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"More Progress Report - Clinchfield"

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landnrailroader (138 posts)
Dec-29-01, 09:41 AM (EST) "More Progress Report - Clinchfield" I got tired and went to bed last night early, so I stopped pictures at the south end of Towers. Here are a few more.The Haysi branch (also modeled on this route) takes off of the mainline between two tunnels that are about 1/4 mile apart and extends about 6 miles up Prater creek. Most of the coal in Dickenson Cty. Va. that can be extracted economically is gone, so some of these branches will soon be history (some already are).Next we approach Clinchco, VA where the CRR makes a near 90 degree bend to the right on a 10 degree curve, most of which is on a plate girder bridge over the McClure River. The railroad hung a right back at Haysi Jct. and now will follow the McClure nearly all the way to Sandy Ridge tunnel.
As we proceed further south, about a mile, we come to a spot where two short tunnels are very close together (again). The first is Perkins, and the second is Reinhart.A mile or two further brings us to another bridge/tunnel combination over the McClure river. This is Short Branch tunnel.A few miles further brings us to a left-hand curve into the Fremont, VA area, where one notices the Fremont Branch at a higher level, bending off to the right (northwest). This is also on the boundary between a 10M and 30M DEM and so the scenery will need a lot of cleanup because the branch does not follow a valley until it goes through Bear Pen Gap tunnel, the only CRR tunnel that is not on the mainline.A couple miles further brings us just south of Caney Jct. (where the Fremont branch begins) and we find ourselves at the junction of the new McClure Branch (1979 construction). The prep. plant at the end of this branch recently reopened and supplies metallurgical coal to Geneva Steel in Utah, and others. I need to do some more transfers around the tunnel mouth.Continuing south, we come to the junction switch of the Nora Spur. This spur, much of which has been abandoned (but the abandoned part is included in this route) but coal is still extracted on Neece Creek, which was once the training mine for the New McClure plant.Further south, we come to another of those short tunnels that cuts across a bend in the river (by now just a healthy creek). This is Martin Tunnel.A few miles further, brings us to the summit tunnel of Sandy Ridge. Sandy Ridge is the dividing ridge. North of here, water flows directly to Ohio River tributaries. South of here, it flows into Tennessee River tributaries, though eventually into the Ohio. Sandy Ridge was punched through in 1915. At 7854 feet it is the longest of the tunnels. Though it is actually straight as a rifle barrel, I could not get so long a tunnel perfectly aligned, so there is a slight S curve in it to make the portals come out at the correct location. At this point, we have reached an altitude of over 1500 ft and have come 32.5 miles from Elkhorn City. When the tunnel was being constructed (from both ends) the engineer in charge is said to have lost his mind over whether they would meet correctly. When joined, the error was less than 1 inch.Thanks for your indulgence. This completes the second progress report to the board of directors and kibitzers.J. H. Sullivan, P.E. (retired)
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