Operations of the Clinchfield Railroad

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Clinchfield Railroad

Clinchfield Railroad Operations – Coal and Merchandise

Researched and Chronicled by Scott Jessee and Sandhi Kozsuch

Throughout its years of operation, many people think of the Clinchfield as primarily a coal railroad, hauling heavy coal trains southward. But in reality, Clinchfield’s revenue and operational reports showed a different story, a story of two almost equal revenue streams. From the 1940s to the early 1980s, merchandise freight (non-coal freight) made up slightly less than half of the railroads revenue. In 1951, 47% of the railroad’s revenue was from merchandise according to Railway Age.1.

This trend continued across the following decades. In ‘Clinchfield Country’ by Steve King, in each of the last two years of its existence, the railroad hauled 21 million tons of coal and and 9 million tons of merchandise. But still, the revenue from merchandise freight was almost equal to coal.2

The Clinchfield infrastructure and design was surprisingly perfect for muscling large amounts of coal, but also expediting merchandise and manifest freight. Both became lucrative.

Clinchfield’s First Business Priority: Coal

Initially in the early 1900s, the railroad was designed and built to haul coal southward from the Southwest Virginia mines owned by the railroad’s parent company. As time went by, connections at Elkhorn City KY, Miller Yard and St. Paul gave the railroad the opportunity to transport coal that originated on the C&O, Interstate and the N&W Railroads both southward and northward, but primarily southward. In 1982, of the 21 million tons of coal transported by the Clinchfield, 9 million tons (43%) were loaded on the Clinchfield, the other 12 million tons (57%) were originated by other railroads. 3

Click here to see all of the connections and interchanges of the Clinchfield Railroad

Clinchfield’s ‘Almost Equal’ Second Priority: Manifest Freight

Once the connections were made with the Seaboard Air Line at Bostic NC; the Southern, Atlantic Coast Line (C&WC), and the Piedmont & Northern at Spartanburg SC in 1909: and the Chesapeake and Ohio at Elkhorn City KY in 1915, the railroad had the needed interchanges on which to develop their coal and merchandise business. However, these connections also established the Clinchfield as the key middle section of a Manifest Freight Corridor, linking the Southeast to the Mid-west. Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati were the key northern cities. The growing Southeast region and its cities in the Carolinas, Florida, and Georgia were on the south end of this manifest freight corridor.

Clinchfield/ACL/C&O Manifest Partnership

Whether it was perishable food, important time freight, autos, auto parts, minerals, grain, agriculture goods and much more, the partnership was a very important route and business venture to all three companies.

The Google Interactive Map below shows how the Clinchfield was the key link, only 277 miles long that connected important cities such as Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati via the C&O….. to the growing industrial south, the Atlantic ports, Atlanta, Charlotte, Jacksonville, and Miami via the ACL, SAL, SCL, and Southern.

Clinchfield/ACL/C&O Manifest Map

Map Legend: Clinchfield – Yellow, C&O – Blue, ACL – Purple

Click here for a full screen Google Interactive Map.

Clinchfield - ACL - C&O Manifest Freight Map

Manifest Freight Advertisement and Timetable

The 1941 advertisement below shows how the Clinchfield, ACL, and C&O marketed the manifest through service. In addition, the Google Interactive Map shows the lines and destinations for the manifest corridor for which the Clinchfield served as the backbone.

Morning at the ‘Horn’ by Ron Flanary

No one can paint a picture with words better than Ron Flanary. And, it goes without mentioning that his pictures are also great. Ron’s narrative and pic truly brings the operation of the Clinchfield and Elkhorn City KY to life.

Morning at the “Horn”

The business of moving heavy railroad freight tonnage through the Appalachian Mountains is evident in the “face” of Clinchfield Railroad F7A No. 817. It’ll hit 60 degrees Fahrenheit this day—much higher than the average December high of 45 degrees here, but still 20 degrees below the record high for this month. The sun hasn’t been up too long on this tepid December 19, 1964 morning at Elkhorn City, Kentucky. The lack of cloud cover and clear atmospheric conditions creates a harsh contrast between reflected light and shadow. This modest interchange yard doesn’t look all that imposing, but the Clinchfield and Chesapeake & Ohio interchange an impressive 600 cars a day here every day.

