Eastern Railroad Discussion > NS Virginian clearances and Amtrak to Roanoke

Now that Amtrak service to Roanoke has a start date, what about the state funded double stack clearance work on the Altavista District. Is that done? Will DS trains soon be using the Altavista District to serve Norfolk and Greensboro?

yooperfan Wrote:
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> Now that Amtrak service to Roanoke has a start
> date, what about the state funded double stack
> clearance work on the Altavista District. Is that
> done? Will DS trains soon be using the Altavista
> District to serve Norfolk and Greensboro?

Yes, the clearance project is done and double stack trains are operating that way on a regular basis to Greensboro and Charlotte. The stack trains to Norfolk likely still use the route via Lynchburg, for the most part.

Here's a thread from January:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,4196885

Thanks Jimbo. I did not know NS was doing that. Via Lynchburg was not that far out of route but it must be neat to see intermodal on the VGN. I've followed that line on Google Earth and it is really a neat piece of railroad with all the tunnels and trestles, and I have the track charts. Any estimate how much time it saves versus the Lynchburg route?

As a guess you might save about one hour. In addition to the longer mileage when going via Lynchburg, trains coming from Roanoke turning south would go through Montview Yard.

Jimbo Wrote:
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> As a guess you might save about one hour. In
> addition to the longer mileage when going via
> Lynchburg, trains coming from Roanoke turning
> south would go through Montview Yard.

If I remember correctly, going east on the old Virginian you are mostly in dynamic. I do wonder how fast NS runs the big stack trains in this area.

To what degree does the Virginian east of Roanoke have tunnels or viaducts? I know the Whitethorne District has some tunnels, but bridges? And was that included in this clearance project, or do the high-clearance trains get on the Virginian at Salem?

ts1457 Wrote:
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>
> If I remember correctly, going east on the old
> Virginian you are mostly in dynamic. I do wonder
> how fast NS runs the big stack trains in this
> area.

40 mph max, all trains

toledopatch Wrote:
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> To what degree does the Virginian east of Roanoke
> have tunnels or viaducts? I know the Whitethorne
> District has some tunnels, but bridges? And was
> that included in this clearance project, or do the
> high-clearance trains get on the Virginian at
> Salem?


5 tunnels east of Roanoke on the Altavista District, all are double stack capable now.
Unsure what your criteria for viaduct vs bridge are, but suffice to say there are at least 5 biga$$ bridges east of Roanoke.
The "high clearance" trains access the Altavista District just east of Roanoke through the Tinker Creek connection, east of the old N&W East End Shops.

nsrlink Wrote:
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> toledopatch Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > To what degree does the Virginian east of
> Roanoke
> > have tunnels or viaducts? I know the
> Whitethorne
> > District has some tunnels, but bridges? And was
> > that included in this clearance project, or do
> the
> > high-clearance trains get on the Virginian at
> > Salem?
>
>
> 5 tunnels east of Roanoke on the Altavista
> District, all are double stack capable now.
> Unsure what your criteria for viaduct vs bridge
> are, but suffice to say there are at least 5
> biga$$ bridges east of Roanoke.

Thanks. Was not aware of big bridges in that section of the railroad; the ones I've heard of are west of Glen Lyn.