No. 2 we first saw a westbound three- unit helper set of all black NS diesels; a loaded eastbound coal train soon fol- lowed with those three units pushing on the rear. In less than an hour, another three westbound trains would go by. The next train was a nice catch — an eastbound with the Nickel Plate heri- tage unit pushing on the rear. Our eve- ning finished up with a three-way meet at the crossovers on the opposite side of the tunnel as the dispatcher threaded a helper set with the Lehigh Valley unit between a westbound coal train and a westbound intermodal. The next day was also fairly slow
traffic-wise, as a lone westbound dou- ble-stack train appeared along with a helper move and a light engine move. We didn’t see our first coal train until almost 1:00 p.m. The helper set with the Nickel Plate unit moved west, but did not get a pusher assignment in daylight; the set with the Lehigh Valley unit stayed in Bluefield all day. One more coal train would appear before darkness fell and we moved on. Gone is the constant parade of coal trains on the Pokey. The sad thing is it will only get worse. I’ll be back, though. There’s something hauntingly beautiful about this part of West Virginia.
ABOVE: NS’s Lehigh Valley ES44AC No. 8104 waits under the steam-era coaling tower in Bluefi eld as the sun sets on November 23. With coal traffi c down, the helper set was not needed all day and never left the yard. RIGHT: An eastbound loaded coal train passes the abandoned Presbyterian church in downtown Keystone on November 22. The splash of color on the second unit is the Reading heritage unit. Color position light (CPL) signals can be seen here, but are becoming increasingly rare on this part of the former Norfolk & Western as modern signals are placed in preparation for Positive Train Control.
70 JANUARY 2016 •
RAILFAN.COM
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