L&N, CUMBERLAND VALLEY DIV. (LATER SUBDIV.)

[landnrailroader]

Some years ago I started on this project and then set it aside for some others such as the Northern Montana, but something kept nagging at me to go back and have a look at part of it. The original L&N line extending from Corbin, KY to Norton, VA to connect with the N&W was completed around 1890 and made use by trackage rights of the Southern Rwy. tunnel under Cumberland Gap. Just north of the Gap lies Middlesboro, KY which would have been the Pittsburgh of the area except for little glitch - the Panic of 1893. So no iron furnaces to speak of were built but there was still a lot of coal and so many mines got started. Some of these were on a L&N branch referred to as the Stony Creek branch, and off the far end of it a rather spectacular line was necessary to reach what was for many years a large coal operation at Garmeada, KY. My 1949 track chart did not show this line as abandoned but it probably died around 1960 or so. Until more recent times there was a operation with a modern loadout not far out of Middlesboro on the line but 2024 aerials show it as probably abandoned. So here is an image of how one gets to Garmeada. The SC branch comes in from the northeast at the bottom center and ends near the right top border. The there is this switchback with grades of 2.5% to 4%. I would prefer more accuracy by the scan of that page was not good and some things are missing. I know the individual that did the scan and if it had been possible to do better, he would have. You can buy a CD from L&N Historical Assoc. of track charts. There are around a dozen available. I may not complete this route to the minutest detail but I will include all of the known mines, including Scotia which was gassy and blew up twice with fatalities. It was bored new in the 1960s but only lasted 25 years or so. GARMEADA.jpg

Jerry Sullivan

[rt35ge]

Jerry, might be the part of the forum to ask this.... Did you do a MILW route that features Pipestone Pass? TSC just releaded their versionof it and my opinion, IT NEEDS HELP!!! I know my way around the TSC RE and plan on taking a serious shot at reworking it. I've been working on a TSC version of the MILW RMD using you msts routes as guides, If you did Pipestone, I would use the same tactic to fix this TSC route.

[landnrailroader]

Yes, I did, many years ago. I called it the RMD-2. Then Lukas Lussar combined it with my RMD-1 and the combination is in the library as the RMD-East. It has default objects in it, so you will need a MSTS install to completely get it in and run it. Funny, though, if I was doing a commercial route, I would have chosen the part over St. Paul Pass, many tunnels & viaducts on that one. You can probably look through it with TSRE if you don't have a MSTS install. ORTS has some problems if default objects are not present.

Jerry Sullivan

[landnrailroader]

I switch back and forth between projects and for the last few days, I have continued to lay track on the Cumberland Valley Div. When I release it, either incomplete, or whatever, it will be circa 1950, except for the Scotia Branch which was not built until about 1962 and was gone by 1995 or so after the rather gassy Scotia mine exploded at least twice with fatal results both times. So There will be lots of coal mines, big & small. The image, taken with Track Viewer is a section of the Division. The Cumberland Valley line followed the Cumberland River for most of its main lines with a fork occuring near the left side of the image. Note the dark area which is the Loyall, KY yard. Just to the right of there is Baxter where the Poor Fork of the river bears more or less north east and the Poor Fork branch follows it to the town of Cumberland and on to Benham and Lynch. There is, or was, a payware route that included Benham & Lynch so I will minimally decorate that area. At Baxter, the Clover Fork of the river bears to the south east and then turns east & finally north east. The Clover Fork Branch followed this branch of the river through an area of very rich coal seams. Today, most of the track is gone and the only active mine loads out through a conveyor through Black Mtn. to a loadout that is served by CSX and NS on the Virginia side of the mountain. In the 1950s there was a huge operation at the extreme east (railroad south) end of the branch. As you can see here, the area along the Clover Fork looks like a herd of spiders got loose with rail in their claws.

