A Blue Diamond a' Dozen
R236-29 is found up the holler at Leatherwood early on a cold December morning just a few days shy of the new year. We had followed this train across the E&BV from Martin a few days prior and opted to revisit the consist at itsit'sloading point with the persuasion of the ever-rare YN2 leader. The branch was constructed amidst World War II in 1944 to serve Blue Diamond's massive complex at the head of Leatherwood, followed by the Blair Fork expansion to serve the Jewel Ridge tipple in 1949. Upon further development by Blue Diamond in the 60's, they basically operated their own shortline, operating BDM crews to operate 4 Alco's that would shuttle coal from the Blair Fork spur back up to Leatherwood for dumping and processing, where it would then be reloaded and brought back here to Slemp where the L&N would retrieve the loads and shuttle them down to Dent. Blue Diamond attempted to persuade the L&N to tie the EK and CV together via an extension from Delphia to Chad Yard near Cumberland for the sole purpose of shuttling their coal to their new facilities at Scotia, however the daunting task of tunneling under Pine Mountain forced them to follow through with another new facility. This complex opened in 1990, replacing the original Leatherwood complex on up the branch, sentencing the remainder of the Leatherwood branch, as well as the Blair Fork spur to a rusty and tattered death after a little more than 40 years of service. The history of the area was raging in my mind Is observed the loaded coal cars creep by in front of me, a simple thought to folks like me who were never around to see it.
A Blue Diamond a' Dozen
R236-29 is found up the holler at Leatherwood early on a cold December morning just a few days shy of the new year. We had followed this train across the E&BV from Martin a few days prior and opted to revisit the consist at itsit'sloading point with the persuasion of the ever-rare YN2 leader. The branch was constructed amidst World War II in 1944 to serve Blue Diamond's massive complex at the head of Leatherwood, followed by the Blair Fork expansion to serve the Jewel Ridge tipple in 1949. Upon further development by Blue Diamond in the 60's, they basically operated their own shortline, operating BDM crews to operate 4 Alco's that would shuttle coal from the Blair Fork spur back up to Leatherwood for dumping and processing, where it would then be reloaded and brought back here to Slemp where the L&N would retrieve the loads and shuttle them down to Dent. Blue Diamond attempted to persuade the L&N to tie the EK and CV together via an extension from Delphia to Chad Yard near Cumberland for the sole purpose of shuttling their coal to their new facilities at Scotia, however the daunting task of tunneling under Pine Mountain forced them to follow through with another new facility. This complex opened in 1990, replacing the original Leatherwood complex on up the branch, sentencing the remainder of the Leatherwood branch, as well as the Blair Fork spur to a rusty and tattered death after a little more than 40 years of service. The history of the area was raging in my mind Is observed the loaded coal cars creep by in front of me, a simple thought to folks like me who were never around to see it.