CSX New River Subdivision 6/5/14: Thurmond - A Place Worth Waiting

After visiting Norfolk Southern's most famous line in West Virginia, it was time for a day on the other railroad's most famous. While we covered only a VERY small portion of the New River Subdivision, I feel the time was well worth getting to see a little bit of everything in Thurmond. While we only shot three trains this entire day, the general ambiance Thurmond provides makes it, as dubbed by Scott Lothes in his 2008 Trains Magazine article, 'A Place Worth Waiting.' RJ Corman Loup Creek Branch CSX Z549-05 - Glen Jean, WV Thurmond CSX U276-03 - Loads CSX E511-03 - Empties Like I said, traffic was very slow [due to the 5th consecutive day of trackwork we'd encountered], but time didn't seem to be. We got to catch up on sleep, and when the opportunity to help out E511's conductor in getting to the back of the train to inspect a hotbox reading on the last axle of their 150-car train came about, we jumped on it. Next, it was off to another CSX line known for a little more action - Sandpatch.