Mainline hopper movements

[NW Mailing List]

Jim,

The Bluefield pool job was referred to as just "Elkhorn" or "Elkhorn 
man/job/run." Motive power was one 2100 with empties or running light, 
with a cab and road crew of five. If there were two engines, one was a 
Pocahontas Pool pusher with a two-man crew, and both were dispatched 
facing in the same direction and running light to go pick up east loads.

In similar fashion, the Tug River Pool job out of Williamson was 
referred to as "River," as well as the pusher pool. They were dispatched 
with empties or east loads, and sported auxiliary tenders.

A clarification, terminals on the District where crews were based and 
runs originated in the 1950s included Weller Yard, Auville Yard, Eckman 
Yard and Wilcoe Yard. The terminal at Eckman closed in 1951 and Wilcoe 
closed for the latter half of the 1950s.

These pool jobs could set off and pick up by trailing-point moves at 
designated storage points listed earlier, but tipples were left to the 
six-man mine runs. If needed, a pool run could, for example, deliver a 
tipple, and then put in for extra pay.

Grant Carpenter

On 11/24/2025 6:09 AM, NW Mailing List wrote:
> Grant,
> Should I forget to say it explicitly in any of my messages, know that 
> I am always grateful to you for sharing your knowledge.  OK, it is the 
> start of a normal working day in the mid 1950s in Bluefield.  A "pool" 
> run (was that how they were referred to?) is assembled with a long 
> string of empties bookended by power.  Was the power Ys?  Were there 
> 2?  Was one running in reverse?  Since I assume most pool yards had 
> two switches off the main, what was the reason for using locomotives 
> with opposite facings?
> Jim Cochran
>
> On Mon, Nov 24, 2025 at 6:32 AM NW Mailing List 
> <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
>
>     Jim,
>
>     That's right, there was a pool of road crews based in each main
>     terminal, Elkhorn Pool in Bluefield and Tug River Pool in
>     Williamson, that hauled empties (when available) to storage points
>     and returned with loads from storage points. Mine runs only had to
>     move empties and loads between tipples and the nearest storage
>     point. Those points on the main line from Bluefield west to Iaeger
>     included: Mullins Middle, Flat Top Yard, Bluestone (River Track),
>     Angle Branch, Morgan Storage, North Fork Hollow/Elk Ridge Storage,
>     Byrd Yard, Eckman Yard, Vivian (Kimball Yard), Cirrus Storage,
>     Huger Middle, Superior #3 Outlet, Tug Storage, Farm Storage,
>     Caples Outlet, Davy Storage, Twin Branch Storage, Claren Storage
>     and Hull Middle (the limit of Elkhorn crews). Branchline yards
>     served by pool runs included Clift, Wilcoe and Auville.
>
>     As I mentioned earlier, operation limits, variations and
>     exceptions were typical; however, to your last point, I agree it
>     is a good idea to limit my posts to the specific questions and
>     limit details, so feel free to follow up.
>
>     Grant Carpenter
>
>     On 11/22/2025 2:44 PM, NW Mailing List wrote:
>>     Grant et al.
>>     Thank you so much for your responses, I will keep asking as long
>>     as you keep answering :-)
>>     From the Pokey's point of view, empties magically appeared in
>>     huge strings at Bluefield and Williamson, and needed to be
>>     distributed to every mining operation.  What I think I just put
>>     together from Grant's response (please correct me on
>>     anything/everything) is there was a distribution hierarchy of
>>     runs to keep everyone supplied.  Those big "mainline" runs that I
>>     started with in my first post, would start their runs "all empty"
>>     and set off cuts at what I will call distribution points (yards)
>>     while picking up loads from these large holding facilities.  The
>>     ones that come to my mind are Flat Top, Cliff, Byrd, Eckman,
>>     Vivian/Kimball, and I get foggier as I go West of my primary area
>>     of interest. Mike you probably know the ones around Iaeger, so
>>     please chime in.  Is there a comprehensive list?  The mainline
>>     run would, at some point have set off all its empties and picked
>>     up a full train of loads and head back to its terminal of origin
>>     be it Bluefield or Williamson.  How am I doing so far?  I am
>>     going to keep my posts somewhat short so as to try to concentrate
>>     on a limited aspect at a time to help keep things straight, at
>>     least for me.
>>     Thanks,
>>     Jim Cochran
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://pairlist6.pair.net/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/attachments/20251124/fb8ebc21/attachment.htm>