Shenandoah Division schedules

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

From: "Henry J. Mikus" <bahnfan at shentel.net>
To: "Frank Scheer" <f_scheer at yahoo.com> 
Subject: Re: Shenandoah Division schedules 
Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2006 22:31:38 -0400 
    
Frank,

Reproduced below is the content of two related
messages I postednot too long ago to VRFE in answer to
the same question your friend Harry posed to 
you.  Please feel free to forward this to him as it is
more current than what you just sent him.

Regards,

Henry


Originally posted 3/18/06 to VRFE:

Someone asked what trains plied the Valley, or "H",
Line south of Riverton Jct./Front Royal to Shenandoah:

The regulars:

15T, Southbound, Allentown - Birmingham merchandise,
usually runs at daybreak

16T, Northbound, Birmingham - Allentown merchandise,
usually runs morning 

38Q, Northbound, Roanoke - Enola merchandise, usually
runs mid day

37Q, Southbound, Enola - Roanoke merchandise, usually
runs late afternoon

Second sections would be M5T, M6T, W7Q, or W8Q

Very infrequent intermodals:

202 and 226, normally Memphis to Atlanta to connect
with 204 and 214 that run up the Southern main then
connect to the Valley Line at Riverton:  When
the blocks for forwarding at Atlanta are huge, these
trains will run all the way to Rutherford (Harrisburg)
or New Jersey via the Valley Line.  This
happens rarely but it does happen.  Sometimes the
second section designation is used:  I02 or I26

Unit Coal Trains, can run any time:

576, southbound coal loads, Monongahela mines  -
Lamberts Point (Norfolk), usually has pushers

577, northbound mtys, Lamberts Point  - Monongahela

800, northbound coal loads, Elmore - York Haven PA,
usually has pushers

801, southbound mtys, York Haven - Roanoke and maybe
Elmore

840, northbound coal loads, Williamson - York Haven,
usually has pushers

841, southbound mtys, York Haven  - Roanoke and maybe
Williamson

Second sections run as Y76, Y77, S00, S01, S40, or S41

Unit Grain Trains, can run any time:

55Q, northbound grain mtys, Shenandoah to the midwest
(also routed south via Roanoke depending on crews,
capacity, and power needs)

58J, southbound grain loads, run-through off W&LE at
Hagerstown to Shenandoah, usually uses the W&LE power
which then goes back north as a light engine move

There can be other infrequent grain moves, symbols
vary, in the 400 or 500 or 40_ or 50_ series

Locals:

V86, Shenandoah - Hagerstown

V87, Hagerstown - Shenandoah

V88, Front Royal shifter

VS01, Shenandoah yard job

It is a long list as I wanted to give all permutations
you might see, but reality is that line section sees
only 6 to 8 trains in any typical 24 
hour period.  Fortunately much of the traffic runs
during daylight.

Henry Mikus

Originally posted 3/18/06 to VRFE:

Per Peter's request:

Between Hagerstown and Riverton Jct./Front Royal the
Valley Line is much busier because of the traffic on
and off the B-Line (which runs east-west between
Riverton Jct. and Manassas, and is a conduit for
traffic off the ex-Southern Main).  Normal run times
will be less accurate than what I posted earlier for
the Valley Line south of Riverton between there and
Shenandoah.

Intermodals:

203, southbound, Rutherford (Harrisburg) - Atlanta,
late sfternoon

204, northbound, Atlanta - Rutherford, late afternoon
or evening

211, southbound, Croxton NJ - Atlanta, Noon, hottest
train on the RR, carries UPS, in CR days marketed as
"Atlanta Flyer"

212, northbound, Atlanta - Croxton, late evening, BUT
also has a Tuesday morning run (so there are two 212s
Tuesday)

213, southbound, Rutherford - Memphis, middle of the
night except Saturdays where it is sometimes late
afternoon

214, northbound, Atlanta - ERail NJ, evening

227, northbound, Norfolk - Detroit, mid day,
frequently meets 211 on either side of Riverton,
overseas containers full of auto parts

228, southbound, Rutherford - Norfolk, late morning
(has been earlier since the establishment of 24Q/25Q)

24Q and 25Q, this pair is the service between Norfolk
and the Virginia Inland Port just north of Front
Royal, recently established, the run from Norfolk
comes up earlier in the day, the run back leaves early
evening, however I am not sure which symbol is used
for which direction as this pair is new enough I have
not seen them yet

Second sections:  I03, I04, I11, I12 (often used for a
baretable balancing move), I13, I14, I27, and I28

Merchandisers (note these can really vary as far as
times):

11R, southbound, Binghampton NY (D&H/CP run through) -
Enola - Linwood NC, morning

12R, northbound, Linwood - Enola - (D&H/CP)
Binghampton, evening

35Q, southbound, Allentown - Lynchburg, daytime...

36Q, nortbound, Lynchburg - Allentown, afternoon

Second sections:  M1R, M2R, W5Q, W6Q

Note:  all four merchandisers, plus the four that run
the Whole Valley Line listed in my previous post, swap
blocks at Vardo/Hagerstown

Another note:  11R and 12R carry lots of
white/cream/light gray tank cars marked Anglo American
Clays, Theile, Georgia Kaolin, EEO, and white covered
hoppers marked Sandersville.  This is Kaolin traffic,
a clay product mined in Georgia that is used as a
coating on paper for magazines that 
enables the slick sheets with color photos to get
printed.  Loads go north, mtys back south.  The tanks
carry it as a slurry, the hoppers as a powder.  11R 
and 12R carry this traffic to service the many paper
mills in Canada and the northeast/New England via
their connection with D&H/CP.

There is a single local off the B-Line that crosses
the Valley Line at the Riverton diamond, it is P96 and
runs as a turn job at night from Manassas to
Strasburg/Edinburg and back.

Henry Mikus



April 10, 2006

Thanks, Henry:

I'll pass this along to Harry Bundy and others.  Many
are planning to sight-see the Shenandoah Division on
the way to or from the N&W HS Convention in Strasburg,
Pennsylvania during the first week in July.  I'm sure
they'll find this helpful.

Best wishes,

Frank Scheer
f_scheer at yahoo.com