Classic Trains Summer 2011 question

[NW Mailing List]

On Thu, May 5, 2011 at 11:51 AM, Ken Miller wrote:


> Hey Roger

>

> That is correct, Shawsville Tunnel, daylighted in 1990-91. I shot 1218

> coming west there, as the last steam train through the tunnel in 1990.

>

>  > In the current Classic Trains Summer 2011 on page 34 is a image labelled

> as #4 east of Christiansburg, VA entering a tunnel (J. David Ingles photo).

>  Is this the tunnel east of Shawsville that was daylighted for double

> stacks??



If one starts at the upper-right corner of the stone face of the tunnel
portal and follows down the tan rocks of the cut into the tunnel, you come
to the end of the cut, next to the units (the dark, vertical rocks). That is
where the original Virginia and Tennessee tracks went around that little
point of the ridge that stuck out as the line climbed from Elliston to
Shawsville, bypassed when the tunnel was built. When the daylighting project
was going on, tracks were once again laid down there to bypass the tunnel so
traffic could continue without interruption and the tunnel work could go
that much quicker (as opposed to other projects that required line
shut-downs for extended periods). It was an interesting case of what was old
becoming new again.  An upside (or downside, depending on how you feel about
CPLs) was that the blocks were extended and several signals were removed as
part of the project (Shawsville, behind the burned-out Wilson's restaurant
at the Lafayette turnoff, Elliston, and at the tunnel).

Bruce in Blacksburg
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