Servicing Celanese and APCo

Wed Jun 8 10:11:11 EDT 2022

Back in the late 70’s and throughout the 80’s train 89 out of Roanoke would deliver cars to Celco. These would consist of mainly box cars and tank cars. The eastbound Bluefield - Radford shifter (formerly known as the Short Run) would deliver coal, usually in 25 - 40 car cuts. 
Train 89 was called from the “slow freight” pool. This pool handled all the hopper trains west. 89 was called out of Roanoke around midnight by the sinister yardmaster Bayes. He’d call 89 then call three to four hopper trains behind it. Crews hated 89 not only for the all night work but mainly getting “run around” by those trains called behind it, meaning staying in the Matz that much longer. 89 sometimes worked Big Spring Mill at Elliston and would pick up the westbound set off from train BR-2 at Walton middle track and usually set off local cars for Radford. If there were any MofW cars that needed to be set off or picked up at places like Eggelston, Cooke Siding or Pearisburg, that would be done as well. 
Then came Celco. First order of business was get the switch list from the clerk in the shanty near the set off track switch next to the mainline (I’m thinking he was the Narrows station clerk who came over and listed the tracks). Cut the power off, reach in and grab anywhere between 10-40 outbounds. We’d always have to make up the hoses and knock off handbrakes on the entire cut. Double back to the main train, grab the set off and shove back into one or two of the receiving tracks. While it was fairly straightforward, this took a bit of time to do, all the while one could hear the westbound hopper trains that were called behind flying pass on the other side of the river. It didn’t help your attitude about getting “run around“ if it was raining or snowing. 

Chuck Akers
Roanoke, VA
540-815-1275

> On Jun 8, 2022, at 8:35 AM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> Don,
> I would suspect that Celco traffic would be on a par with traffic to Dupont in Waynesboro, VA. 
> I didn't make many trips to Bluefield, but, I do remember on one trip back to Roanoke we made a straight set off and pick up at Celco.
> 
> Jimmy Lisle
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
> 
> 
> -------- Original message --------
> From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
> Date: 6/8/22 8:13 AM (GMT-05:00)
> To: 'NW Mailing List' <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
> Subject: RE: Servicing Celanese and APCo
> 
> Thanks Ron. Any idea how much traffic was generated per day? From the photos I’ve seen, by the number of cars spotted in plant, I suspect it was significant.
> 
>  
> 
> Don
> 
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> 
>  
> 
> From: NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org> On Behalf Of NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List
> Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2022 6:08 PM
> To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
> Cc: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
> Subject: Servicing Celanese and APCo
> 
>  
> 
> Don, 
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> 
> The Celanese plant itself has always had it's own internal fleet of switchers. Whether a local freight or a road freight served the plant externally I can't say, although I suspect the former.
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> The original Celanese steam locomotive, a Porter 0-4-0F #1, is on display at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke.
> 
>  
> 
> Ron
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
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> Subject: NW-Mailing-List Digest, Vol 213, Issue 3
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> Today's Topics:
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>   1. Servicing Celanese and APCo (NW Mailing List)
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> Message: 1
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> Date: Mon, 6 Jun 2022 14:53:44 -0700
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> From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
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> To: "N&W Mailing List" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
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> Subject: Servicing Celanese and APCo
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> Message-ID: <mailman.316.1654562238.3402549.nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
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>  
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> A question to the knowledgeable folks of the society. How was the Celanese
> 
> plant at Narrows serviced, particularly in the 1970's? Did a local come out
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> of Bluefield, Radford or Roanoke to do the days work there? Or were cars
> 
> dropped and picked up by a through freight and a local switcher (employed by
> 
> Celanese?) handle the work in plant? How much daily traffic was generated
> 
> here?
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> The same questions apply to the APCo power plant at Glyn Lyn, though I
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> remember seeing a well-used blue switcher there. So I assume that was only a
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> drop loads and pick up empties on the siding next to the main for the N&W.
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> Don Trettel
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> #3174
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