Layout at a glance
| Name | Norfolk Southern CR&E Division (Charleston, Roanoke & Eastern Railway) East End District and Kessler & Northern District |
| Scale | N (1:160) |
| Size | 22' X 36' overall. Two main rooms (11 X 22 and 15.5 X19) and one connecting room (6 X 8) |
| Prototype | Proto-freelanced with influences from NS Salisbury to Asheville (NC) "S Line," as well as the Clinchfield Railroad, Norfolk & Western Pocahontas Division, former Interstate Railroad, and others. |
| Locale | Eastern West Virginia and western Virginia (Greenbrier Valley to Roanoke Valley) |
| Period | Late 1980's to early 1990's |
| Layout style | Double-deck around the walls with mountain-climbing peninsula transition |
| Benchwork | Open-grid |
| Roadbed | Cork roadbed on plywood subroadbed |
| Track | Atlas Code 55 |
| Turnouts | Atlas Code 55 (#10 and #7 on mainline, some #5 in yards) |
| Minimum radii | 15 inch |
| Maximum grade | 2.7% |
| Scenery Construction | Plywood (for now!) |
| Control | Digitrax DCC ("Chief" system) with radio throttle capability |
| Car Routing | Car card and waybill system (using Shenandoah Software 4-cycle waybills) |
| Dispatching | Verbal Track Warrants (mainline) and Train Orders (branch line) using CATS dispatching software. Detection has been installed for future CTC mainline operation. FRS radios used for communications. |
| Fast Clock | 4:1 ratio using Logic Rail Technologies fast clocks mainly for scheduling reference |
East End District - eastward
CHARLESTON, WV (West End Staging) The lower level staging yard at the west end of the railroad represents Charleston, WV, as well as other points to the west of Lewisburg. The control point at the east end of the staging yard is called Dawson.
The Kessler & Northern District coal branches diverge from the mainline here. The K&N District connects the NS/CR&E mainline with the CSXT/B&O Richwood Subdivision at Fenwick, WV, about 40 miles to the north. Several active coal loaders exist on the K&N, as well as connections with the Nicholas, Fayette & Greenbrier, a jointly owned operation of CSX and Conrail.
MEADOW BLUFF, WV
A small yard here is used as a coal and empty marshaling yard for traffic to and from the K&N District. A coal loadout known as Spring Branch #1 is also located here.
SCALE TRACK
Eastbound loaded coal trains may be routed through the scale track just east of the yard at Meadow Bluff.
LEWISBURG, WV
The Lewisburg Terminal extends from KD at the west end to LEWIS at the east end. A double track mainline extends between these two points. Movements on Main One are governed by the East End Dispatcher, while movements on Main Two and all other yard trackage are governed by the Lewisburg Yardmaster. Trains can proceed through Lewisburg on Main One with only the dispatcher's authority, but must contact the yardmaster for permission on all other tracks. The Brushy Mountain Railroad shortline connects with the NS/CR&E at Lewisburg. The Brushy Mountain serves online industries at Archer Fork and Caldwell, WV, and also provides occasional excursion service.
CALDWELL, WV
Three industries are served at Caldwell, including Greystone Quarry (limestone), Greystone Block, and Greenbrier Ready Mix. Caldwell also serves as a holdout location, so it is designated as a station in Track Warrant territory.
GLACE, WV
A passing siding is located at Glace. Both ends of the passing siding are named. The west end is named GLACE and the east end is named COVE MOUNTAIN. Glace also has a middle track for storage of cars for the local based here, as well as two industries. Shaver Wood Products ships wood chips and also receives occasional box car shipments. Roanoke Cement receives inbound cement loads for distribution within the Greenbrier Valley. Bulk commodity trains will add pushers here for the 2.7% climb to Paint Bank, VA. The climb up the mountain carries the route through the Loops, connecting the lower and upper levels of the layout.
ANDERSON, WV
A named point on the railroad for Track Warrant purposes, Anderson can serve as a holdout location. The tracks wrap around a horseshoe curve here that will someday surround Anderson's Geyser.
RIDGE AND COLEMAN, WV
The Ridge passing siding is located here. Each end of the siding is named, with RIDGE being the west end and COLEMAN being the east end. This is merely a passing siding on the mountain. Dispatchers must plan their meets carefully to avoid stalling heavy uphill trains.
FORESTER, VA
Another holdout location and Track Warrant limit is located here. Forester also has a spur for loading pulpwood flats. Forester Timber is an on-again/off-again operation that may or may not see any local service on any given day.
