Tidewater in 1907 -- Mercer County

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FIRST TRAIN OVER TIDEWATER ROAD
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Engine and Several Cars of Material Hauled from Goochville to Camp Princeton, Two Miles.
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COUNTY SEAT BEGINS TO TAKE ON CITY AIRS
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    Tuesday the first train was operated over the main line of the Tidewater railway in this section when an engine and several cars of material was run from Goochville to Camp Princeton, a distance of two miles.
    It is stated that rail will now be laid as rapidly as the grading work can be accomplished to accommodate it.
    There is at present a standard gauge line in operation between Ingleside and Goochville, a point one mile from Princeton.  This gives the Tidewater railroad their connection with the Norfolk and Western railroad in this section.  Although the track was built only for the handling of material and supplies for the work on the main line, it is also doing quite a large freight business for the public and handling all freight for the country adjacent to Princeton.  It is now stated on good authority that rails will be handled over this line to Princeton, and from there laid in both directions on the Tidewater.
    It is the present intention of those in charge of this work to begin the laying of rails in earnest as soon as the winter breaks and renders the work more easily accomplished.  On account of these and other reasons, especially its natural advantages, Princeton is rapidly becoming a very busy and prosperous little city, and many handsome residences and well equipped stores, offices and public buildings are under construction.  It is asserted on the best of authority that the near future will see an electric line built to connect Princeton directly with Bluefield.

Bluefield Daily Telegraph
January 25, 1907

[There are a couple of intriguing items in the above article, such as where was Goochville and what are the details of the standard gauge railroad from Ingleside to Goochville.

First, the article states that Goochville was two miles  from Camp Princeton (wherever that was) and one mile from Princeton (but, from what point in, or near, the small town of Princeton of 1907).  Apparently, Goochville may have been somewhere south of present-day US 460.  Anybody know?

Second, Jim Blackstock reports that a1907 N&W station list shows a MacArthur Bros. RR connection at Ingleside, WV.  McArthur {sic} Bros. was the Roanoke contractor on the Tidewater construction west of Roanoke according to a Dec. 7, 1907, Roanoke newspaper article posted by Ron Davis, Roger Link.  The standard gauge line from Ingleside to the Mercer County seat was called the "Blue Line" in an April 28, 1974, Bluefield Daily Telegraph article relating how Samuel Evans used the Blue Line to get equipment to Princeton for the power plant that he opened in 1908.  Apparently, McArthur Bros. constructed the Blue Line to get material from the N&W at Ingleside to the Princeton area, and this line also served the public's shipping needs while the two tunnels and two bridges were being built between the same two points for the Tidewater/Virginian line.  Does anyone have any details, particularly the route that the Blue Line took in climbing from Ingleside to Princeton (or Goochville)?  Any info on the locomotives used?

Gordon Hamilton
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