(The following story by Bill Archer appeared on the Bluefield Daily Telegraph website on November 7, 2009.)
BLUEFIELD, W.Va. — A lot has changed during the past 12 years since the last Amtrak excursion train rolled into Bluefield from Roanoke, Va., but then as now, the trip took place under the watchful supervision of Norfolk Southern Railway personnel from the locomotive engineers in the train, to the NS Pocahontas Division safety committee personnel beside the train to assist passengers, to the division superintendent watching over everything.
“We’re trying this through the entire system,” Gary Shepard, Pocahontas Division superintendent said with a steady eye poised on the East End of Bluefield’s busy railroad yard. The coalfields of southern West Virginia and southwestern Virginia are filled with metallurgical or steel-making coal, and while the number of trains carrying merchandise or general freight, through Bluefield has been stagnant due to the lingering effects of the languishing U.S. economy, the export coal business is enjoying a sharp rebound.
“We moved 18 eastbound trains through Bluefield between 7 p.m. (Friday) night and (Saturday) morning at 7 a.m.,” Shepard said. Several NS locomotives were parked in a line beside the Amtrak excursion train, but as soon as the passengers were out of their cars and headed up the ramp to Princeton Avenue, another fully-loaded eastbound coal train was on the move.
“It would be nice to have more of these rail excursions, but it would be even nicer to have regular rail service from Southwest Virginia to Washington, D.C.,” Connie Stanley said as she and her husband Mike were preparing to board the excursion train for the ride back to Roanoke.
The Stanleys live in Roanoke and have an appreciation for rail travel. “I don’t even drive in Washington any more,” Mike Stanley said. “Six lanes in and out … That’s too much for me.
“Europe is way ahead of us in terms of rail travel,” Mike Stanley said. “The U.S., has always been an innovator in every field, but we aren’t there with rail passenger transportation.”
NS Pocahontas Division personnel came out and watched passengers arrive and depart. Special Agent Bryan Kahle of the NS Police was the only uniformed officer who was visibly patrolling the Bluefield yard, but several NS railroaders were in the area to assist rail excursion passengers. NS locomotive engineers Mike Pauley for the westbound run, and John McCadden for the return trip to Roanoke were in the Amtrak locomotives with Amtrak locomotive engineers through the entire trip.
“It was a good run,” Chuck Akers, the Amtrak locomotive engineer that worked with Pauley said.
“An NS crew has to be in the locomotive for any excursion train,” Kahle said.
Although the NS safety committee members visited among themselves while the passengers enjoyed a brief lay-over in Bluefield, they also seemed to watch what was going on beside the mainline tracks with a heightened level of intensity.
“We kept running traffic on the mainline this whole time,” Mickey Runyon, Pocahontas Division road foreman said as the passengers boarded the train for the return to Roanoke. The train arrived a little early and left on time.