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HNWR026
A hopper with coal is ready to go. 1970 was the peak for N&W coal traffic, when the railway carried 90.6 million tons of coal. While coal was profitable, it was not always a source of revenue. Floods, miner strikes, and other labor disputes cut…
HNWR051
Coal Pier 4 at Lamberts Point. The pier served N&W for nearly half a century.
HNWR052
This aerial view shows the N&W coal piers at Lamberts Point. Coal Pier 4 (center) was built in 1914. At the time of its initial construction, the pier was 1,200 feet long, 70 feet wide, and 90 feet above the water. It could empty 600 cars per day.…
HNWR053
At Coal Pier 4 at Norfolk, hoppers are dumped into pier cars which carry coal to the loading shutes. In the background is a portion of N&W's 12,000 car classification and storage yards.
HNWR054
Coal quickly became N&W's leading freight commodity. Here an employee loads an N&W hopper with coal.
HNWR055
N&W hoppers at a West Virginia coal tipple are loaded for their eastbound trip to Lamberts Point near Norfolk. In 1883, N&W moved nearly 106,000 tons of coal. A century later, N&W moved 75 million tons annually.
HNWR107
Engine No. 53 and her crew excavate for new track near Bluefield, West Virginia. N&W pioneered and financed early coal production in the mountains of West Virginia and carved the rail beds that allowed the "black gold" to move east.
HNWR146
Car yardmen at Kimball, West Virginia. As the coal mines opened, the number of men employeed by N&W soared, bringing economic opportunity to many West Virginia families.
HNWR162
Freight cars line up outside a coal-cleaning and prep plant near Gary, West Virginia. The N&W relied heavily on many of the larger coal mines and facilities throughout West Virginia.
HNWR163
A hopper car loaded with coal coasts down the "hump" incline toward classification tracks at the Portsmouth, Ohio freight yard. This car is half-way through the master retarder. The scale house and assistant yard master's office are located in the…
HNWR184
This photograph shows one of the largest loads of coal cargo on a single ship at Lambert's Point. A total of 493 carloads were required.
HNWR185
Loaded coal cars await their turn at the car-dumping machine. Upwards of 400 cars of coal are required to fill the large colliers.
HNWR186
Norfolk & Western always kept a spare for every part necessary to cargo operations.
HNWR195
This consist of coal includes some hoppers from the Virginia Railway, which had been acquired by N&W in 1959.
HNWR196
Engine No. 2146 pulls a load of coal. In the 1940s, N&W served the following seven coal districts: Kenova, Thacker, Tug River, Pocahontas, Clinch Valley 1 & 2, and Radford.
HNWR197
This is the view across the flat yard at Norfolk, Virginia. Hoppers would wait in the yard to be emptied.
HNWR198
Diesel Engine No. 322 pulls a consist of coal through Virginia. The switch to diesel was difficult for N&W given its commercial investment in coal.
HNWR199
Loaded coal cars awaiting shipment from an N&W coal tipple. Note the different grades of coal being loaded. During World War II, the United States Navy almost exclusively used N&W coal for its Atlantic fleet.