CUMBERLAND_VAL_01.jpg
Jerry Sullivan

[landnrailroader]

Today, I finished the track for the Clover Fork Branch and I have included an image of it. There are several spurs off this branch and several mines on sidings parallel to the main track. The branch starts at the wye on the left end which takes the branch off of the Martins Fork Subdivision. As recently as 1995 nearly 100 mines fed coal out of this branch but today it ends at Evarts, KY where the relatively long Yokum Creek spur branches and served two large mines. There is no active coal on this branch now and it has been abandoned. The Martins Fork branch continues southeast from the wye and taps several more shorter branches before it bores through a major ridge through the long Hagans Tunnel. This was completed in 1930 to provide a more direct connection between the L&N and the Clinchfield which was jointly owned by the L&N and the ACL, the latter of which also owned a large part of the L&N. Originally this line would have made a direct connection to the Clinchfield near Speers Ferry, VA but along came the depression, already being felt, and so the Hagans connection was made to the Original Cumberland Valley line to Norton, VA and the Clinchfield Link was via the Interstate RR from there. Most of that trackage will be included except that east of Big Stone Gap is on another of my routes that I have given to Kenney Eaton for detailing.

Jerry Sullivan CLOVER_FK_02.jpg

[landnrailroader]

On the L&N in southwestern Virginia lies one of the most peculiar track layouts of any main line. The Hagans switchback. Yes, part of a through mainline, not so busy today, but from it's completion in 1930 until around 1990 it was very busy. In 2003, on a L&NHS convention trip, I witnessed a coal train work through the switchback on its run from a jointly served mine at Benedict, VA (near Pennington) to Loyall, KY where there would be a crew change and then it would proceed on to Corbin. Originally, around 1890, the L&N built a line from near Pineville, KY through Middlesboro and through the Southern's Cumberland Gap Tunnel to Big Stone Gap, VA and then on to Norton where it connected with the N&W and through freight and passenger service was established. In 1905 the ACL acquired a controlling interest in the L&N which remained on up through creation of SCL and then CSX. About 1925, the ACL and L&N sought to jointly own & operate the Clinchfield. ACL had a direction connection at Spartanburg, SC. L&N did not have one. The ICC (agency that covered such things then) said this could not happen unless the L&N got a direct connection. So an extension was planned off the L&N Martin's Fork branch, involving a 6,000 ft. tunnel and a line on to the Clinchfield making a direct link near Speers Ferry. In 1929 the depression struck. So L&N built the switchback to reach their original line from Middlesboro to Norton. Then they got trackage rights to reach the Clinchfield by way of the Interstate RR at Miller Yard, VA. Later, in the 1990s, the section from Middlesboro to Hagans was abandoned and CSX gave up trackage rights through the tunnel. Block signals were in use through the Hagans tunnel and for a few miles further north on the Martin's Fork (of Cumberland River) branch. In the attached image, the tunnel is where the yellow lines suddenly come into view near the upper middle and the link in the switchback curves off to the left and up a 1.3% grade to reach the original line - the row of markers seen above the tunnel. There will be close to 50, maybe more, coal mines on this simulation of the L&N Cumberland Division (CSX Subdivision) including one which was the first unit train loadout on the L&N and it is still in operation. Southern acquired the Interstate in 1962 or so and not long afterward those L&N connecting trains operated on over the N&W making a connection to the Clinchfield at St. Paul, VA. Still later, in 1980, a connection was made from the former L&N to Southern at Big Stone Gap and the L&N was abandoned east of Big Stone Gap. Those intricacies are included on my Clinch-Appalachia route which Kenney Eaton has and may detail up sometime.

I came up with a way to precisely align the tunnel under the KY/VA stateline (Cumberland Mountain). I used curved track of 6 degrees until the last 5-8 degrees prior to the tunnel. Then I placed a piece of dynamic with a zero length first tangent, radius of 291 meters and then I extended the 2nd straight to the max., 250 meters. Then I tacked on 500 meter pieces until the track at the south side of the mountain aligned with the markers there. And I tweaked the turn angle until I got it exact. Took about 30 minutes but it is correct. Another method that some folks use is to create a big ditch for the tunnel and just show the mountain slopes at the ends but I don't like that way.

