old train pictures

[NW Mailing List]

On Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 2:36 PM, Jeff wrote:

    Bruce et al -

    That photo was taken at Pepper, and was shot from the Peppers Ferry
    Road bridge. 

    http://www.nwhs.org/archivesdb/detail.php?ID=91920


Jeff nailed the location with the archive photo, but opened up the floor
for more questions. I buzzed down there after work on Monday to take
advantage of the sun, especially shining from the west onto this
location. It helped a little.

The location is just east of what was Pepper station on the Radford
Division, west of Walton Junction (see http://g.co/maps/as8b5). The
photo Jeff provided and the one of the J with passenger cars was taken
either from or just adjacent to the VA 114 overpass across the track(s)
looking back east toward Walton.

The two pictures I grabbed were from the cab of my pickup truck while
sitting on the shoulder of 114, directly on the overpass. The trees have
grown up both along the highway and the railroad embankment so that it
would take a crew from /AxMen/ to be able to reproduce the archive
photo. Note on the one photo (Pepper1.jpg) I have marked what I believe
to the the rock outcropping that is above the engines in the archive
photo and what I call the rock face (the flat area of rock) further back
near the signal bridge. It would take a hike or winter with no leaves to
confirm this, though. But I do believe the location can be confirmed as
Pepper, MP N-304.

Now, the questions: When was the westbound track removed? Did it extend
all the way to Cowan or did it end at Bluff before the bridge across the
New River and into Cowan Tunnel? Jeff's photo isn't dated, so that
doesn't help. But that is the fun of this, one solved mystery leads to
another one to solve.

Bruce in Blacksburg

Moderator:
 See images at:
http://nwhs.org/wiki/show_image.php?id=219
http://nwhs.org/wiki/show_image.php?id=218
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