Saturday, June 3, 2017

Bluefield, WV: NS/N&W Coaling Tower, Roundhouse and Railyard

(3D Satellite)

Norfold Southern Corp posted
Train 217 passes through Bluefield, West Virginia, with intermodal equipment from Charlotte enroute to Chicago along the Heartland Corridor.
 
Norfolk Southern - Past and Present posted
Looking east at Bluefield West Virginia Feb. 1981, Amazing amount of trains stopped there to change crews. Crews still call diesels "Motors" years after the electrified part of the N&W was discontinued. Look at all the power!!!!!!!!!!!!!!good times, no great times
Randall Hampton: On one cold Sunday morning in 1985, I counted 42 diesels parked in that area.

The coaling tower is 125' tall, and it was erected in 1952. It was designed to have four tracks pass underneath. "Upon completion, the tower was the only one in the country to combine the ability to screen, crush, and magnetically inspect coal for fuel while also giving locomotives a one-stop location for sand, coal, and water." [Michael J. Wilson article in Jan 2022 Trains Magazine, p39] At first I was shocked that a railroad would make such an investment in steam locomotives as late as 1952. And then I remembered that, because coal was its lifeblood, the N&W planned on building and using their own steam locomotives. They had to give that up in the late 1950s when the companies that made all of the accessories went out of business. They could do the necessary sheet metal work, but they couldn't make the myriad of steam-driven air compressors, steam-driven dynamos, whistles, etc. that were needed.
 
Jack Waters posted
An aerial view of Bluefield by Mel Grubbs Photography as it appeared in the 1953 Beaver Year Book.
Randall Hampton shared
Check out the Bluefield roundhouse, on the left, in 1953.
Steve Roberts: I don't see the coaling tower in the photo. Was it not built then?
Randall Hampton: It was built very late in the steam era, not used very long, but I don't remember the exact date. The old coaling equipment was quite low to the ground.
Clint Smith: Steve Roberts it was built In 1955.
 
Stephen Preston posted
N&W Ry. 0-8-0 #200 at Bluefield, W. Va., July 1957. Photo by W.E. Warden, Jr.
 
Stephen Preston posted
N&W Rwy. yards from middle over-head bridge, Bluefield, W. Va. 1918.
Drexel Todd: Yes this is East End of yard.

Stephen Preston posted
Largest Electric Freight Motor in the World. N&W Ry., Bluefield, W. Va. Early 1900's.

Terry Hodges posted
Looking west at the Bluefield, WV NS (former N&W) yard. The Pocahontas Division HQ are in the red brick building on the left. Alas, the 'Pokey Division' is no more. Picture source unknown.

Bill Rettberg Jr. posted
Back when Bluefield was vibrant. 1982.
Kenneth Hardman: the brakeman would tie 25 hand brakes on a coal train on the yard so it would not roll away. [It sounds like the yard is on a hill.]

Many of the tracks still exist in the railyard.
 
Aaron Bryant posted
Built in 1952 by Ogle Engineering Company, for the Norfolk and Western Rwy, this 2000 ton capacity coaling tower is the icon of Bluefield, WVa. With early generation diesels being added to the railroads roster, use of the tower was short lived. Another icon seen in the photo, is the Grant Street, through truss bridge. Sadly, this bridge was taken out of service earlier this year, and is being dismantled at this time. The F units of the NS OCS train arranged in the traditional A-B-B-A set-up, pass under the bridge, and by the coaling tower on May 1st, 2019. Who would have imagined that the 4 units would leave the NS roster before the old structures were removed, although the coaling tower will most likely be there for many years to come.
Don Huff: Bluefield yard was my original away from home terminal. I ran out of Roanoke Virginia to Bluefield and Bristol on the old Radford Division. Bluefield is a natural “Hump” yard. Your location of the pic is the peak of the hump. Looking East. The trains they ran out of that yard, in my time, was generally 180 car loads of bituminous coal. I’ve seen as many as 28 trains of coal leave Bluefield in a 24 hour period and that included Duke power unit trains. That was decades ago! The dispatchers were primo!! Those guys back then were railroaders. Today we have “Three steppers, position of safety, switches lined double check and assorted other BS policies that have taken away from the professional and made a culture of dumbed down transportation workers. Leave it to the people at the top who’ve never railroaded in their life to tell you how to railroad. Sorry for the rant but I’ve watched the Highly educated destroy the railroads.
Steve Fisher: Aren’t those fueling hoses for diesels in the yellow frames? Quite a contrast to the coaling tower!
Aaron Bryant: Steve Fisher Yes, they sure are. That's the fuel pad, and the diesel servicing shop is just beyond it.
 
Chris Cook posted
4223 & 7656 pulling coal through the Bluefield Yard.
Dennis DeBruler shared
I always like photos that capture a view of this coaling tower.
37°16'17.5"N 81°13'13.7"W

Warrem Schebler posted
Here’s a photograph showing the Norfolk & Western Y6b Class #2200 in Bluefield, West Virginia sometime during the 1950’s. Photographer unknown.
Jim Kelling shared
Coaling tower in Bluefield WV

3D Satellite

3D Satellite
It is interesting how the view has changed since I last looked at this area.
Aaron Bryant posted, cropped
The old concrete coaling tower in Norfolk Southern's Bluefield yard. Photo date: 12/01/2018.

