diesel pushers on Blue Ridge Grade

[NW Mailing List]

Mike:

Not long, I’d suspect. Steam was gone over Blue Ridge by May 1959. I’d hazard a guess the last steam pushers were earlier that spring. By December, the merger with the Virginian was enacted, and most of the tonnage trains went east over the easier grade.

I’d suspect that the pusher jobs were ended in December 1959 as operations started to smooth out.

Occasionally, if the VGN is blocked, you will still see tonnage trains going east over Blue Ridge, with DPU, but no more pusher jobs.

Ken Miller

> On Sep 24, 2023, at 7:35 PM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
> 
> Matt Goodman and I were chatting recently and he mentioned that he wondered how long did the pushers last at Boaz after steam was gone.
> Watching this video clip (sorry it's a facebook link, but I don't think you have to have an account to view), I wonder the same thing...  https://fb.watch/ngvL-DDP2m/
> I don't even know which video this is from, as RD's facebook clips aren't labeled well and I can't find the video on their website.
> <image.png>
> Mike Rector
> 
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