Directions on the Tug Fork Branch

[NW Mailing List]

Relative to the Buchanan Branch..........

I've had the pleasure of spending a lot of time railfanning on the Buchanan Branch over the last couple of years with my friend Chase Freeman from Grundy.  In learning about the history and operations of/on the Buchanan Branch I came to realize that originally, as is the standard practice Ed mentions in his note on the other branches, eastbound was moving toward the junction with the mainline....... in the Buchanan Branch's case this was from Grundy to the mainline at Devon.  Westbound was going away from mainline at Devon toward Grundy.

Following the completion of Blair Tunnel and the Wyatt Cutoff in the late 1960's (the Cutoff connected the Buchanan Branch by way of Dismal and Grundy directly with the Clinch Valley line at Richlands) the overall eastbound and westbound directions on the Branch were reversed. (per N&W Pocahontas Division ETT's prior to and after the Wyatt Cutoff was put into service). With the Cutoff in service eastbound coal/coke off the Buchanan Branch moved over the shorter route through Richlands and Bluefield while westbound coal/coke moved to the junction with the mainline at Devon and from there to Williamson.  Today due to operational challenges due created by the severe eastbound grade on the Wyatt Cutoff virtually all loaded coal and coke trains from the Buchanan Branch move through Devon (eastbound and westbound).  

Ed Painter born in Bluefield - from Narrows, VA - living in Dahlonega, GA  	


On Sep 23, 2014, at 1:52 PM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:

> David –
>  
> With few exceptions (notably the Buchanan Branch) the coal field branch lines were set up that trains moving away from the main line were westbound, and those moving toward the main line were eastward, regardless of compass direction. 
>  
> The mighty Southern Pacific decreed that all trains moving toward San Francisco were westbound, and away from Frisco eastbound. even if the trains were moving between Portland, Oregon or Los Angeles toward Frisco.
>  
> Ed King
>  
>  
>  
>  
> From: NW Mailing List
> Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2014 12:47 PM
> To: NW Mailing List
> Subject: Directions on the Tug Fork Branch
>  
> Why do Employee Timetables list the direction from Welch/Tug Tower to Gary and beyond as Westward and the direction from Filbert through Gary to Welch as Eastward? The compass direction on a map clearly is in a Southeast direction.
>  
> David W. Luttrell
> 
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