Eastern Railroad Discussion > 7 EMDs on a Loaded Coal Train

2/23/2017

On a cloudy day, a loaded coal train is seen making its way south on the former Virginian Railway mainline in West Virginia using a total of seven NS locomotives of the EMD 710 series comprised of one rebuilt SD70ACU and six SD60s. All the locomotives on this train are necessary to get it over some significant grades on the way to Elmore, WV. However, this train is running as a Watco train on the Kanawha River Railroad (KNWA) as NS leased the Virginian between Alloy and Elmore, WV and the former New York Central between Columbus, OH and Alloy, WV starting late summer of 2016. Every SD60 on the train, with the exception of 6707, is leased to Watco for primary use as KNWA coal train helpers.

The first scene shows the train getting off the NYC at Alloy crossing the VGN bridge over the Kanawha River into the tunnel at Deep Water, WV. The train is then seen coming through a rock cut at Robson with one final view of it roaring through Ingram Branch.

Coal traffic on the KNWA has grown this year. When Watco began operations, they anticipated loading only 6-8 coal trains per month. In recent months, they have loaded 30-35 train in one month.

Enjoy and thanks for watching.

You must be a registered subscriber to watch videos. Join Today!

awesome video. sure made my day......

66

An amazing video. Appreciate the effort and the post!
Rich S

Nice video. Is the speed limited by tonnage, alignment (curves, bridges etc.) or track condition. Interesting for us west of the Mississippi to see manned helpers.

Awesome! Always great to hear an all EMD chorus in full shout! Thank You !

Great footage! Were you using a camera or camcorder?

Thanks for all of the positive feedback so far.

King_Coal Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Nice video. Is the speed limited by tonnage,
> alignment (curves, bridges etc.) or track
> condition. Interesting for us west of the
> Mississippi to see manned helpers.

I want to say it's a combination of bridges and curves? There's a good amount of both on this line.

exhaustED Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Great footage! Were you using a camera or
> camcorder?

I use a camcorder. It's a Panasonic HDC-HS700.
Edit: Audio is captured using an external mic, a Rode Videomic. The default camera microphone does not handle well when it comes to recording horns and whistles up-close.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/13/17 12:43 by Appalachianrails.

Appalachianrails Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks for all of the positive feedback so far.
>
> King_Coal Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Nice video. Is the speed limited by tonnage,
> > alignment (curves, bridges etc.) or track
> > condition. Interesting for us west of the
> > Mississippi to see manned helpers.
>
> I want to say it's a combination of bridges and
> curves? There's a good amount of both on this
> line.
>
> exhaustED Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Great footage! Were you using a camera or
> > camcorder?
>
> I use a camcorder. It's a Panasonic HDC-HS700.

Really nice image and audio quality!

SUPER AWESOME PLUS VIDEO!!!!
Thanks very much for posting.
ALLEN

THAT was a lot of fun to watch/listen to! Thanks for sharing!

-Tom

I really enjoyed the video..!!

Great video! Anybody know where this southbound coal goes? If it is going to Tidewater (Norfolk) for export, it must pass through Bluefield, not through Princeton (on the former Virginian) since that line is mothballed.

Awesome sound! Nice to see an all EMD lash-up..............Thanks for sharing.

Amazing video! The sound and visuals are great. I've driven the roads a few times hoping to luck into a train but so far have only had a near miss with an empty.

Train484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Great video! Anybody know where this southbound
> coal goes? If it is going to Tidewater (Norfolk)
> for export, it must pass through Bluefield, not
> through Princeton (on the former Virginian) since
> that line is mothballed.

Since the P-D has been mothballed this traffic goes down the Gilbert branch then turns east to Bluefield and on towards Norfolk.

I'm not really partial to one manufacturers locomotives over another but there just ain't nothin like the roar of seven EMD locomotives pulling a freight load of coal through the West Virginia mountains. Excellent video and thanks.

Jim
Hatboro, PA

Terrific video. Beautifully shot in the field, and expertly edited. Thanks for posting.

Great vid and wonderfully done!
I heartfully agree with comments about the roar of seven EMD's and the excellence of your audio. It was obviously no small effort on your part to produce this video. Thank you!
Question:
Why no ditch lights "on"?

Now THAT, was awesome!