You can tell when a railroad works hard. Look at the six-bolt joint in the switch in the foreground. The accumulation of grease has attracted a healthy coating of traction sand as locomotives struggle into the yard on a 1.44 percent southbound grade. The next track tells us there’s a transition from 132-pound to 112-pound rail at the “step” or transition joint. At the south end of the yard, however, the trackage will return to the beefy standard of 132-pound rail—the gold standard for heavy tonnage. The 112-pound per yard rail is good enough for yard work, but not up to the CRR’s standards for the main.

No. 817 and two other units arrived just a few hours earlier with hotshot freight No. 97 into the “Horn” after an expedited run from Spartanburg, South Carolina. A trio of C&O GP9s took over, and after adding their own caboose in exchange for a Clinchfield cupola cab, the train of 85 “high cars” continued down the Big Sandy River to Russell, Kentucky.

The patina on the locomotive has built up from the effects of exhaust smoke and sand inside more than 50 tunnels en route. Most of those “smoke holes” are on ascending grades for train 97, where the hard-working EMDs must be near full throttle in a clamorous and befouling struggle to maintain speed with revenue tonnage hanging on the rear coupler knuckle. Failure is not an option.

Rest will be brief, however. Already an Elkhorn Turn is by Haysi, just 11 miles south. After exchanging a long cut of empty hoppers for a heavy train of southbound bituminous, No. 817 and her two companions will be called upon to shove the Turn through the Breaks of the Big Sandy as far as Towers. Then, it’s back to the “Horn” to await the next southbound. The work is hard, and seldom glamorous, but it pays big dividends to the Clinchfield’s owners—the Louisville & Nashville and the Atlantic Coast Line. Railroads provide good service to satisfy its many customers, pay its employees, make a profit, and keep its stockholders happy—in that order.

This is Precision Scheduled Railroading before PSR was even a thing. 

The Clinchfield Trains Across the Years

Over the years, the trains on the Clinchfield remained very consistent. They were divided into first, second, and third class trains…..locals, shifters, mine runs, all 4th class trains….. as well as a large number of extras which were mostly loaded coal trains and empties.

An easy or light-traffic day on the CRR might be 15-25 trains in a 24 hour period, a normal day might be 25-35 trains, and a heavy-traffic day 35-45 trains.

Extras

Most dispatcher sheets across the years show that 80-90% of the trains on the Clinchfield in a day were designated Extras. These trains were not on a schedule and were called and rolled based on freight levels. The extras included a wide range of freight types:

  • Loaded coal trains
  • Empty coal trains
  • Locals
  • Turns
  • Shifters (some were daily and had a designated number, but still were considered extras on the dispatcher’s report)

First Class Trains – Passenger and #97 Perishable

Passenger service ended in 1954.

  • #36 Southbound Passenger – Elkhorn City to Erwin (10’45”)
  • #37 Northbound Passenger – Spartanburg to Elkhorn City (11′)
  • #38 Southbound Passenger – Elkhorn City to Spartanburg
  • #39 Northbound Passenger – Erwin to Elkhorn City
  • #97 Northbound Manifest (perishable) Freight – Spartanburg to Elkhorn City (12’15”)

Second Class Trains – Time Freights

If traffic and freight was heavy, these trains would run in two sections. For example, train #193 would be the first section and #293 would follow it slightly later.

