Heritage in the Hole...Virginian 1069 at Natural Tunnel

[E.M. Bell]

Saturday 07/13/13, I left home a little before 0530, made a quick stop in Danville to pick up Mr. Odell, and we headed Southeast over the mountains to Virginia and Natural Tunnel for "Railroad Day" at the park. The park service had made arrangements with NS to display the Virginian heritage motor, and for visitors to be able to walk through the tunnel on self guided tours.

As many of you know, I dont care to much for large crowds, but had figured that seeing as how this was pretty much out in the middle of BFE, maybe there would not be that many folks there....boy was I wrong! If you have never been there before, the park itself it literately down in a big hole.. From the parking lot, you either have to mountain goat your way down a steep, rough trail with lots of steps, or ride the chair lift. Once you are down at the tunnel, its tight quarters..the "trail" is a elevated wooden walkway with a few places that widen out, ending at a wooden deck at the tunnel itself.  That place was obviously NOT designed with large crowds in mind, but with a heritage motor on hand, plus that chance to walk through the tunnel itself and a chance to meet that NS picture taker feller, crowded it was.  I made the comment to Gage that this is what the old saying "shoving a 100 pounds of crap into a 50 pound sack" meant  ;D

Crowds be dammed, the event seemed to have been a hit, and I doubt the park itself had ever had that many visitors in a single day before. Casey, Ed, Stacey and the rest of the NS folks did a great job keeping folks entertained, and made the best use of what little sunlight was down there.  Towards the end of the day my knee had about enough, and we decided to beat the rush of folks leaving and head out a bit early, and spent the rest of the afternoon following the display engines back to Yuma, and then followed a CSX scrubber stone train back West from there.  It was great getting to see everyone again, and meeting some folks that I had not met in person.  I have said it before and will say it again..the trains are great, but the fun and fellowship are always the best part of these things.

I kept thinking to myself all day that there just had to be a NS special agent (or 2 or 3) somewhere that was having unexplained twitches, with all of those folks on the property and walking on an active mainline through a tunnel. I am not sure just how the park service convinced the RR to let them do that, but it was really neat to be able to walk through there (with 500 of your new closest friends) and see just how massive that hole really is. If you really stop and think about it, it is amazing what a little water and a million years or so of erosion can do! While there where plenty of us camera toting railroady types there, I would say that the general public had to FAR outnumber us, and it had to be great PR for both NS and the state.

Given the confined space and limited sunlight, I think that just about everyone probably got the same shots, but I tried to be a little creative here at there. Here are a few of mine, and the whole set can be found right here at this link >> http://www.pbase.com/kd4jsl/nsappy13

Down in the hole we go! To get down to the park you have 2 choices..a steep, crooked trail with thousands of steps, or a quick, fun, relaxing ride on a bus seat strung up on a cable that is probably older than I am....We chose to take a ride on the wild side..


Once you get down to the bottom, this is the view. When I say Heritage in a hole, its the truth!


The 1069 spotted up on the Stock Creek bridge, at the West end of the "little" tunnel (which was man made)


A candid shot of Mr. Flanary...when ever Ron gets the shot he wants, he always does a great Vegas showgirl kick (true story I just made up)...I wish I had been a little quicker on the shutter


Looking down on the 1069 from one of the elevated spots on the trail


Even a big EMD can look small surrounded by those cliffs..


NS 9256 looking a little battered (but with a fresh horse on the door) as the engines moved into Natural Tunnel


Aaron and Gage pose with the Virginian


Looking out the West end of the tunnel, with Stock creek on the left.


Looking out the East end.


Later in the afternoon, we followed the engines back towards Yuma and snagged a few shots. Here they are, posed on the Copper Creek bridge, with the massive Clinchfield viaduct looming overhead




The 1069 trails along as the power heads up the valley between Boone and Gate City, Va.


As soon as the special cleared up in the yard at Yuma, the Appalachia district came back to life. We lucked into a Westbound CSX rock train (running on trackage rights between Frisco TN and Big Stone Gap Va) and followed him for a hour or so. Here he is at MP 34, Boone Va


And again, crossing the famous Bootleggers trestle near Sunbright, Va

[nsgelocos]

All in all was good day to talk trains with people and get some nice shots! Those are some nice shots there. I would have some nice video to accompany those shots, but my camera (insert negative word for said meaning "damaged") my entire tape for that day.

[Ed Fury]

Them peach baskets on a string are scary looking. Nice pics.

[E.M. Bell]

While I know some folks like to have feet planted firmly on the ground, I have never really been scared of heights. Now..clowns, snakes..those are things to be afraid of, but to each there own. I am sure that a federaly inspected, state operated public transportation and elevation enhancement device is as safe as laying in your own bed at night

The ride was not bad at all, and on the way back up that afternoon (thanks to Mr. Southworth) we got to stop and sit suspended high above the crowd a couple of times. The only scary thing about that was being trapped in a peachbasket with a feller who suddenly had an awful round of gas. You would think being that high up there would be a breeze, but no...sorry about that Gage ol buddy

[atsf93]

Very well done Mr. Bell! I really need to make it down to Natural Tunnel some time.

-Brian

[thpbears]

Nice shots. It was a fun day indeed.

[swinstandley]

E.M. in the hole at Natural Tunnel.

[E.M. Bell]

And Stew gets the most rare shot of the day!   ;D

[Ponce de Leon]

I don't know about that leg kick thing, EM. It's more likely I was about to lose my balance and fall ("Help!....I've fallen and I can't get up!!").

There are lots of Natural Tunnel stories, and maybe one day we can relate some of the better ones here. As EM, Butch and others know, there's never a lack of stories if you're around me. There was a time when there weren't any walkways in the tunnel, and folks had unfettered access at all times---including walking through the tunnel while a train was rolling by. Of course that's been many years and many lawyers ago.

Here's a late-Southern view of how things were. Yes, a wide angle lens is essential equipment if you expect to photograph a train there.

[butch]

Nice shot Ron