RCF-SRPusherBigCutVA-4-1-85-
On April Fool's Day 1985, two Southern SD40-2s were almost over the top of the hill at "Big Cut"--a narrow slice through the ridge dividing the Little Moccasin Creek and Troublesome Creek watersheds in Scott County, Va. The duo is shoving an eastbound unit train destined for a powerplant in Georgia. The cut was excavated mostly by hand before the Civil War for the stillborn Virginia & Kentucky Railroad. It was later claimed as a right-of-way for another failed transportation enterprise, the "Triple C" (Charleston, Cincinnati & Chicago). Track belonging to the South Atlantic & Ohio was finally spiked into place around 1888--which successively morphed in the Virginia & Southwestern, Southern Railway, and Norfolk Southern. The name "Big Cut" suggests it should be more epic than it actually is, but by 1850 construction standards, it was obviously a major accomplishment of earth moving.
RCF-SRPusherBigCutVA-4-1-85-
On April Fool's Day 1985, two Southern SD40-2s were almost over the top of the hill at "Big Cut"--a narrow slice through the ridge dividing the Little Moccasin Creek and Troublesome Creek watersheds in Scott County, Va. The duo is shoving an eastbound unit train destined for a powerplant in Georgia. The cut was excavated mostly by hand before the Civil War for the stillborn Virginia & Kentucky Railroad. It was later claimed as a right-of-way for another failed transportation enterprise, the "Triple C" (Charleston, Cincinnati & Chicago). Track belonging to the South Atlantic & Ohio was finally spiked into place around 1888--which successively morphed in the Virginia & Southwestern, Southern Railway, and Norfolk Southern. The name "Big Cut" suggests it should be more epic than it actually is, but by 1850 construction standards, it was obviously a major accomplishment of earth moving.