Clinchfield hoppers between St Paul and Norton

Tue Sep 9 10:44:41 EDT 2014

Carl -

I do not have any firsthand knowledge, but  based on my research when the L&N entered into the trackage rights agreement with the N&W between Norton and St. Paul in 1973 it was primarily for the purpose of interchanging unit coal trains with the Clinchfield at the CRR's "yard" at Castle located a short distance southwest of St. Paul.  The coal was loaded at mines in eastern Kentucky on the L&N and was delivered to  power plants in North Carolina and South Carolina served by the Clinchfield or other Family Lines railroads.  The coal mined on the Clinchfield was from mines on the north end between Dante, Virginia and Elkhorn City, Kentucky.  The Clinchfield interchanged some of this coal with the N&W at Boody for delivery at the Tidewater port, and the rest of the coal went to power plants in the Carolinas and points south.

So it seems to me rather doubtful that the Clinchfield and the L&N would interchange hoppers on a regular basis.  Under the Family Lines marketing agreement that began in 1972, head end units were often pooled between the L&N, CRR, and other Family Lines railroads.

Two good reference sources on the L&N's  Norton to St. Paul trackage rights, with photos, are: The Louisville & Nashville  Cumberland Valley Album 1945-1985 by Ron Flanary (pages 41-49) and Norfolk &
Western's Clinch Valley Line by Ed Wolfe and co-authored by Bucky Wilson and me (pages 305-319).  Ron is the resident expert on the L&N's operations in southwest Virginia.

Paul Mandelkern
Winter Park, Florida

From: NW-Modeling-List [mailto:nw-modeling-list-bounces at nwhs.org] On Behalf Of NW Modeling List
Sent: Monday, September 08, 2014 10:33 AM
To: 'NW Modeling List'
Subject: Clinchfield hoppers between St Paul and Norton

During the early to mid 70's when L&N was running trains through this section of the Clinch Valley, how likely would it have been to see Clinchfield hoppers mixed in with L&N hoppers on an L&N train?

Carl Woods
Richmond, VA

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