Clinch Valley Question

[NW Mailing List]

Abe,
 
Unfortunately, I can't turn up a diesel-era Pocahontas Division Timetable but I offer the following as information from Time Table No.13 dated  April 30, 1950:
 
Bluefield to Norton - Westward
 
      First Class - #5 - Passenger Daily
 
Norton to Bluefield - Eastward
 
     First Class - #6 - Passenger Daily
 
     Third Class -  #86  - Time Freight Daily
                            #88 - Time Freight Daily Except Sunday
                            #84 - Time Freight Daily
     
     Fourth Class - #96 - Local Freight - Mon., Wed., Fri. (Operated as far as Richlands)
 
Also . . . "All Clinch Valley scheduled trains originating at Coeburn and Norton get a clearance card.
                All freight trains get a clearance card at Coeburn, Finney, Richlands and Burks Garden during the hours these offices are open."
 
W.E. Honeycutt
 
 
 

> On 08/10/2024 12:06 PM EDT NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
>  
>  
>  
> Abe - Some time after 1955, N&W added Traffic Control from Bluefield, VA to Tazewell (about 19 miles).  This was "pusher territory" and dispatchers found many benefits in its application. (less train orders for one).  The territory Tazewell-Norton  remained single track with automatic block and some time in the 1980s, there was a two-train collision west of Tazewell.  I don't have a copy of the FRA (maybe it was still ICC)  report so can't give you the details.  I do remember that a member of N&WHS  was uh, invited to testify at the N&W investigation. . After that incident,, N&W  had reason to request  capital funds for extending Traffic Control all the way to Norton.  
> On Friday, August 9, 2024 at 11:19:01 AM EDT, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
>  
>  
> A follow-on question regarding that photo: Why would a work train be operated in sections?  I see all that MOW equipment right behind the locomotives with the green flags. Just curious.  
>  
> Brent
>  
> (No turnips were harmed in the production of this email.)
>  
> Sent via the Samsung Galaxy A13 5G,an AT&T 5G smartphone
> Get Outlook for Android https://aka.ms/AAb9ysg
> 
> ---------------------------------------------
> From: NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org> on behalf of NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
> Sent: Friday, August 9, 2024 10:21:11 AM
> To: N&W Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
> Cc: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
> Subject: Clinch Valley Question
>  
> Unfortunately, I never made it down the Clinch Valley Fast Line.
> 
> Here is a question, should anyone be happily dispensing (free) answers today:
> 
> 1. The Clinch Valley had Automatic Block Signals....
> 
> 2. BUT, was Rule 261 ("TCS," in the N&W's vocabulary) in effect ?
> 
> 3. Translation: Even with the presence of Automatic Block Signals to space out following train movements, and to prevent head-on collisions, was train movement still authorized by Time Table and Train Order ? (This was the situation on the Punkin Vine: ABS signaling, but the signals conveyed no authority to use the main track.)
> 
> What Raised This Question: There is a well-known photo taken at Pounding Mill, where two trains, both hauled by RS-11s, are meeting at a passing siding. One train is displaying White Classification Signals (meaning it is being operated as an Extra,) and the other train is displaying Green Classification Signals (meaning it is a train being run in sections.)
> 
> Classification Signals would make absolutely no sense on a railroad operated under Rule 261 or "TCS," so I believe the territory involved is still Time Table / Train Order territory, where the Automatic Block Signals are merely an added layer of protection.
> 
> In other words: Under What Rules Were Trains Operated on the Clinch Valley in early Diesel-days ???
> 
> I will attach the photograph, and hope some Ole Wise man will come out of his cave and coach a Young Pup like me !
> 
> -- abram burnett
> Buy Now and Avoid the Tariff War on Turnips !
> ________________________________________
> NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org mailto:NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org
> To change your subscription go to
> http://list.nwhs.org/mailman/options/nw-mailing-list
> Browse the NW-Mailing-List archives at
> http://list.nwhs.org/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/
> ________________________________________
> NW-Mailing-List at nwhs.org
> To change your subscription go to
> http://list.nwhs.org/mailman/options/nw-mailing-list
> Browse the NW-Mailing-List archives at
> http://list.nwhs.org/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/
> 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://pairlist6.pair.net/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/attachments/20240823/6196e1ea/attachment.htm>