RJCorman - Mt Hope-Thurmond - 4-5-2013
Rail Fan Adventure --
While attending the C&OHS/St. Albans C&O Modelers Hawks Nest Modelers Weekend, Ron Piskor headed out for a day of railfaning on Friday, April 5th. After bagging the “Gauley Trolley” at Alloy, we checked out NS’s Deepwater District. Finding or hearing nothing, we were relieved to find a R. J. Corman crew at Mount Hope ready to take a coal train down to Thurmond.
1. CSX 104-3072 slowly tread through downtown Mount Hope with train Z549-05.

2. This train was composed of 100 loaded cars bearing the reporting marks ADLX, NDYX, CEFX, TILX, CRIX, GEAX, CITX, BNBX, DLRX, FURX and MBKX. Just about all of the car leasing companies are represented here!

3. On the other end of Mount Hope, Z549-05 slowly rounds the curve under WV 16 at McDonald.


5. Dropping down the steep grade along Loup Creek and the falls at Meadow Fork.

6. Rumbling across the bridge over New River.

7. The utility man arrives in the truck to help with putting the train away.

8. Remarkably the CSX dispatcher lets Z549 use the couple of hundred feet of main line to get to Rush Run siding.

9. After parking the train in Rush Run siding the RJC crew returns eastbound on the main line.


11. Z549 backs into Rush Run.

12. The RJC crew tightens the hand brakes to tie down the train. Soon a CSX crew will take the train to Hinton.

Train images used by permission of Everett N Young
last update - 11 Jan 2014