The image that shows the tunnel is looking more or less north. Then the 2nd image, looking more or less east shows the configuration at the upper end of the connecting track. The left track that disappears at the bottom is the original main line and for several years after the switchback was created, crews often shoved the first cut of their train here, or else there is a short siding nearly over the top of the tunnel and some cars could be left there so that a longer train could work the switchback in sections. After the main line toward the bottom of the image was abandoned, the switch to the center, connecting track, was removed and the tail at the right going off the bottom was extended and for a time a 2nd track was added to it.
For this simulation, the normal setting of the turnout at the upper left is to divert trains into the connecting track.

Jerry Sullivan HAGANS.jpg HAGANS2.png

[scottb613]

Hi Jerry,

Hah - yeah - I think that's just off Rich Garber's Cumberland as well? I marker'd that a while back - looking to extend it. Great route just wish he had modeled it in a bit more prototypical fashion.

In the deep, dark hills of eastern Kentucky
That's the place where I trace my bloodline
And it's there I read on a hillside gravestone
"You will never leave Harlan alive"

Regards,
Scott

[landnrailroader]

Scott,

Yes, I got Garbers route years ago and he did a fairly good job of it but there were some serious issues in the area around the mines at Lynch. Very irregular track there. He started at Loyall yard and Baxter is just at the east end but while he included the junction, the track to the right there, which would go to Harlan & eventually to the switchback ended in several meters. Nothing is left at Lynch or Benham but one of the mines at Lynch is now a museum mine. If it is as interesting as one at Beckley, WV it will be a good place to visit. My route will include all of the branches that existed in the 1950s as well as the Scotia branch which existed from 1962 or so to 1993 or so. The Scotia mine was very gassy and ventillation was not adequate. There were two explosians a few days apart. In the first, several miners were killed, a view escaped. The 2nd involved a rescue group and most of those were killed. It was a huge mine that extended a couple of miles into Virginia. Although the mine reopened with better ventillation, it was hard to get people to work there and there were a number of slate falls and so the mine closed for good around 1990. This is a route that I may just detail in a basic way and then turn it loose for the super-detailers to peck on.

Jerry

[scottb613]

Hi Jerry,

Very cool.

Yeah - what bothered me most about the route is the massive built-up cities with big office buildings - they just seem so out of place. I've been over every inch of the area in various map applications - they are supposed to be small run-down coal mining towns - much more interesting in my humble opinion. I had always planned on trying to go back and fix that scenery - as I do enjoy the route. I've redone Garber's route adding Distant Mountains - US Tracks - Animated Switch Stands- painted Terrtex (Mosaic) - and improved foliage - - - before TSRE.

My kind of "Modern" Railroading (I've already marked up my project RS3 in these colors as well)
2891.1175828400.jpg

Regards,
Scott

[landnrailroader]

Scott,

Use of RS-3 and to some extent, newer Alco models would be correct for the area, also for the Eastern Kentucky Div. which I have already laid 90% of the track for and plan to add the major roads. Yes, Garber did go overboard on the towns. Harlan, isn't on his route but Cumberland is, or should be and it is a town of only a few thousand. Loyall is smaller than that and now that the war on coal has succeeded many of the little places are ghost towns. Over on the EK, the same is true of Ravenna, Hazard, & Jackson which are the only real towns there. On the EK, the tracks have been cut, just west of Hazard and everything mine over there, which is not much, goes east to the formere C&O through Deane, KY. The last real active mine on the CV is at Myrna, a few miles south of Harlan and it is also the location of the first unit train loadout on the L&N dating from around 1960.

My L&N interest stems from learning the tales of the rail, sitting on my Uncle Harry's knee at around 2 years of age. The bug bit and it is a permanent bite. Uncle Harry was a senior engineer on the L&N, running freight & passenger when I was little (I came along in 1939). By the end of WW-II he was exclusively passenger running the Pan American, Hummingbird, Azalean, and South Wind. He retired in 1958 after 51 years and passed in 1978 at age 90. I retired with 34 years between Southern & Chessie/CSX and then worked another 17 years for contractors.

