Arthur VA near Elliston

[NW Mailing List]

The way I read the maps, the tunnel would have been where the tracks
currently cut between a spur of the ridge just east of the current-day
Arthur crossover. That would place the tunnel just east of the east
end of the abandoned alignment. or just east of where the present-day
Sparrow Road reaches track level where it follows part of the abandoned
alignment before turning back to cross the tracks. In other words, I
would place the west end of the tunnel just at the right edge of Ben's
screen capture) edge of Ben's screen capture. I would place the abondoned
alignment where the "1500" is on the 1896 map.

This photo shows the cut where I think the tunnel was:
http://www.krunk.org/ns-nrv/arthur/ns8772-2-medium.jpg

My understanding is that the abandoned alignment is the original route
before the railroad cut into the south side of one hill (here the flat
clearing is today the the north side of the hill west of the Sparrow
Road grade crossing to straighten the route. 

What I'm wondering now is where the water runoff from the hollow on
the north side of the tracks goes. Did the railroad build and bury a
culvert way under the ground when they rerouted the tracks? And if so,
could there be a date on it that might provide a 'when'?


Joe Shaw
Christiansburg, VA
http://www.krunk.org/