It was a trip planned out more than a year in advance. The date I would make it to the CSX Allegheny Sub to get a look at the C&O signals once again and for the last time. I knew progress of the signal suspension was claiming lots of signals on the Allegheny Sub. However, I would've never known that I would make it to see these signals only 3 days before they were all removed on the Allegheny Sub on Monday August 4, 2014. And the spot I planned on seeing these signals, White Sulphur Springs train station, was the only spot on the entire line that still had these signals standing... Just about a mile stretch of track... That's how lucky I got.
In 2008 I had gone on a road trip with my dad down to Kentucky. One of the nights we had been staying in Lewisburg,WV (about 10 miles for White Sulphur Springs). We ate at a restaurant and foamer that I am, I asked if there was train tracks nearby. She said White Sulphur Springs station and we asked for directions and she was nice enough to give them to us. That night we headed to WSS station. The signals were red each way and after a bit my dad pulled the plug and we headed back to the hotel. But the next day I had convinced my dad into heading back there and we did. This time their had been a clear signal each way. We caught some trains and then left for Kentucky. Had I never gone to White Sulphur Springs the first time this trip this year would've never happened.
On the evening of Wednesday July 30, 2014 after a 3-4 hour troop down I-81 and west on I-64 from Shenandoah Junction, WV, where of course we had been railfanning too, we finally arrived at White Sulphur Springs. Red signals on for east and westbounds. So we decided to head to the hotel in Lewisburg, WV and check in. Screwed around for a bit and headed back. The signals on the CSX Allegheny Sub usually give atleast 50 minutes warning when they go on so if they are not on you have to kill some time because it gets really boring... When we got back surely enough we had the signal lit for a westbound. Took an hour and 15 minutes from when we arrived for this train to finally show up but it did. An empty coal train flying through. After this one passed, the approach signal lit up for another one. As the 10 o'clock hour rolled in so did another empty coal train flying by the station. After this one passed the signal lit up and we knew another westbound would be coming through. We were hungry though so we had to get some food, I got some wings to go and headed back to the station. Next up was an empty grain train with a nice C40-8W/SD50-2 duo for power. After this one passed, yet again the approach signal went up to indicate there would be a train following. It was getting late and I knew that the signal could mean 5 minutes or 50 minutes. We just decided to call it a night and head to the hotel since we would be waking up early the next day anyway.
On Thursday July 31, 2014, we got out nice and early around 8:00 and headed right to the station in White Sulphur Springs. Just what I had feared; stop signals and CSX maintainers and hi-railers getting on the rails. These guys claimed one track, so I figured they would run trains on the other track. But after 2 hours of waiting just for a signal to come on... and no signal coming on. My dad and I both agreed that we had to do something instead of piss our lives away. So we headed west to Ronceverte (a place I had also visited in my 2008 trip). Nothing was really going on in Ronceverte so we decided to continue westward to Fort Springs, WV at the tunnels. The new Safetran piece of crap standing up there... They weren't even lit so we stayed for a bit and then began heading back to White Sulphur Springs. We got back and caught an eastbound loaded coal train with a pusher, then the pusher came back down the hill. Then a ballast and a empty coal train west and a loaded coal train and a local up the hill and we went off to dinner. We came back in the evening but only caught one train, an eastbound loaded coal train.
On Friday August 1, 2014 we were out early. Got the station and it was only a few minutes until a westbound empty coal train came flying down the hill. An hour later when we were about to call it quits, the dispatcher told some welders he had 2 westbounds one behind the other coming through MP 288. Waited for those to come through and started heading east to Alexandria, VA for a family event that weekend. But, we stopped in Clifton Forge, VA on our way and caught an eastbound load grain train leaving. That concluded my trip to see these signals and the Allegheny Sub. A nostalgic trip from 2008 and another in 2014. I was happy with it even though I could've done better with my videos, pictures and locations, but not with the timing.
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