Bristol Line traffic patterns

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

Ben:
Be careful.  If you try to rationalize NS's traffic patterns, you'll  go 
nuts.  Don't
know if it's still running, but 10 years ago, NS had a Hagerstown-  
Sheffield, AL
run-through.  Forget the shortest distance between two points is a  straight
line.  The train made a left at Riverton, Jct. and went to Manassas,  then 
Atlanta
and Birmingham.  By Roanoke, Bristol, and Chattanooga, the route is  299
miles shorter.
 
Two summers ago, NS was doing maintenance of way work on the  Altavista
District.  For the cost of three units and an engineer, the coal  trains were 
pushed
across Blue Ridge giving the MW forces more track time.  Good  economics.
 
Long before the N&W/SOU merger was consummated, the department I was 
assigned to did some preliminary studies of allowing Southern trackage  from
Bristol to Montview (Lynchburg).  It was about 90 miles  shorter than 
Southern's
route from New Line, TN thru Asheville and Salisbury.   For every two trains 
out
of Salisbury to Asheville, it takes an Old Fort Turn to get the  overflow 
tonnage
into Biltmore.  Likewise, it takes three trains out of Asheville to  Old Fort 
to
get two trains into Linwood.  One night, I was riding Amtrak from New  York to
DC.  The conductor notified Graham Claytor (also on board) that there  was an
N&W man back in the coaches.  He came back and we had a  chat.  Casually,
without letting him know of the study, I pursued the Bristol-Montview  
possibilities.
"NO," he said.  Southern was only looking for a way from Cincinnati to  
Chicago.
Go figure!  To this day, the preferred route for traffic out of  Knoxville is 
via
Asheville and Salisbury.  Double stacks excepted.
 
                                                              Harry Bundy
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