Allen McClelland sits down to view a video of his old Virginian and Ohio, Gauley Subdivision. He reminisces about the abandoned track, the passenger station, the coach track with the rails pulled up. The trains pass by Marshall Chemicals in the background, engine servicing where one of the old cabooses has been modernized. The Valley Local comes by with the engine house in the background and the bay window caboose.
In another scene, the town job is pulling a tank car as it pulls out of Marshall Chemical. Allen has a good time reliving his layout, finding a lot of it interesting as he remembers aspects of the layout that he had forgotten. The Virginian and Ohio crosses over the creek where people can be seen fishing. These trains are switching from the paper company, pulling cars of paper. In town you can see the Amtrak coming through Flagstone passing the Historical Society’s office and tobacco fields up on the hillside.
In Dawson’s Spring, the helpers are in the pocket, which used to be an old passing track. Merchandise moves through. The helpers are moving out to go down to the other end, and be attached to the rear of a train and help shove it up the hill to Sandy Summit. That was a 2.5% grade, the steepest grade on the railroad. On the new railroad, the steepest grade is 1.67%. In Elm Grove at the east end of the passing track, the drop downgrade into the valley is near. Allen is enjoying seeing this video again as it brings back a lot of good memories.
Watch more from Allen Keller’s Great Model Railroads in the Model Railroad Academy archives.
