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 Post subject: Last Call For New River Scenic RS3 & Coaches in Tenn.??
PostPosted: Tue Jul 07, 2020 11:36 am 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 1:51 pm
Posts: 11481
Location: Somewhere east of Prescott, AZ along the old Santa Fe "Prescott & Eastern"
https://www.mycouriernews.com/articles/ ... nes-demise

Quote:
An historic railroad line along the New River in Anderson, Campbell and Scott counties now has been cleared for permanent abandonment as a result of a ruling last Friday (June 26) by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board.

The board rejected a June 23 bid from an Oklahoma-based railroad company to buy the 42-mile rail line that runs from Oneida in Scott County to Devonia in remote Anderson County. No trains have run on the line – the former Tennessee Railroad – since a deep coal mine stopped production in the Fork Mountain area near Devonia in early 2013.

Pending the outcome of an appeal, which was filed Monday afternoon [June 29th], the STB’s Friday ruling would immediately allow the line’s current owner, the R.J. Corman Railroad Co., to abandon the route and begin pulling up track and other components of the line. . . .

Owned by Norfolk Southern Corp. (formerly The Southern Railway) from 1973 until Knoxville-based National Coal Corp. bought it in 2006 for $2 million, the line was begun in 1889 and extended to its current terminus at a now-abandoned coal preparation plant at Devonia in 1912.

When National Coal was on the verge of bankruptcy in 2010, it sold the line to R.J. Corman for $3 million, and it was used to haul coal out of the Fork Mountain area from a deep mine and a surface mine until those operations shut down in 2013. Since then, the line has not been used, and has fallen into disrepair.

Part of the line from Huntsville in Scott County to Indian Fork in Anderson County did have a short life as a tourist excursion route from 2008 to 2010 when Scotty Phillips, owner of the New River General Store at Devonia, and business partner Jimmy Byrge of Knoxville started the New River Scenic Railway.

They ran the train – consisting of a vintage 1951 Alco RS3 diesel locomotive and two passenger cars – until shortly after R.J. Corman bought the rail line from National Coal and proceeded to terminate the excursion operation’s rights to use the tracks.

The former New River Scenic Railway engine and two rail cars – which Phillips brought here from Arizona -- have sat abandoned on a siding behind the Devonia coal-prep plant along Tennessee Route 116 since 2010, and all three units have been heavily vandalized.


Much more at the link over fights to acquire and preserve the rail operation. My understanding is that the three pieces of rolling stock have been vandalized to the point of "no return" and further.

The SR-painted RS3 and two red-primered cars have been the subject of innumerable "abandoned train p*rn" photos and posts shared frequently online--to the point where I'm certain some people would be glad to see them gone just so they stop showing up weekly in inboxes and on social media feeds.......

BTW, where did the loco and cars come from in Arizona (supposedly)? This is the first I've heard of that........


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 Post subject: Re: Last Call For New River Scenic RS3 & Coaches in Tenn.??
PostPosted: Tue Jul 07, 2020 1:04 pm 

Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2016 10:17 pm
Posts: 246
Is this the line from Clinton -Jellico? I didn't realize it wandered that far west.


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 Post subject: Re: Last Call For New River Scenic RS3 & Coaches in Tenn.??
PostPosted: Tue Jul 07, 2020 1:44 pm 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 5:55 pm
Posts: 985
Location: Warren, PA
Because somebody always asks 'so how bad can it be'....

From October of last year: http://standardstealth.com/new-river-railway/


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 Post subject: Re: Last Call For New River Scenic RS3 & Coaches in Tenn.??
PostPosted: Tue Jul 07, 2020 6:30 pm 