  • #92 Southbound Manifest Freight – Elkhorn City to Spartanburg (16’30”)
  • #93 Northbound Manifest Freight – Spartanburg to Elkhorn City (13’45”)
  • #94 Southbound Manifest Freight – Elkhorn City to Spartanburg (15’45”)
  • #95 Northbound Manifest Freight – Spartanburg to Elkhorn City (15’15”)

Third Class Trains (train numbers varied across the decades)

  • #18 Southbound Through Freight – Dante to Erwin (7’20”)
  • #22 Southbound Through Freight – Erwin to Spartanburg (8’30”)
  • #24 Southbound Through Freight – Erwin to Spartanburg (8’45”)
  • #26 Southbound Through Freight – Erwin to Spartanburg (8’30”)

Fourth Class Trains (varied across the decades)

  • #6 Southbound Local Freight – Bostic Mainline Shifter – Bostic to Spartanburg
  • #7 Northbound Local Freight – Bostic Mainline Shifter – Spartanburg to Bostic
  • #15 Northbound Local Freight – Dante Mainline Shifter – Erwin to Dante
  • #16 (or #14) Southbound Local Freight – Dante Mainline Shifter – Dante to Erwin (6’30”)
  • #18 Southbound Local Freight – Mead/Marion Mainline Shifter – Erwin to Marion
  • #19 Northbound Local Freight – Mead/Marion Mainline Shifter – Marion to Erwin
  • Speers Ferry Mainline Shifter – Kingsport to Speers Ferry
  • Greenland Mainline Shifter – Kingsport to Greenland
  • Waycross Shifter – Erwin to Waycross
  • Miller Yard Turn – Erwin to Miller Yard – Sometimes 2X per day
  • Mine Runs – Mostly out of Dante

1946 Dispatcher’s Track Diagram

Click here to view a Dispatcher’s Track Diagram created by Jim Goforth in 1946.

1950s Operations

Click here for information on 1950s operations on the Clinchfield Railroad.

Centralized Traffic Control Signaling

In the 1950s the Clinchfield installed a modern Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) System, enabling greater efficiency and safety in train movements. Click here for information on Clinchfield’s CTC system and operation.

2023 Railfanning Guide for CSX (Kingsport/Blue Ridge Subs) by Thomas Pittman

Narrative and Photos by Thomas Pittman


The Clinchfield of today is a shadow of its former self, but is far from dead! Kingsport to Johnson City is the most heavily used section, and averages 6 trains every 24 hours. Here’s what to expect on the rails in 2023.

Manifest Freights

The Clinchfield hosts 2 pairs of manifest freight trains daily. M692 (northbound)/M693 (southbound) originates daily out of Russell, KY to the North and Waycross, GA to the South. They service Shelby (KY), Kingsport, Bostic, Spartanburg, and other yards outside of our scope. All carload traffic that originates and terminates along the Clinchfield is handled by these trains that travel the entire length of the line. The other manifest pair is M652 (northbound)/M653 (southbound). These trains are primarily “through freights,” as their primary job is to carry cars between the Russell, KY and Rocky Mount, NC CSX hubs in order to help alleviate congestion along the old C&O mainline between Russell and Richmond (VA). They enter/exit the Clinchfield on the Charlotte Sub at Bostic, and travel the rest of the line north of that point. There is an occasional pickup or setout for these trains, but typically they stay together for their trip over the Clinchfield. The M653s are usually 90%+ loads, while the M652s are usually 90%+ empties, staying true to the age-old Clinchfield operation strategy of “loads south, empties north.” Occasionally, M652s will have to rearrange their train at Erwin in order to get the few loads on the head end for the trip through Boody further north, and complete the task there as to not cause extra congestion at Kingsport.