There is truth to that statement about not leaving Harlan alive. It also applied to Thurmond, WV where it was said that there was a body a day in the New River. Thurmond is a ghost town and a park now.

Jerry

[scottb613]

Hi Jerry,

Great info - thanks for sharing.
😉

Regards,
Scott

[landnrailroader]

Friends,

Yesterday, after laying track for several miles east of Hagans, I reached Pennington, VA where I had terminated the track on the Clinch-Appalachia route that I sent to Kinney Eaton a while back. Now, all I had to do was copy the world files from that route, into this one, and then go through and touch each piece of track or road. This did not take long and so I have attached another image clipped from track viewer. This time, I added some marks. "X" is the Hagans Switchback, and the track extending toward the top of the image (North) is the Martins Fork Branch and there are several branches, most now abandoned, off of it. "#" is just north of the junction of the Pennington branch to the Cumberland Valley main line and after going through one short tunnel & one long tunnel, it connects to the Norfolk Southern St. Charles Branch. If you follow that to the left and up, until you reach the northeast extent, you have come to Benedict which was (and may still be) a joint served mine. In 2003, on a L&NHS tour, I witnessed a coal train from this miine, negotiating the switchback at Hagans. Then at the extreme right end there is a "wiggle" mark and this is Big Stone Gap where the Cumberland Valley Div. stopped and connected to the Southern (NS) since about 1980. The L&N east of here toward Appalachia & Norton was abandoned shortly after this connection was built. There are two more major line with branches to be done the hard way. One goes from near Pineville to Manchester and still serves a small coal operation. The other is the Straight Fork branch, which goes from just east of Pineville north and it has a Right Fork branch off it that extends several miles to the east parallel to the main line of the CV but north past one ridge line. Corbin and Middlesboro have been copied from the KD Division route that was released a few years back but which has more added to it in a version 2 that I ought to release later this year.

WARNING!!! When copying world files from one route to anothere, you must be careful to not over-write an existing file that has track or roads already in it because if you do, you will now have the dreaded "database out of synch" situation. In the days of MSTS/RE the only solution that I know of was to do a rebuild but we do not (yet) have that option in TSRE, so BEWARE!!!

Jerry Sullivan CUMB_DIV01.jpg

[eric]

TSRE does have a merge function. Copying the files by hand can be avoided in large part, but it can sometimes leave a mess to clean up where tiles exist in both routes...

Sent from my SM-S911U using Tapatalk

[landnrailroader]

Eric,

I wasn't aware of this merge function but I used my "copy" method when I added Great Falls and Harlowton to the Great Falls line, as well as doing similar things elsewhere. Since I knew that Nashville, TN would figure in at least 3 routes in my plans, I did it first, tracks & roads only. Now in the case of Michael Stefan's Great Falls, he used a slightly different coordinate system than I use (Google Earth) and equivalent points in GF are roughly 15 meters northwest of where they are in GE, so there is a zig-zag just outside of GF on the North Montana route. In the case of the Cumberland Valley, Corbin & Middlesboro were both done deliberately from GE but also conincidentally in the same route. Also the unfinised area of Big Stone Gap and St. Charlels were done with GE, so there was a perfect match. I copied around 30 world files from those latter two areas but usually I only need 3 or 4.

Jerry

[landnrailroader]

A few days ago one of our number mentioned having an issue with distractions like having to reach for the keyboard and key in the gradient. Well my distraction is alive and has fur. My 16 year old calico cat sleeps next to my work/play area in her little bed but every couple of hours she wakes up and then it is LAP TIME no matter what I am doing. Of course this is one of her priviledges. My wife and I have 5 inside kittys. Nothing special or pedigreed, they are all what would be called "alley cats" in some areas, or locally, "street cats". Nikki, the oldest came to us when her first owner had the audacity to die, 12 years and and she was said to be 3, but we think she was older. Sox came to us when our daughter had one too many, and the young'us, Tommy (6) and Fluffy (5) just showed up one day at the door begging. PrettyGirl, the calico, picked me out at animal control where I was a volunteer and she was 5 months old, July 2009.

Jerry Sulivan
PG_Bed2.jpg