Jim Wrinn had a short essay on the Clinchfield, with two photos and a map of the Altapass/Loops area in this months Trains. Just by chance, a visit to the library allowed me to checkout and read Jerry Taylor and Ray Poteat's The CSX Clinchfield Route in the 21st Century.
This post will be a book review and hopefully a discussion of a very fascinating railroad.
Taylor and Poteat's book is a bit unusual, it seems more of a website type manuscript describing the current operations on the CSX line from Elkhorn City, Ky to Spartanburg, SC. which was formerly the Clinchfield. There is very little history in this book, it is more of a milepost by milepost description of the railroad. It works for me. Taylor wrote Conrail Commodities, a book I have long wanted to read and he devotes attention to the movement of commodities over this line, 95% of which is coal. It is done in a photo intensive book which follows the line south from Elkhorn City. At many significant locations, usually control points, bridges, viaducts, tunnels, terminals, or industries, there are photos with very detailed captions.
These captions, along with short chapter introductions, detail the origins and destinations of the many coal movements, the operations (including coal originating in SE Kentucky "off line" of the Clinchfield), the trackage rights with and from the NS in the St. Paul - Frisco area, and much much more. For instance, nearly every bridge photo contains detailed information about the length and type of the bridge. The 56 tunnels are given not only significant photo coverage, but also descriptions. There are adequate maps and elevation profiles. A table lists the electric generating plants receiving coal which moves on the Clinchfield....along with the megawatt capacity of the plants, tonnage of coal moved in 2005 to each plant, the number of loaded coal trains moved, the types of coal cars utilized and the reporting prefixes of the cars. Wow. That is detailed information.
The only downside I can see about this book is the photography. Some is very good and quite a bit is very average to only adequate. Remember tho, this is not a railroad photography book, but more of a field guide to the railroad. The authors no doubt planned this book in advance and gathered information and photos to be used. Often the days they visited the line were cloudy and thus the photo selected and used were of poorer quality. If you are looking for a field guide to this railroad, this book will work as it puts you in the locations. Perhaps maps detailing public access roads would have been an addition, but with so many mapping websites available, it is not as necessary as perhaps 10 years ago.
Now, having offered that opinion of the book (it works for me if you cant tell), I would like a discussion of this railroad. I had a very brief encounter in 1980 somewhere (no notes on my two photos) in one of the five states it operated in. A friendly engineer invited me and my two nonrailfan friends up into the engine while switching. I have no idea where it is.
Like the Erie Lackawanna and the Rio Grande, the Clinchfield is a railroad that is very intriguing to me...from a distance.
Any comments on the railroad?
ed
Thanks Ed. I always like a good book recommendation. I'll be searching for this one. I was impressed with the article in Trains Magazine, having no idea that the Clinchfield route was that rugged. But then, it's world's away from me. I had no idea it went into five states either.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
To an often asked question about why I am a railfan and what made me become one, I must add Clinchfield to the list. Not because I ever visited the road, I scarcely had a glimps of it as I whisked through the Smokeys on a tour bus in 1959. But several years earlier while recuperating from my tonsilectomy, I encountered the road in the pages of RAILROAD Magazine. One copy of TRAINS and one copy of RAILROAD during recuperation will make indelable railfan adventures never taken.
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The Clinchfield ranks number 1 for me amongst railroads I never got a chance to see. A great book on the Clinchfield is "Clinchfield Country" by Steve King, published by Old Line Graphics. Bob Loehne also produced a nice series of videos covering the Clinchfield. These were just after the CSX formation, but before the Clinchfield operations changed significantly. The tight curves, a plethora of tunnels, significant grades over which was hauled heavy tonnage, and big bridges made the Clinchfield a very interesting railroad.
For history on the Clinchfield, you might look for Building The Clinchfield by James A. Goforth (Gem Publishers, Erwin, TN). Author Goforth was Chief Engineer on the railroad. He also authored more of a photo book entitled When Steam Ran The Clinchfield. I'm not sure if Mr. Goforth is still with us, but he was quite gracious when I wrote to him once via the publisher to inquire about the numbering system used on Clinchfield passenger equipment.