Photo: Counterparts M693 and M692 meet at Sevier NC

Coal Trains

Coal is no longer king on the Clinchfield, but Coal still moves on its rails. The only originating coal on the Clinchfield is at Alpha’s McClure (VA) Prep Plant. Unit trains of Metallurgical Coal (C209 loads/ R244 mine run from Shelby/ E903 empties) are loaded here for export at a Hampton Roads (VA) pier. Once loaded, these trains run north via Elkhorn City and the Big Sandy Sub before turning East. Duke still receives coal at the Cliffside Steam Station at Brice, albeit sporadic (Cliffside burns both Coal and Natural Gas). In 2023, very little coal was received until August, but the following two months saw 2+ trains (C313, C759, C402) a week. Demand seems to have slown to 1 a week at the time of writing in October. Coal Trains traveling to Terrell (NC)(C758, C406) and Cross (SC)(C304) are split between the Clinchfield and circling around an eastern route via the A-Line or a southern route via Greenwood, SC, depending on where the train originates or where the empty is heading to reload. Something to note, Brice/Terrell trains are sometimes diverted to the other plant as late as 1 hour prior to reaching Bostic. CSX also likes to run some additional stray empty hopper trains via the Clinchfield despite the loaded trains taking a different routing. Eastman (Kingsport) receives 2 or 3 coal trains from CSX a week. All of this coal comes from Eastern Kentucky via the Cumberland Valley/Appalachian District and the same power and train sets are usually assigned to this work for several weeks at a time. Norfolk Southern also delivers coal to Kingsport via trackage rights over the Clinchfield from their Appalachian District Connection at Frisco.

Photo: A Brice bound Coal train works its way through Pigeon Roost

Other Unit Trains

The 2 to 3 unit Ethanol trains that ply the Clinchfield weekly are all received by CSX at Chicago, enter the Clinchfield at Elkhorn City, and exit at Bostic onto the Charlotte Sub. Roughly half of these Ethanols feature at least one foreign road locomotive. Charlotte trains (B627, B651 loads/B628, B650 empties) run once or twice a week, while trains for High Rock (NC) via the Winston Salem Southbound Railway (B635, B667, B669 loads/B636, B668, B670 empties) are about once every two weeks. Scrubber Stone (B435 loads/B484 empties) originates in the Loyall, KY area, travels via the Cumberland Valley (CSX) and the Appalachian District (NS) to Frisco/Kingsport, then south to Brice (Cliffside) via the Clinchfield. Scrubber Stone frequency usually coincides with the level of Coal received with a few extra loads here and there when coal isn’t running heavy. Unit Grain loads/empties destined for/returning from Shelby (NC) pass through about once every week or two (various “G” symbols) when in season. The occasional empty Grain Train comes north from Comer, GA (G704) about once every two weeks. Both through and delivering Maintenance-of-Way trains (bearing “W” symbols) make the occasional trip over the Clinchfield.

Locals

L247 departs Kingsport once daily, Monday through Friday, and works as far south as Erwin and returns. U247 is an “as needed” local in addition to L247 that runs straight to Spruce Pine (to service 3 customers) and back. This train is loosely scheduled for MWF, but runs other days of the week as well if needed. L248 departs Bostic daily and works south as far as Kona to work customers on the extreme south end of the Clinchfield. L248 also goes north on Sundays to service Baxter. L249 departs Bostic nightly to work customers on the Southern/Western End of the Charlotte Sub. There are no on-line customers north of Kingsport (other than McClure) and no active customers exist between Erwin and Bostic, save the 3 at Spruce Pine and Baxter.

More Clinchfield information will be added to this page and website in the days ahead. Please let me know if you have any questions, see any edits that should be made, or have any content you are willing to share. Would enjoy hearing from you if you have similar interests in the Clinchfield, the region, or model railroading.

Clinchfield.org Sources and Resources

The following are excellent resources for those of you wanting to explore and learn more about the Clinchfield Railroad. These sources of information also serve as reference and historical materials for Clinchfield.org. Much of the content on the website is verified across multiple sources.

Clinchfield Railroad

Page Footnotes

  1. Railway Age, December 1, 1952: A Speedy Bridge Line
    ↩︎
  2. Clinchfield Country, Steve King, 1988 ↩︎
  3. Clinchfield Country, Steve King, 1988, page 32 ↩︎

Contact Us at Clinchfield.org

Would enjoy hearing from you if you have questions, suggestions, edits, or content that you are willing to share. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have similar interests in the Clinchfield or Model Railroads.

3Cs Websites

Appalachian-Railroads.org | Clinchfield.org | Southern-Railroads.org

  1. Railway Age, December 1, 1952: A Speedy Bridge Line
    ↩︎
  2. Clinchfield Country, Steve King, 1988 ↩︎
  3. Clinchfield Country, Steve King, 1988, page 32 ↩︎