Rails in Virginia

The Pokey

One of my favorite areas to railfan is the former Pocahontas Division of the Norfolk & Western Railway. Better known in modern times simply as "The Pokey". The double track mainline stretches over 100 miles between Bluefield and Williamson, West Virginia. The following images are a random sampling from the various trips that I have made over the past few years. It is not my intention to showcase the typical 3/4 angle photo of a train, but rather to display images that represent the Pokey for what it is, pure mountain railroading.

Click here for more photos on the NS Pocahontas District.

NOTE: All photos are copyrighted and are NOT be used without written permission. If you are interested in using any of these images for a publication, website, or other media, please contact me.



CSX 8089, UP 2853, and NS 3304 near Coopers.	"NS 277 westbound, Main 2, clear at Landgraff"



Dreary morning at Falls Mills.	274 at Farm.



Pushers shoving hard by AJ's Grocery in Northfork.	Grain train at Keystone.



The mighty trestle over Rt. 52 at Maybeury.	A hot summer day on the Dry Fork Branch.



Black diamonds at Welch.	Veteran EMD in Bluefield Yard.



N&W CPL signals at Merrimac.	Helpers at Eckman.



Coopers Trestle.	Shoving 846 through Elkhorn.



NS 8900 at Elkhorn.	Eastbound manifest at Landgraff.



Rail Grinder at Northfork.	17M meets a helper at Farm.

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