Mine runs 2 Re: loco motions

[NW Mailing List]

David,
Thanks very much for your input.  I think you may just have answered one of
my next questions which was how was the N&W informed of mine status i.e.
how many loads were ready for pickup and how many empties (mty's) were
needed on a particular day.  Now that I am thinking of the operation as a
hierarchy, it makes sense that the mines served by a primary distribution
yard would provide their information to the yardmaster there so he could
determine the make up of his mine runs.  I assume he would then "roll up"
his total needs and relay this to Bluefield or Williamson, where they would
then be rolled up again to determine the consist of mainline distribution
runs.  Was this also handled by the yardmasters at the major terminals.
If we keep this up, one day I am going to know a little bit about
Pocahontas operations :^)
Jim Cochran


On Sun, Nov 23, 2025 at 6:47 AM NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
wrote:

>
>> I’m fascinated to read the discussion regarding switching coal operations
> on Tug Fork and Dry Fork.  I was a 3rd shift and then 2nd shift yardmaster
> at Wilcoe in 1978 and 1979.  Coming from the management training program in
> Roanoke, I had no experience with operations to suggest what was reasonable
> and what was not if my supervisors didn’t tell me otherwise.
>
> One morning we got a telephone call from Jenkin Jones with their order for
> the day.  They knew we had 60 short loads destined their way, probably
> having come from Bishop on Dry Fork.  I don’t remember now but there were
> probably mty’s for them as well, but these had to be distributed among all
> the mines and the car distributors office in Bluefield would have told us
> how many Jenkin Jones was to get.  I gave the 2nd Tug their orders,
> including the direction to deliver 60 short loads to Jenkin Jones, and when
> he came in at 7am, turned over the Yardmasters seat to my mentor, Fred
> Richards, and went home to bed.  I had no idea what I had just done.
>
> The 1st and 2nd Tugs were each assigned three SD units.  I’d grown up in
> Harrisonburg, watching a “big” train on the Chesapeake Western use all
> three T6’s.  It never occurred to me that three SD’s could only handle 20
> short loads up the mountain from Anawalt to Jenkin Jones.  They had to
> triple the hill that day, and I was informed in no uncertain terms of my
> error the next morning.
>
> Ignorance is bliss, until it isn’t.
>
> David Ray
>
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