North Fork Hollow Mine Run

Tue Dec 2 08:58:11 EST 2025

The Buzzard Creek Branch was extended in 1899 to connect with the Crosby & Beckley logging RR's wooden track that went over Indian Ridge to go down Pinnacle Creek. The standard gauge portion of the extension was probably left in place when the logging stopped in 1904. In 1914 the N&W surveyed a route from Buzzard Creek along the old logging RR right of way to connect with the proposed Guyandot & Tug River RR coming down Pinnacle Creek.

In 1925 the Buzzard Creek Branch was extended to hold 25 empties to accommodate the new Algoma tipple. The stub track, which only held four cars, was put in at the same time.

Alex Schust
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From: NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org> on behalf of NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
Sent: Tuesday, December 2, 2025 7:44 AM
To: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
Subject: Re: North Fork Hollow Mine Run

Grant,
More thanks than I can express for this information.  Your response contains lots of goodies, so I am going over it several times to make sure I glean all I can, and am going to respond one piece at a time to make sure I cover as much as possible.  Since Mike Rector, and perhaps others that are following along, have not properly committed themselves by fully memorizing the layout of North Fork branch in all its archeological incarnations :^), I will attach portions of track charts and possibly other diagrams stolen, uh, I mean borrowed from North Fork – Norfolk & Western Branch Line   by Alex Schust, Mason Cooper.   I would highly recommend picking up a copy from the commissary, a steal at $28.
So now for my first (of many) questions, refer to attached track chart snippet.  Your message stated "Algoma was at the end of the spur with no tail track to pull past".  The chart shows four tracks at the tipple, three of which went under the structure I believe for loading while the fourth was a bypass.  The empties would have been stages "above" the tipple for gravity loading.  The chart shows the "bypass" track extending a ways past the point where the loading tracks converge on the uphill side, with a short stub off a facing point turnout.  So did the mine run push all the empties up past this extension for storage?  What was the purpose of the stub spur?  What additional features would have been needed for a "tail track" that could have allowed the run to pull the empties up instead of pushing them?
As always, more to come,
Jim Cochran

On Sun, Nov 30, 2025 at 6:48 PM NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org<mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>> wrote:
Jim,

As if operations are not confusing enough, they varied and evolved over the decade from the opening of the new Elkhorn Tunnel to the end of steam. So by "headed West," that would be to the Eckman Yard table, with or without loads, turn, then pick up loads and head east, if in the same time period as when the mine run is still dispatched from Eckman Yard.

Regarding the North Fork Mine Run, I found this:

Regarding your mines of interest, my info only goes back to post-WWII. By then, the working tipples I heard about were at Algoma, Gilliam, Rolfe, Ashland and Crumpler.

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.

The job was broken up into three round trips from the junction up the branch: first to Algoma up the Buzzards Creek Branch, then to Gilliam and Rolfe, then to Ashland and Crumpler.

Algoma was at the end of the spur with no tail track to pull past, so empties were pulled off the junction-end of the storage tracks while backing out onto the main line, then shoved forward up the branch main track, then up the spur. Loads came back to Byrd Yard.

Gilliam and Rolfe were delivered by trailing point moves from the main track, so empties were pulled up the branch on this trip. The engine backed down with loads trailing to Elk Ridge and swapped the loads for the remaining empties.

Like Algoma, Ashland and Crumpler were stub-end, but the empties were pulled up the branch to Jones Siding, run around there, then shoved ahead. Ashland was delivered first, leaving the loads for pick up on the way back down from Crumpler.

Crumpler, aka Zenith, was steep with five, ten-car delivery tracks that made it particularly tedious and dangerous. With no radios to stop him, the rear brakeman rode the drawhead and jerked the angle cock open to stop. The middle brakeman made the cut while the rear brakeman set brakes, watching for the next cut to get on and stop them. Tipplemen, called "droppers", would help set brakes. Every load had brakes on and if they were set out on the main track, every brake had to be put back on.

Loads were usually blocked at the tipples and both east and west loads were set out on Elk Ridge and North Fork storage tracks, the main track, or in the yard upon returning to Eckman.

The North Fork mine run became First Vivian out of Bluefield when Eckman closed in 1951. "V1" would leave Bluefield with a 2000 in reverse, a cab on the pilot, and usually ran light. Empties were waiting on the Elk Ridge and North Fork storage tracks and Byrd Yard as before, but west loads were set off in Eckman Yard and it returned with east loads. If it was running close on time (16 hours) or Bluefield was (usually) unable to take short trains, the east loads were set off at Flat Top Yard and it ran light on to Bluefield.

Sometimes the daylight job put empties in at Algoma, but the loads would store there until the night job could pull them. Occasionally, North Fork/V1 would deliver Dan's Branch, but time-slipped.

Non-coal work included an occasional boxcar to the company store at Algoma. 84 would set off refrigerator cars of meat on the North Fork Middle Track about 1am every Monday morning for the North Fork Passenger Run to spot at the Wilson, Armour and Swift packing plants. After the passenger run was cut off, V1 would get called early at 4am (usually 8am) to spot the cars.

Grant Carpenter

On 11/29/2025 6:25 PM, NW Mailing List wrote:
The Elkhorn pool run has filled both the Elk Ridge Storage track and the North Fork Storage track, grabbed its cab and headed West to turn and pick up loads.  Now, a mine run gets dispatched from Eckman bound for the North fork branch.  What class locomotive?  Did it have a cab?  Was it facing forward (East)?  When it arrived at North fork and signed onto the branch,  Would it pull all the empties from both storage tracks at Elk Ridge or a lesser number prior to heading further up the holler to Algoma?
Jim Cochran
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