Trains On The Kanawha River Railroad

After getting word this past Sunday that the Federal Railroad Administration's inspection train would be running down the Kanawha River Railroad. Several friends of mine and myself decided to get a couple of shots of the inspection train coming south on its way to Dickinson Yard. Started off on the West Side of Charleston just off of Patrick Street at our first location. At the start of the video, you'll hear the nice Nathan Airchime P3 locomotive horn echoing as they blow for a couple of railroad crossings in North Charleston. Fast forward to our next location. With WAMX SD60M 6052 on the point and WAMX 6053 still in UP paint trailing. We then see the inspection train, operating as Kanawha River Railroad train KN50, rolling through Belle, West Virginia as it passes the new mural that is currently in the process of being completed. This, believe it or not, was the first time I had caught one of the ex-UP ElectroMotive SD60Ms that WATCO had bought leading anything. After getting the inspection train at Charleston and Belle. We decided to wait on this coal train to leave after it had got finished loading. Needless to say, it came as quite a shock as to what was leading the train. NS 4000, the blue, gold, and silver General Electric AC44C6M, was set to lead a loaded coal train south along the former New York Central’s West Virginia Branch and the former Virginian Railway Princeton to Deepwater mainline. Our first shot takes us to Cedar Grove, West Virginia. Here we see Norfolk Southern AC44C6M number 4000 leading loaded coal train KN34 south heading for Alloy, West Virginia and the connection with the former Virginian Railway. After shooting the coal train at Cedar Grove. The town of Cedar Grove used to be home to three railroads until the early 1990s. The Kelley’s Creek & Northwestern Railway; the Kelley’s Creek Railway; and the Kanawha & Michigan; the Toledo & Ohio Central; Conrail; and eventually Norfolk Southern. The Kelley’s Creek & Northwestern used to cross the West Virginia Secondary via a diamond just south of Ward Street. Knowing that we could beat the coal train just about anywhere. We decided on getting a couple of shots down on the Virginian Railway. The next one comes from Robson, West Virginia just a few miles south of Deepwater. Here we see KN34 come through a rock cut before crossing over Loup Creek on it’s journey south. After that, our last shot comes from Hamilton, West Virginia just outside of Oak Hill. Hamilton is where the grade between Oak Hill and Deepwater begins to crest. Even though trains still get a work out on this stretch. The steepest part of the grade is between Deepwater and Page at a near two percent grade in a six mile stretch of railroad. #train #railway #railroad