North Fork storage tracks

[NW Mailing List]

Jim,

Certainly no need to apologize, you are welcome, and I hope all is well. 
I split up your questions by topic.

On 11/26/2017 10:44 AM, NW Mailing List wrote:
> Grant,
> First off, let me apologize for the long delay in responding/thanking 
> you for the wonderful information; sometimes life gets in the way.  
> Second, your descriptions inspired further questions that I have 
> inserted below the pertinent part of your text and set off by ***.  
> Thanks again for your insights.  Jim
>
> The North Fork Hollow mine run was a daylight job out of Eckman Yard. 
> Dispatched facing upgrade, the regular power was the 2023 with Cicero 
> Sells as engineer, the senior man at Eckman. An Elkhorn job out of 
> Bluefield would set off empties the night before on the storage tracks 
> Elk Ridge (60 cars) and North Fork (55 cars) adjacent to the branch 
> line near North Fork Junction. The mine run could bring more empties 
> from Eckman Yard or Byrd Yard in Northfork, as needed.
>
> ***From the aerial view of the Elkridge in the Branchline book, it 
> looks like there was a middle track that ran from just East of the 
> bridge to somewhere around the curve into Kyle. I am assuming this was 
> the 60 car Elkridge storage track. Was the 55 car North Fork storage 
> track East of the junction and up-the-holler, alongside the coke 
> ovens?***
The middle track in the aerial view (p.12,"North Fork - Norfolk & 
Western Branch Line" by Alex Schust and Mason Cooper) is the North Fork 
Middle Track circa 1925 on the main line. It would have served as 
storage for the nearby tipples and the branch line. The 1952 main line 
realignment began east of Bridge #877 you referenced and shortened the 
middle track from the east to the North Fork Hollow Road crossing. I 
referenced the middle track regarding the meat refrigerator car setoffs. 
The hopper car storage capacity was transferred to Eckman Yard as it 
transitioned from a main line terminal to a storage yard.

The storage tracks are in the center of the aerial view. The photo on 
page 14 shows the coke oven track that would become Elk Ridge Storage 
and the North Fork Main that would eventually become North Fork Storage 
after a new main track was added to the right. The track chart on page 
13 shows the storage tracks between the main line junction and Buzzards 
Creek Branch.

More to come.

Grant Carpenter
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