CSX & Norfolk Southern in Virginia's Southern Shenandoah Valley - 10/26/2023

October 26, 2023.
Footage from a gorgeous autumn day along the James River around Natural Bridge Station, Arcadia, and Glasgow in the Southern Shenandoah Valley of western Virginia.
Natural Bridge Station is where Norfolk Southern's H-line, Roanoke District (former Norfolk & Western) crosses the CSX James River Subdivision (former Chesapeake & Ohio) along the James River. The NS H-line runs from Hagerstown, MD to Roanoke, VA through the scenic Shenandoah Valley, handling four daily manifest freight trains and several locals. The James River Subdivision parallels the James River between Richmond and Clifton Forge, with heavy coal and grain traffic along with a daily local/manifest pair.
On this late-October day, CSX traffic was active during the morning hours with a westbound empty coal drag, an eastbound 'maintenance of way' equipment train, and the daily westbound local/manifest (L214) rolling through Natural Bridge Station along the river. Norfolk Southern traffic picked up during the afternoon and evening hours, with 12Z and 14Z (daily manifest freights) heading north from Roanoke, a rare loaded coal drag from Pennsylvania (578) heading south, and the Glasgow local (V81) working Mohawk Industries.
Train symbols and timestamps in this video:
01:25 - Westbound coal empties (CSX 3072 West)
05:36 - Eastbound MOW equipment (CSX 78 East)
07:56 - CSX L214 - westbound local/manifest
10:05 - NS 12Z - northbound manifest
13:50 - NS 578 - southbound coal loads
16:35 - NS 14Z - northbound manifest
20:05 - NS V81 - Roanoke to Glasgow local

[@lashendawest7509]

Great catches and nice video

[@keithbrianwilliams8039]

That's groovy, love the bridge with mountains within the background.

[@RFMCabooseNP1713]

Great video. I love the old signals. Looks like they won't be around for much longer.

[@squibrail4014]

Thanx for getting the light engine in there

[@keithbrianwilliams8039]

Hopefully you can catch an over and under soon!

[@fakecumberland]

What appealed to me in earlier times was the combination of older signals and motive power. Now one is gone and the other almost is.