VGN Stone Coal Branch, WV track plan HO
- Size: 12′ x 14′
- Scale: HO
- Minimum Radius: 30″
- Minimum Aisle Width: 27″
- Designed by Dan Bourque
The Virginian’s Stone Coal Branch near Mullens, WV served many loaders for both the Virginian and the C&O. This branch was worked by mine runs out of the Virginian’s large yard at Elmore. Typical power during both the VGN and early N&W eras was one or two Fairbanks-Morse Trainmasters. Stone Coal Junction was an active interchange point with the with the Chesapeake and Ohio. Although the C&O had trackage rights over the Stone Coal Branch, they opted to interchange hoppers bound for Stone Coal Branch loaders with the Virginian. The C&O … Read more
This layout packs a lot of track into a relatively small bedroom. It focuses on the C&O’s Hawks Nest Branch, a small steam-era coal branch near MacDougal, WV, and a small portion of the mainline from Thurmond to Charleston, WV. The branch was only three miles long. This track plan is based on 1921 track charts and contains the three mines listed. None of the mines were listed as active by 1966.
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Lynch, KY lay at the end of the L&N’s Poor Fork Branch east of Loyall, KY on the Cumberland Valley Division. The large loader at Lynch was owned by US Steel and loaded the “steel train” that ran between Lynch and Corbin, KY. Near Lynch were other loaders and few industries around Cumberland, KY.
The N&W’s Pocahontas Division was full of small branch lines serving numerous coal tipples. The Pond Creek Branch was one of the smaller of these branches and makes a great subject for a bedroom-sized layout.
The Interstate’s Dixiana Branch sprouted from their Glamorgan Branch north of Norton, VA and served a handful of loaders including the large Dixiana No 1 tipple.