Uploaded October 2016 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Winding its way along the James River through the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, owing much of its history to the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, this main artery still serves as a thoroughfare for millions of black diamonds from West Virginia and Kentucky mines to the docks on the Chesapeake Bay. It was no surprise for us on our visit to encounter a loaded coal train as our first sighting. Most of the traffic on the James River Subdivision are long drags of coal—150 cars average. Some intermodal, manifest, and even crude oil trains pass over these rails too, with long strings of 200+ car empty coal trains heading west and ducking into the occasional turnouts to not disrupt the eastbound flow of revenue along this busy single track mainline. Although fairly remote, the line passes through several industries, including a large Georgia Pacific Paper Mill in Big Island, where we see a local train departing toward Lynchburg with loaded box cars.
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On March 20, 2016 (excuse the typo in video), a brief visit to the CSX James River Subdivision yielded two different trains.
0:00 - T200-16 Newport News coal loads
CSX SD70MAC 4561 (YN2)
CSX AC4400CW 492
We were on our way home from watching trains on Norfolk Southern around Roanoke when we decided to trek the long path to Button's Bluff, which sits high up above the railroad at a bend in the James River, which is counteracted by the rails running straight across a bridge and through a tunnel beneath us. Although not far from Interstate 81, it takes some time navigating the stone and dirt roads to this remote location, which rewards visitors—railbuffs and tourists alike—with stunning scenery of the river and mountain ridges. Luckily for us, chatter on the scanner half-way into our drive meant we would not have to sit and wait for a train...in fact we were at risk to miss it, so driving fast down those back roads was probably not a wise decision, but surely enough with a couple minutes to spare, flange squeal could be heard as the approaching coal drag navigated the bends in the river. Most of the coal trains on this segment are powered by the new GE Evolution Series locomotives, such as the ES44AC and Tier 4 Compliant ET44AC, so it was a surprise to see a YN2 locomotive round the curve...even more of a shock as it closed in to realize it was an EMD SD70MAC, one of the last to wear this older paint scheme, luck was definitely on our side with this rapid cool catch, knowing it would be worth a chase.
3:00 - Further east at Natural Bridge, we beat the train by a long shot, as the roads are much straighter than the water-level route of the rails. Although the C&O cantilever signals have long been replaced by new safetran technology, Natural Bridge Station is a neat place to watch trains, both on CSX, and on NS (former N&W route) that crosses over the James River in the background. No trains were in the siding on this afternoon, but this is a common meeting point between westbounds and eastbounds, and also hosts higher track speeds compared to other locations on the line, boy did that coal dust fly!
4:45 - We tried to beat the train to Big Island, which is just east of the Blue Ridge Parkway; however the tables were turned with the straightening of the James River allowing for a clean path down low for rail, but a windy mountain pass for automobiles high above. We beat the train with seconds to spare for a photo only, but happened to notice—once again to our luck—a local about to leave the paper mill toward our direction.
H944-20 with several loaded box cars of paper products departs out of the siding with a CSX GP40-2 Mother / Road Slug set, 6977 & 2377. To a videographers delight, a nice Leslie RS5T horn sounds as they approach the access crossing. At 6:45 in the video, just down the road, the train gets back under way on the mainline, with yet another incredible view of the mountains and river.
Thanks for watching (and reading)!
Winding its way along the James River through the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, owing much of its history to the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, this main artery still serves as a thoroughfare for millions of black diamonds from West Virginia and Kentucky mines to the docks on the Chesapeake Bay. It was no surprise for us on our visit to encounter a loaded coal train as our first sighting. Most of the traffic on the James River Subdivision are long drags of coal—150 cars average. Some intermodal, manifest, and even crude oil trains pass over these rails too, with long strings of 200+ car empty coal trains heading west and ducking into the occasional turnouts to not disrupt the eastbound flow of revenue along this busy single track mainline. Although fairly remote, the line passes through several industries, including a large Georgia Pacific Paper Mill in Big Island, where we see a local train departing toward Lynchburg with loaded box cars.
Like us on Facebook!
facebook.com/CentralPennRailProductions
On March 20, 2016 (excuse the typo in video), a brief visit to the CSX James River Subdivision yielded two different trains.
