserves follows the descending path of Elkhorn Creek and the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River and eventually reaches the Ohio River. What was first justified by coal later became utilized as a route over the Alleghenies to the Midwest. N&W would eventually build to western terminals at Columbus and Cincinnati. Movement of coal dominated this route for the first 80 years of its operation. With the expansion of the N&W and later Norfolk Southern, the Pocahontas Division has also become one part of longer routes between distant endpoints for merchandise and intermodal traffic.
NS train 171 uses the Pocahontas Division mainline as part of its route from the former Pennsylvania Railroad classification yard at Conway, west of Pittsburgh, to the former Southern Railway classification yard at Chattanooga, Tennessee. Train M71 (an extra section of daily merchandise train 171) received a manned rear-end helper at Farm and climbs the ruling grade at Elkhorn, West Virginia on an early November afternoon.
NS Elkhorn, WV
The Pocahontas Division mainline of the Norfolk and Western was built west from the original mainline to Bristol, Tennessee to access the high quality bituminous coal discovered in southern West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky. Once reaching a summit of the Flattop Mountain west of Bluefield, the route west chosen to access coal reserves follows the descending path of Elkhorn Creek and the Tug Fork of the Big Sandy River and eventually reaches the Ohio River. What was first justified by coal later became utilized as a route over the Alleghenies to the Midwest. N&W would eventually build to western terminals at Columbus and Cincinnati. Movement of coal dominated this route for the first 80 years of its operation. With the expansion of the N&W and later Norfolk Southern, the Pocahontas Division has also become one part of longer routes between distant endpoints for merchandise and intermodal traffic.
NS train 171 uses the Pocahontas Division mainline as part of its route from the former Pennsylvania Railroad classification yard at Conway, west of Pittsburgh, to the former Southern Railway classification yard at Chattanooga, Tennessee. Train M71 (an extra section of daily merchandise train 171) received a manned rear-end helper at Farm and climbs the ruling grade at Elkhorn, West Virginia on an early November afternoon.