Aaron Bryant posted
Another view of the 2000 ton capacity coaling tower in Bluefield, West Virginia. Built in 1952 for the Norfolk and Western Railway, and still standing today.
Aaron Bryant posted
A view of the 2000 ton capacity coaling tower in Bluefield, W.Va. The tower was built in 1952 by Ogle Engineering Company, for The Norfolk & Western Railway Company. Photo taken: May 2019.
Jim Kelling This may be the largest one remaining in the USA; any other nominations?
Dennis DeBruler Illinois Central's pair north of Gilman, IL.
https://towns-and-nature.blogspot.com/.../gilman-il...
Dennis DeBruler The Wabash tower in Decatur, IL
https://towns-and-nature.blogspot.com/.../decatur-il...

Aaron Bryant also posted six photos with the comment: "A railtrain sits in the NS, Bluefield yard. It has 4, very legible Southern, cars on the rear. One Dash 9 idles on the westward facing train. Photo date: 12/5/18."
Dennis DeBruler The fifth photo gave it away, the SOU MoW equipment carries and lays ribbon rail. And perhaps also picks up and carries old rails.

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Dennis DeBruler There is also a caboose hiding behind a tree on the left.


Raymond Storey posted
Jim Kelling I think it’s Bluefield, WV and still there (N&W Railway).

Brad McClelland posted
Bluefield, West Virginia in October 1958.
Photo by W. Allen McClelland
Aaron Bryant posted
NS Bluefield yard framed in by the trusses of the Grant Street bridge. Photo date: 11/29/18.
Robert Niesyn commented on Brian M Fox's posting

Aaron Bryant posted
Norfolk Southern Car Shop in Bluefield Yard. Photo taken 3/27/19 in Bluefield, W.Va.
Adam Amick Top Gon! :D Are those grain cars in storage?
Aaron Bryant Adam Amick yes, they've been there for months.
Dennis DeBruler A couple of red cabooses is also interesting. https://www.google.com/.../@37.2743058,-81.../data=!3m1!1e3

Mark Wallace posted
Norfolk Southern Bluefield yard Bluefield WV 2/25/17

Aaron Bryant posted
Locomotives being serviced in Bluefield Yard. Photo date: 5/9/19.
Tom Oconnell Thank you, a good picture of what can be an easily modeled facility. Google Earth surprised me when I looked at it as to how compact this facility is.
Aaron Bryant Tom Oconnell thank you. Yes it's pretty compact. To the left of the coaling tower, there was a turntable and roundhouse back in the days of steam.
[The tower doesn't look near as dirty in this photo. It demonstrates that lighting can significantly change the results of a photo.]

Aaron Bryant posted
NS 821 in the center of the photo, departing Bluefield Yard today [6/15/2019].

Raymond Storey posted
The N&W..Bluefield WV

Raymond Storey posted

Aaron Bryant posted
Caboose 555639 has a backdrop of countless covered hoppers while it sits at the car shop in Bluefield Yard. 8/12/19.
Don Hamilton idled grain hoppers, must be Trumps trade war.
[And them some "no politics" comments.]

Aaron Bryant posted eight photos with the comment: "Georgetown Rail Equipment Company (GREX) Rail Conveyor System for transporting and spreading ballast, passed through Bluefield Yard. The train was eastbound, and had NS D9-40CW 9690 leading. Photos taken 4/29/20."
Aaron Bryant shared
Dennis DeBruler The second photo is the first photo I have seen that has a side view of the coaling tower.
This train looks like GREX's initial design where a single belt ran the full length of the train. That design can't unload on curved track. A newer design has the conveyor in each car dump into a hopper on the next car.
Âaron Bryanţ Dennis DeBruler That design on the GREX is pretty neat. Also, the concrete structure is not the big coaling tower, this one was for sand if I'm not mistaken. It's quite a bit smaller.
Dennis DeBruler Thanks for the correction. I've been able to find the coaling tower.
https://www.google.com/.../@37.2708538,-81.../data=!3m1!1e3
But I couldn't find this tower.
Âaron Bryanţ Dennis DeBruler The smaller tower is several hundred yards west of the big coaling tower, and it's not in the yard. It's located up on the hill above the diesel service tracks.
Aaron Bryant shared
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Dennis commented on Aaron's comment
At first, I thought it was unusual for a railroad facility to be so far from the yard. Then I noticed that the arc of the parking lot looked like the radius of a roundhouse.
https://www.google.com/.../@37.2687725,-81.../data=!3m1!1e3

Dennis commented on Aaron's commentSure enough. Hardy Street didn't use to exist. This tower was probably used to dry sand. The old coaling towers used to also store sand for loading locomotives.
1926 Bluefield Quadrangle @ 1:62,500

Cerita Sakura posted
Pushers of the human kind attempt to roll a caboose downgrade through the yard at Bluefield on a miserably cold day in early 1985. They eventually succeeded, and the cab dropped down to a coupling on the rear of an eastbound coal train ready to depart for Roanoke. For sure, this was a very different kind of yard switcher. January 26th, 1985.
Photo Credit to Ron Flanary.


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