ABOVE: In October 1980, Clinchfield Country author Steve King, David DeVault, and the photographer had the advantage of a release for a full day of photos on the north end of the railroad, including the yard at Dante, Va. Another shot is shown on the bottom of page 36. RON FLANARY PHOTO
him the sadness the rest of us feel. Thanks for everything, David. You have
more friends and respect for your knowledge and passion of the Clinchfield than you could have ever imagined. We’re all richer for that reason. — RON FLANARY
Thanks and Reflections We were pretty fortunate to have three
great feature stories come together at the right time to tell the story of Appalachian coal and how it is transported by rail. The industry and its trackside observers are both shook up over the rapid changes taking place up and down the line. Thanks to Mike Biehn, Eric Miller, Ron Flanary, and Samuel Philips for sharing their stories with us. I’d like to think my friend Pat Yough for providing the introduction for our special issue. A native of western Pennsylvania, Pat’s professional background and personal interest helped summarize the current situation and explain to the rest of us where Appalachian coal traffic comes from and where it’s headed next. I’d also like to thank Ron Stafford who provided valuable historic information and context regarding coal loading sites on the Virginian Princeton-Deepwater District. My own brush with Appalachian coal
country was brief. I visited Erwin, Tenn., during the Thanksving holiday in 2002 (my girlfriend at the time grew up in Johnson City, and we were visiting her family). The yard was quiet, with a lone engine rolling through the vast yard headed for the diesel house. Though there wasn’t much activity that day, I could tell Important Things Happened Here. I was excited to find CSX bridges still painted CLINCHFIELD throughout our drive. My usual interaction with coal was at its destination. I would occasionally see loaded coal trains headed down Conrail’s West Shore to coal-fired power plants along the lower Hudson River in New York State, not really giving a second thought to where it came from. I remember when I came up to Rochester, N.Y., for school in 1995, and paid
my first visit to Conrail’s Goodman Street Yard. I was surprised to find three or four yard tracks were stuffed full of loaded coal hoppers. I quickly learned that Kodak Park and two Rochester Gas & Electric plants were steady customers. The steam generating plant downtown closed in 1996, and the power generating station up on the lake was shut down in 2007, leaving Kodak’s own power plant as the lone customer for coal. As you may have heard, Kodak has been going through its own troubles of late... If you’ve been in this hobby long enough, you
learn pretty quickly that the only constant is change. The end of 2015 saw dramatic shifts in eastern coal movements. What will 2016 bring? We will soon know. —O.M.V.
The Clinchfield Then and Now When I was first starting out as a railfan
and reading every available magazine and book, it didn’t take long to become fascinated by two railroads that I knew I would just have to visit someday, one in the east and one in the west. I guess I wasn’t much different than most other railfans when I developed a long- distance love for both the Denver & Rio Grande Western and the Clinchfield. I would get my first look at both railroads in 1982, first at the NRHS convention that year in Denver. Then, over Labor Day weekend, along with Frank Garon and my brother Bruce, I headed south to explore Appalachia. By this time the classic coal roads, the Clinchfield and the Louisville & Nashville, were uniting under the Family Lines banner, but each railroad still retained some of its individual identity. Our first real encounter with the Clinchfield
came at Speers Ferry, Va. Frank was driving my 1975 Ford Granada and we marveled at Copper Creek Viaduct as we drove by. “Sure would be nice to catch a train on that bridge,” mused Frank. About two minutes later I said, “Frank, don’t panic. Just turn the car around. There’s a train heading for the bridge.” I don’t recall if we used a legitimate turnaround point on four-lane U.S. 23 or if Frank just bounced the car over the median,
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