My HO railroad is conceived as a coal and logging short-line that would have connected with the Clinchfield in the mountains of SW Virginia shortly after its completion in 1915. I have visited and photographed along the line several times, with most of those visits focused on the sections through Virginia. I greatly enjoyed the recent article in Trains, and it brought back memories of one of the best and worst days of my railfan trips: I was living in Roanoke, VA and had read of Skaggs Hole Tunnel. The tracks cross a river and immediately enter a tunnel. The rock face of the tunnel is so steep that the bridge actually extends INTO the tunnel. I bought some geological survey maps and planned a trip for the longest day of the year in June. I had breakfast in Haysi and then drove to the end of the blacktop. Then I drove to the end of the gravel road, parked, and told the fellow working in his garden there who I was and what I was doing. I then walked to Skaggs Hole Tunnel and set up for a fine day of photography. I was likely closer to a bear than to another human being. Pusher locomotives were used on coal trains, which increased the number of photo options. It was a great day. After return to Roanoke, my "trusty" photo developer processed my slides as print film - destroying the images. I never got back to that site.
But, the Clinchfield did have several years there where they hosted several very nice railfan trips. I once rode Erwin TN to St.Paul VA and return behind 4-6-0 #1, which was operating without any diesel assistance (it could only handle two coaches). I also rode the south end of the line from Erwin to Spartanburg (SC) behind Fs in February of 1979, which is the source of this photo.
The Clinchfield ran through a "hardscrabble" section of the country, but the scenery was(is) fantastic.
Bill
Bill:Thanks for the photograph and the story. That would have been an absolute terrible thing (film developing error).
There is a very good photo of Skaggs Hole, Va tunnel (MP7.1) in the book. The caption reads:
"On its way back to Shelby, a helper emerges from 519 foot Skaggs Tunnel. The Skaggs Hole bridge is 473 feet long and consists of five deck plate girder spans. The lyout somewhat resembles Pool Point in reverse, except that this bridge extends 12 fet into the tunnell. From here, the grade eases considerably in the next 19 miles, but helpers are kept on as insurance against stalling on the 1.0 percent acent approaching Sandy Ridge tunnel. Movements in this territory are handled from three crew bases: for helpers, Shelby; for most service to online customers, Dante; and for through trains, Erwin."
This is the type of photo caption each photo has. There is considerable information about the location given, with operations and engineering data.
This book is well worth reading, and is a great guide to the railroad.
If 95% of the commodities shipped are/were coal, why couldn't the Clinchfield remain independant?
According to the 1980 Moody's Transportation Manual:
"By indenture dated Oct. 16, 1924, the Atlantic Coast Line RR and the Louisville and Nashville RR jointly leased from the CC&O (Corporate name of Clinchfield was Carolina, Clinchfield, and Ohio RR) and its wholly owned railroad subsidiaries, all the railroad, including trackage rights extending from Elkhorn City, Ky to Spartansburg SC...for 999 years."
In 1979, the Clinchfield has revenues of $66million with profit of $12.1 million.
Pretty nice operation, even if they did have to haul coal up and down the Appalachian Mtns.
MP173 According to the 1980 Moody's Transportation Manual: "By indenture dated Oct. 16, 1924, the Atlantic Coast Line RR and the Louisville and Nashville RR jointly leased from the CC&O (Corporate name of Clinchfield was Carolina, Clinchfield, and Ohio RR) and its wholly owned railroad subsidiaries, all the railroad, including trackage rights extending from Elkhorn City, Ky to Spartansburg SC...for 999 years." In 1979, the Clinchfield has revenues of $66million with profit of $12.1 million. Pretty nice operation, even if they did have to haul coal up and down the Appalachian Mtns. ed
Clinchfield came in through the Seaboard/L&N/Family Lines side.
Mike
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