Steam Pusher Engines

[NW Mailing List]

On Sun, Feb 28, 2021 at 5:17 AM Ken wrote:

> 3.      If coal coals trains used pusher engines, where would they have
> been attached?
>
> Pushers were attached out of the pusher siding at Boaz, a location little
> known today, but considered Berkeley Bottom to some. The former pusher
> siding is next to some soccer fields today. Then they pushed east over the
> summit at Blue Ridge, where they cut off on the fly, usually, and returned
> to the pusher siding at Boaz. Now, that operation really depended a lot on
> what else was going on. Sometimes the pusher would go all the way to
> Montvale and there was a westbound pusher siding east of the station, if
> there was a westbound that needed a pusher, or was broken down.
>

In past discussions about Blue Ridge and pushers, Irving was mentioned as a
pusher siding on the east side of the grade. It was a bit of an amorphous
location but Irving does exist along U.S. 460 east of Montvale. At the top
of the easbound S-curves, to the left, is Irving Road, crossing the N&W on
a wooden-deck bridge. Irving Road then parallels the railroad to the east,
intersecting with Nester Road and the grade crossing back over the track.
Just to the east of the bridge is a wide area on the north side of the
track, reached by a maintainer's road, which suspiciously looks like it at
one time could have been the pusher siding at Irving.

Bruce in Blacksburg
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