Arthur VA near Elliston

[NW Mailing List]

On Wed, Jan 1, 2014 at 9:17 AM,
​Ben
 wrote:


> There is an alternate alignment on the Christiansburg grade at Arthur.

>  I have walked this grade, and it is a very old grade.  My question

> is, is this the remains of an old shoofly track, or is it the original

> alignment?

>

> I don't see where a shoofly track would have ever been necessary, as

> the cut it bypasses isn't really that high in the first place, but it

> is long.  But, I could be wrong.  The main reason I question it is

> because the old grade is built very substantial in my opinion, and

> doesn't look like something temporary the way the Shawsville shoofly

> grade does.

>

> If it is the original alignment, then when was the new alignment built?

>


​I'll have to do some digging since I have a vague recollection about this.
I seem to remember that that is the original line as constructed by the
Virginia and Tennessee. Based on an 1890 topo map (section attached, from
Christiansburg map, download from the USGS at
http://store.usgs.gov/b2c_usgs/usgs/maplocator/(ctype=areaDetails&xcm=r3standardpitrex_prd&carea=%24ROOT&layout=6_1_61_48&uiarea=2)/.door
http://tinyurl.com/a6pz9c ) there was a tunnel in that location. It was
some time after that when the tunnel was daylighted, along with the
installation of a third track and interlocking tower. The map also shows
the tunnel at Shawsville, which I believe also replaced the original main
line around that spur of the ridge -- later reused as a shoofly when the
tunnel was daylighted for doublestacks.

Bruce in Blacksburg
 ​
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