Hi, does anybody know the curfew times for the Pokey for tunnel enhancement? I am planning a trip there end of October and would be interested. Also I have been looking at the Roanoke web cam and noticed a few westbound container trains, where are these trains going to? thanks, Ringo
Even before the Pocohontas Route (ex-N&W main line) tunnels can be heightened or “daylighted” (removed altogether), there are ways NS can route its traffic; one way might be to take the Shenandoah Valley route (exx-PC) from Roanoke to Hagerstown and then start heading north and west. Further north and a little west there is that marveous Horeshoe Curve near Altooa. Point you right toward the industrialized midwest.
If you’re going more to the heartland, you can use the old N&W/Southern Rwy “Pelican” route down to Bristol or Knoxville or even Chattanooga and then start heading north to places like Kentucky, then west to Missouri, etc.
But when the Pokey Project is done, NS is going to trumpet it all over the place. It saves hundreds of miles and the route will have more to show than just single-level stuff like coal.
For more up-to-date information, you might consider scoping out the railroad itself: nscorp.com. Also there’s the “nsinvest” newsletter for investors of all sizes but I don’t think they would try to keep that info away from other interested parties.
- al
The tunnel work starts at 2:00am till 12:00 noon,excluding Thursday and Friday,or is it Wendsdays and Thursdays .?I work the Kenova side and can’t remember right now,12 hrs. this trip.[zzz]
Evertime the tunnel crews are late going to work because of a train that “had” to make it thru,the railroad pays a $33,000.00 fine !And it has happened several times.
But there is times when the railroad can reroute over Dry Fork Branch,then back to Bluefield.