Joined: Tue Jul 02, 2013 10:45 pm
Posts: 300
First - not the Clinton to Jellico line. From my route guide for a charter I did over the line in 2008.
The Tennessee Railroad got its start when Dr. Gruno, a physician, was working with a construction gang heading south to the New River. Dr Gruno found large deposits of coal on the headwaters of Paint Rock Creek. He, along with several friends, constructed the Paint Rock Coal and Coke Company Railroad, a short branch coal railroad from Oneida to Morning Glory between 1889 and 1890.
According to early reports, the company cut the tunnel in Tunnel Hill, a 402 feet long, timber-lined tunnel that, in the middle, started down a 1.93% grade. The route became steeper down hill for the 2.6 miles, shallowing at 1.65%, only to increase to an 800 feet long section of 3.56% to Paint Rock (Stanley). The grade uphill required Shay locomotives, and even then the trains were limited to one or two cars per run.
In 1905, Samuael Spencer, then also the president of the Southern Railway, purchased the Paint Rock Coal and Coke Company railroad and reorganized it as the Tennessee Railway. In 1906 he extended the railroad to the sawmill town of Norma. After the death of Samuel Spencer in 1907, his son H. B. Spencer, took over as president of the railroad. By 1910, he had extended the railroad to Newlands, 5-1/2 miles south of Smoky Junction.
The railroad reached Smoky Junction at the branch of Smoky Creek by 1910, having built a branch line past Hembree between Big Mountain and Smoky Mountain. There it began coal hauling operations and continued both tasks until the mill at Norma stopped operation. By this time the railroad had entered Campbell County to a branch at Shea, and then on into Fork Mountain in Anderson County in 1925, a total of 45 miles from Oneida. Two other branches were constructed, the Dean branch, which was 3-1/2 miles long and Carbon Hill-Clinchmore, 4-1/2 miles long.
The Tennessee Railway Company was in the hands of receivers July 1, 1913 until June 30, 1918. In 1918, the railroad was reorganized as the Tennessee Railroad Company. It again entered receivership on July 1, 1959, still with a Spencer at the company president level.
Passenger service on the Tennessee Railroad was never fancy, using a wooden coach and combine, with a Brill motorcar in later days. In 1955 the Tennessee bought its first diesel, an Alco RS-1. The railroad purchased its last in 1963 and then scrapped all of its remaining steam locomotives.
The line was acquired by the Southern Railway Company on February 20, 1973. From 1973 to 1980, two runs a day pulled 125 cars out of the New River Valley. Coal was shipped from the loading facility near Smokey Junction to Oneida until 2004. Previous to this time coal was shipped from the Wash Plant to Oneida. Norfolk Southern abandoned the line between Oneida and Devonia. In 2005, National Coal purchased the line and with the help of the Northeast Tennessee Railroad Authority is set up as a shortline to transport coal from their mines. A few trains were operated but the market has made operating the line impractical at this time.

The equipment was covered by a discussion in 2017.
- Reading Railroad 520 ALCO RS-3 Diesel Locomotive (In Southern Railway Paint)
- New York Central Combine (In Norfolk & Western/Norfolk Southern Paint)
- Ontario Northland or Canadian National Passenger Car (Also In NW/NS Paint)


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 Post subject: Re: Last Call For New River Scenic RS3 & Coaches in Tenn.??
PostPosted: Tue Jul 07, 2020 9:49 pm 

Joined: Sun Dec 31, 2017 4:18 pm
Posts: 21
I realize not everything can or should be saved, but an RS 3 most certainly should be.


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 Post subject: Re: Last Call For New River Scenic RS3 & Coaches in Tenn.??
PostPosted: Tue Jul 07, 2020 10:26 pm 

Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2017 12:39 am
Posts: 90
The equipment has been absolutely ravaged by both the environment and thieves. You have a washed out railroad or switchbacking mountain roads to get them out.

Ideally, the railroad is saved. The TNRR is a truly unique railroad, and preserving a Cumberland Mountain coal line would be quite nice.

The state and local authorities have contested RJC's bid to abandon. The Arkansas-Oklahoma Railroad wants to purchase.


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 Post subject: Re: Last Call For New River Scenic RS3 & Coaches in Tenn.??
PostPosted: Tue Jul 07, 2020 11:39 pm 

Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2010 9:29 am
Posts: 318
Corman seems pretty intent on abandonment....there's likely some political deals going on between them the trail people and the gov't agencies....

As I've said before, with the condition of the railroad, access issues, etc..there's little chance they'll leave as anything more than scrap....

To save them, you'll need lots of money.... Just a rough estimate is about $30K each car...more for the locomotive....and that's just to get them out of there to a site where they could ship from, likely via flat car for possibly $30K more depending of destination....
The process to get them out would have to be by truck..which means travelling some really bad roads....