PAINT BANK, VA
Paint Bank is near the summit of the climb over the Alleghenies and is the location of a passing siding. The west end is named PAINT BANK and the east end is named SMITH. Paint Bank is a busy place on the railroad, as it has several storage tracks for eastbound coal that is brought up the mountain by the daily Hill Runs from Lewisburg. Several eastbound trains will stop at Paint Bank to fill their train with coal to reach their maximum tonnage. The South Fork Branch and the Potts Creek Branch also diverge at Paint Bank. The Potts Creek Branch is mostly inactive north of town but is still intact as a switching lead for the coal storage tracks that diverge from it. The South Fork Branch heads south of town and is the northernmost portion of the old N&W Potts Valley Branch. This N&W branch once ran from a connection with the N&W in the New River Valley all the way to Paint Bank, but all but the extreme north and south ends of the branch have long since been abandoned. A large chip mill is under construction on the branch and may someday provide unit trains of woodchips for the paper industry. Old Virginia Brick is located at Paint Bank, as well as a Koppers Industries tie yard.
JOHNS CREEK, VA
After topping out just east of Paint Bank, the mainline begins to descend toward Roanoke as it passes through Johns Creek. A high trestle here crosses the small creek before the railroad plunges into Johns Creek Tunnel.
MCFALLS, VA
A very active lumberyard ships and receives cars here.
SHENANDOAH JCT, VA (SJ TOWER)
The CSXT Shenandoah Division mainline crosses the NS/CR&E mainline here. A connection track allows some joint operations between both the NS and CSX lines. Trains operating to and from CSX track will use the CSXT Salem staging yard behind Shenandoah Jct.
NEW CASTLE, VA
The town of New Castle has a passing siding, two car storage tracks for local operations, and some industries. The passing siding switches are named at each end. The west end is named NEW CASTLE and the east end is named JEFFERSON. Appalachian Electric Power (AEP) has a coal-fired power plant here at New Castle. A Fieldcrest-Cannon textile mill and the Henderson Oil and Propane Company also call New Castle home. Two storage tracks here are used to store cars for the local train that is based at New Castle.
ABBOTT, VA
The Shenandoah Rock Quarry is located at Abbott. It primarily ships ballast for use on the CR&E Division and other parts of the Norfolk Southern system.
CATAWBA, VA
Catawba is home to the last passing siding on the CR&E before reaching the N&W mainline west of Roanoke. The shortest siding on the railroad, Catawba will barely clear a "standard" length coal train. Dispatchers using this siding will need to plan their moves carefully and consult their crews for train length verifications before setting up meets. The west end of the siding is called CATAWBA and the east end is RED SULPHUR. A large Southern States feed mill here receives inbound grain and feed for the agricultural industry in the area. A house track at Catawba is also used for miscellaneous shipments. The Catawba Creek Branch diverges from the mainline just east of RED SULPHUR to serve the Catawba Hospital. A few carloads of coal are spotted here for consumption by the small power plant at this state hospital.
N&W JCT (CJ TOWER)
The CR&E mainline joins the former N&W Christiansburg District of the Virginia Division here. On the CR&E, the station name is N&W JCT, but on the N&W mainline it is CJ (for Charleston Junction). From here it's just a few miles into Roanoke on the double-track N&W mainline. The former CR&E mainline is abandoned east of here, through Roanoke, until it resumes on the southeast side of Roanoke for the run to Danville, VA.
ROANOKE, VA (East End Staging)
Roanoke is the east end staging yard for the railroad, representing points to the east, north, and south.
Eastbound trains encounter an ascending grade of approximately 2% between Dawson and K&N Junction. The railroad is relatively level from K&N Junction to Lewis. Beginning at Lewis, a 1.5% eastbound grade begins to the Greenbrier River crossing, at which point the railroad briefly levels out before resuming a 1.5% grade on both sides of Caldwell. The route is flat through Caldwell. The railroad dips slightly toward the John R. Comita Bridge over Archer Fork and then climbs slightly to Glace, where the profile is again level until the 2.5% grade up the Loops begins a little more than halfway through the siding.
The climb through the Loops is approximately 2.5% and stiffens to 2.7% briefly as the route twists around Anderson's Geyser. The eastbound ruling grade is in the horseshoe curve just east of the Anderson station sign. Hopefully the sanders are working!
A short distance east of Coleman, the grade eases to about 2% to Forester. Uphill crews get a short break around Forester as the railroad briefly levels off. The grade resumes at about 1.5% east of Forester until Paint Bank, where the railroad is again mostly level through town. One final stretch of uphill 1.5% brings the railroad to its summit east of the Smith station sign (east end of Paint Bank) in a curve named “Lizard Curve.”