0:00 - T200-16 Newport News coal loads
CSX SD70MAC 4561 (YN2)
CSX AC4400CW 492
We were on our way home from watching trains on Norfolk Southern around Roanoke when we decided to trek the long path to Button's Bluff, which sits high up above the railroad at a bend in the James River, which is counteracted by the rails running straight across a bridge and through a tunnel beneath us. Although not far from Interstate 81, it takes some time navigating the stone and dirt roads to this remote location, which rewards visitors—railbuffs and tourists alike—with stunning scenery of the river and mountain ridges. Luckily for us, chatter on the scanner half-way into our drive meant we would not have to sit and wait for a train...in fact we were at risk to miss it, so driving fast down those back roads was probably not a wise decision, but surely enough with a couple minutes to spare, flange squeal could be heard as the approaching coal drag navigated the bends in the river. Most of the coal trains on this segment are powered by the new GE Evolution Series locomotives, such as the ES44AC and Tier 4 Compliant ET44AC, so it was a surprise to see a YN2 locomotive round the curve...even more of a shock as it closed in to realize it was an EMD SD70MAC, one of the last to wear this older paint scheme, luck was definitely on our side with this rapid cool catch, knowing it would be worth a chase.
3:00 - Further east at Natural Bridge, we beat the train by a long shot, as the roads are much straighter than the water-level route of the rails. Although the C&O cantilever signals have long been replaced by new safetran technology, Natural Bridge Station is a neat place to watch trains, both on CSX, and on NS (former N&W route) that crosses over the James River in the background. No trains were in the siding on this afternoon, but this is a common meeting point between westbounds and eastbounds, and also hosts higher track speeds compared to other locations on the line, boy did that coal dust fly!
4:45 - We tried to beat the train to Big Island, which is just east of the Blue Ridge Parkway; however the tables were turned with the straightening of the James River allowing for a clean path down low for rail, but a windy mountain pass for automobiles high above. We beat the train with seconds to spare for a photo only, but happened to notice—once again to our luck—a local about to leave the paper mill toward our direction.
H944-20 with several loaded box cars of paper products departs out of the siding with a CSX GP40-2 Mother / Road Slug set, 6977 & 2377. To a videographers delight, a nice Leslie RS5T horn sounds as they approach the access crossing. At 6:45 in the video, just down the road, the train gets back under way on the mainline, with yet another incredible view of the mountains and river.
Thanks for watching (and reading)!
![High Hood on the Selinsgrove Industrial Track [4K]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/qW8Js5C1v-4/mqdefault.jpg "High Hood on the Selinsgrove Industrial Track [4K]
On June 25, 2018, an odd occurrence allowed us to chase a train on some rare and endangered mileage. K21 departs south out of Northumberland with cars for Herndon Reload; however, they have the added task of rescuing an engine and car off of the Selinsgrove IT—a job normally done at night, which apparently had a minor derailment at the mill in Kreamer on their last run. NS GP38-2 5004 will head down light to the end of the line at Kreamer. The P5 horn on the long hood is so clogged and out of tune that only the #4 chime seems to be sounding. While this isnt the most thrilling video in terms of train action, this is, as far as I know, this is the only existing video documenting this line to date on YouTube, and may be the last time anyone films a train here.
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We first catch the whole train heading south on the Buffalo Line through Sunbury passing the endangered PRR Position Lights at SF on its way to Selinsgrove Junction. After uncoupling from their train on the Susquehanna River bridge, 5004 proceeds by itself down the branch toward the end of the line, first passing depot in Selinsgrove. We then set up by the lumber plant east of Kreamer, then shot 5004 in the middle of town. The mill was busy with trucks so we were not able to get a shot there (not to mention incredibly back lit). The train then heads back east through Kreamer with a much better sounding P5 horn on the the forward hood.
The Selinsgrove Industrial Track was formerly part of the Pennsylvania Railroads Selinsgrove-Lewistown Line, severed in 1956 between Maitland and Kreamer, the eastern portion, along with the the lead to the power plant in Shamokin Dam, are the last few remaining rails in Snyder County, Pennsylvania. The power plant is no longer served by rail after the coal-fired generators were retired for new natural gas ones built adjacent to the old plant. With a feed mill in Kreamer, as well as another mill just east of there, keeping this short stretch of rails polished, it is very likely that someday soon this line will be abandoned and ripped up, leaving another county in Pennsylvania without any trace of railroad activity (there are currently three: Fulton, Clarion, and Forest). With slow speeds and an expensive river crossing to maintain over the Susquehanna River, Norfolk Southern has been pushing to move the service to the eastern shore to their facility in Herndon. Whether it be politics, logistics, or a strong storm or flood wiping out the river crossing, time will tell just how long these few miles of rails will last.
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Presented in 4K-30p from the Sony AX-100")