While it is possible to go cheaper, it's a lot riskier and might not save much money....

Then you have the issues of what exactly are you getting? Is the owner going to basically give them to you?, Etc...

The only reason they've not been scrapped yet is likely because any scrapper that's looked at them realized they won't or can't make anything off them....


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 Post subject: Re: Last Call For New River Scenic RS3 & Coaches in Tenn.??
PostPosted: Wed Jul 08, 2020 12:21 am 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 1:51 pm
Posts: 11481
Location: Somewhere east of Prescott, AZ along the old Santa Fe "Prescott & Eastern"
Yenko Stinger wrote:
I realize not everything can or should be saved, but an RS 3 most certainly should be.


Sister RS3 485 is at the Reading Co. T&HS Museum in Leesport, Pa. It needs a LOT of work--likely a prime mover swap.


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 Post subject: Re: Last Call For New River Scenic RS3 & Coaches in Tenn.??
PostPosted: Wed Jul 08, 2020 1:12 am 
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Joined: Mon Aug 05, 2013 2:42 am
Posts: 2041
Location: Seattle, WA - Land of Coffee
I distinctly recall reading a discussion at some point in the last few years about where the cars came from, but (so far) I have searched in vain for those comments, and I don't have it written down anywhere in my notes either.

Did find several past threads on here about this operation, but nothing on the cars except the above, one nee-NYC, one nee-CN.

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 Post subject: Re: Last Call For New River Scenic RS3 & Coaches in Tenn.??
PostPosted: Wed Jul 08, 2020 2:48 am 
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Location: Seattle, WA - Land of Coffee
Found the conversation I recalled, was in the Surviving Passenger Cars in the U.S. group on Facebook. The NYC combine should be #290, AC&F, Lot #2730, 1947, to PC #290, to Ted Church, to Midwest RY Historical Foundation, to Indiana & Ohio, to Hardin & Southern, to New River Scenic.

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 Post subject: Re: Last Call For New River Scenic RS3 & Coaches in Tenn.??
PostPosted: Wed Jul 08, 2020 8:46 am 

Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2010 9:29 am
Posts: 318
The combine is #290, ex NYC..it was part of the Orlando and Mount Dora (OMD) train set from about 2002-2004....that might have been while Church owned it, not sure.... I recall, after OMD went under ( that was Ed Ellis and Iowa Pacific), the owner stored it for awhile on FCEN...he passed away perhaps? and the car was quickly sold and shipped north using the reporting marks for one of the NRHS groups....


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 Post subject: Re: Last Call For New River Scenic RS3 & Coaches in Tenn.??
PostPosted: Wed Jul 08, 2020 11:05 am 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 7:38 am
Posts: 1001
Location: Philadelphia
Thirteen years ago:

https://www.railpictures.net/photo/208605/

RIP 520.

Joshua


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 Post subject: Re: Last Call For New River Scenic RS3 & Coaches in Tenn.??
PostPosted: Wed Jul 08, 2020 1:34 pm 

Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2016 10:17 pm
Posts: 246
Looks very sharp in that paint.

Doesn't TVRM also have the ETWNC RS3s? or were they L&N?


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 Post subject: Re: Last Call For New River Scenic RS3 & Coaches in Tenn.??
PostPosted: Wed Jul 08, 2020 3:47 pm 

Joined: Wed Jan 20, 2016 1:15 pm
Posts: 1477
CA1 wrote:
Looks very sharp in that paint.

Doesn't TVRM also have the ETWNC RS3s? or were they L&N?


Yes they have one of them. Sadly it’s rusting away. About 10 years ago (maybe more? Time flies) there was a fundraising campaign for it sent out to the members. Not sure where that money ever went.


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 Post subject: Re: Last Call For New River Scenic RS3 & Coaches in Tenn.??
PostPosted: Wed Jul 08, 2020 5:30 pm 

Joined: Sat Sep 18, 2004 1:21 pm
Posts: 486
Location: Columbus, OH
For those looking for the exact location:

https://goo.gl/maps/fYPLWxSSV2ePEDNBA

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https://www.oldeastie.com Old Eastie: East Broad Top Homepage
https://www.febt.org Friends of the East Broad Top
https://www.eastbroadtop.com East Broad Top Railroad


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