From Lizard Curve, the railroad begins to drop at approximately 2%, easing to a brief leveling off over Johns Creek Trestle before resuming the 2% drop toward New Castle. East of the control point at Jefferson (east end of New Castle), the grade drops toward Abbott at about 0.75%.
At Abbott, the grade levels out very briefly and then begins a 1.5% climb to Catawba. The railroad is again level through Catawba, but then begins to descend toward the N&W connection at 1.0% to 1.5%.
The varying grades should make for interesting and challenging train handling, especially with heavy coal trains. An engineer's job is to keep the train moving, but speed under control, running at an appropriately slow speed for difficult mountain railroad territory. Safety First!
Kessler & Northern District - northward
MEADOW BLUFF, WV
A small yard here is used as a coal and empty marshaling yard for traffic to and from the K&N District. A coal loadout known as Spring Branch #1 is also located here, but is on the CR&E East End District mainline.
K&N JUNCTION (KN TOWER)
The Kessler & Northern District coal branches diverge from the mainline here. The K&N District connects the NS/CR&E mainline with the CSXT/B&O Cowen Subdivision about 45 miles to the north. Several active coal loaders exist on the K&N, as well as connections with the Nicholas, Fayette & Greenbrier, a jointly owned operation of CSX and Conrail. Traffic on the K&N District is controlled by timetable and train order rules. No scheduled trains currently operate, so all movements will be authorized by a train order that will be delivered to the crew either at Lewisburg Yard (KD) or at K&N Junction (KN).
AJAX #1 TIPPLE SITE / GEORGIA PACIFIC
The former loadout at Ajax #1 has been demolished. The tracks at this site now serve Georgia Pacific. Inbound cars of logs are brought in here. The logs are chipped and then shipped out by rail.
CRAWLEY, WV
The community of Crawley, WV, is home to another coal loadout. This is a medium-sized operation shipping out a decent volume of coal daily. The tracks for spotting empties are double ended and closest to the K&N mainline. Mine crews gravity-roll the cars under the loadout and into the stub-ended load tracks. Maximum empty capacity and load capacity is 14 cars (7 per load track and 7 per empty track).
RADERS JCT, WV
The K&N District crosses the Nicholas, Fayette & Greenbrier's Raders Run Industrial Track at grade here. The NF&G is jointly operated by CSX Transportation and Conrail. A connection track was built between the NF&G and the K&N to allow coal off the NF&G to move to the K&N. A CSX shifter known as the Rupert Shifter works this loadout. Coal shipped from Raders Run over the K&N to Meadow Bluff is usually for industrial use on the CSX system and moves via Shenandoah Jct., VA, onto CSXT trackage.
KESSLER, WV
A passing siding is located here, as well as another coal branch and a few local industries. At the south end of Kessler is the Clear Fork wye, which provides access to the Clear Fork loadout that is located up one of the forks of Big Clear Creek. Both NS and CSX trains can load here, with NS loads moving south to Meadow Bluff and the CR&E, and CSX loads moving north to Fenwick and the B&O. The industries located at Kessler include Entrekin Farms, which receives agricultural products, Austin Powder, which receives blasting powder for the mines, and the aging Big Mountain loadout, which still ships about 10-12 loads of coal at a time. Ajax Coal Company also utilizes a spur at Kessler for loading raw coal. Their location is known as Ajax #3.
AJAX #2 LOADOUT
A small raw coal loadout is located here, just north of the Kessler siding. Coal is shipped to the preparation plant at Sam Creek, WV.
SAM CREEK JCT
The junction for the Sam Creek Branch is located here, as well as a connection with the CSX/NF&G Rupert Subdivision line to loadouts at Anjean and Clearco, WV. The Sam Creek Branch extends northwest to the large Sam Creek Preparation Plant, which receives raw coal from several loading locations and ships out processed coal. On the branch, a short storage track and former loadout at Ryder Siding is used for the storage of loads and empties moving to and from the Sam Creek Preparation Plant. An old Baldwin VO-1000, ex-Shoreham Railroad #20, serves as the mine critter at Sam Creek.
JETSVILLE, WV
The Crane's Nest loadout is located at Jetsville and is served off the short passing siding there. Crane's Nest is a small operation loading a handful of cars per week.
FENWICK, WV
The K&N District ends here at the junction with the CSXT/B&O Richwood Subdivision. The Richwood Subdivision runs between Richwood and Camden-on-Gauley, WV, just across the river from Cowen. On occasion, coal for NS destinations will load at Cowen and use this trackage to access customers on the NS/CR&E or beyond. There is a small amount of interchange traffic at Fenwick, including logs shipping from a Georgia Pacific sawmill to the chipping operation near Meadow Bluff on the K&N.