North Carolina Branch (Pulaski to Galax/Fries)

[NW Mailing List]

On Nov 16, 2007 12:01 AM, Andre wrote:

> Lessee, the reasons I've heard were bad roads and lack of rail traffic

> frequency.

> The same applies to the connecting Bristol line itself. Why spend half a day

> waiting for a train on a single-track line when the busy N&W main wasn't all

> that far away, with a lot more chances to score.


Yep, Andre pretty much hit the mark. Even today, getting "trackside"
along the branch isn't easy. It would have been more of a hassle back
when more trains were running but roads weren't as good. There are
some pretty isolated sections of track/river through there and most
access points took the long way 'round to get to (drop into Byllsby
Dam some day -- scenic but not the quickest travel).  As time was
winding down on the North Carolina Branch in the mid '80s, one train
per week served the branch on Wednesdays, leaving Radford Yard in the
morning and making a day of it. Grant Carpenter and I made several
forays along the line to "chase" the line before it was gone for good.
With a collection of maps, a scanner (Dwight Henry was the ATM out of
Radford and he followed the train by vehicle, keeping track of the
train's progress by radio in case the crew ran into problems or had a
mishap), and the walking pace of the train, we were able to catch the
train in several locations. It took some doing to get to and from some
of the locations, but the effort was worth it.  It is too bad this
line wasn't better documented in photos and videos, because the crews
who worked the branch got to travel through some pretty scenic
territory.

Bruce in Blacksburg