CSX/NF&G - Clearco, WV
Rail Fan Adventure --
On Saturday morning 3-29-14 Bob Jackson, Ron Piskor and I departed the C&O Modeler's get-together at Hawks Nest State Park on a tip that CSX would be running to the new South Fork Coal Co. operation at Clearco.
The coal company rehabilitated the Rupert Subdivision (f.k.a. the Big Clear Creek Subdivision) from Anjean to their new mine at Clearco.
We talked to the H800-29 crew at Rainelle, and they confirmed that the train had loaded during the night, and a new crew would soon bring it down. After getting a quick lunch at DQ we headed to Clearco. In fact we caught up with the taxi.
The batch-loader is near a county road crossing, so you don’t have to encounter a guard gate. The weather was cool and threatening rain. I jumped out of the truck not wishing to miss any of the moves. Unfortunately I didn’t don any rain gear.
1. Part of H801-29s 75 car train was parked under the batch-loader.
2. The 2-man crew fire up the GEs.
3. The 2-man crew move the GEs.
4. It is really starting to rain now! That’s a scratch on the slide.
5. It is really starting to rain now. View 2.
6. After putting their 75-car train together, turning up retainers and knocking off brakes, CSX 651-3114 ease downgrade past MP 10 at Duo.
7. H801-29 rattles and bangs across the crossing at MP 7.1 above Anjean before a crowd of railfan photographers. I think Bob and Ron got down on the creek bank.
H801 stopped at Gumm to turn down the retaining valves. We couldn’t improve on previous photos, so we headed back to Hawks Nest through the lousy weather.
Train images used by permission of Everett N Young
last update - 02 Nov 2014