Coal Train Slows For Dog On Track While Climbing Steep Holler, West Virginia Coal Trains, Big Eagle

Dog standing on railroad crossing with a coal train coming. The train was pulling hard up a steep grade heading to the coal loadout. First the train was doing railroad switching near the CSX mainline at the railroad interchange area known as Winifrede Junction. This is a West Virginia short line railroad called Big Eagle Railroad operated by the Kanawha River Railroad since 2019. CSX has an interchange with the 6+ mile line near Chesapeake, WV along the Kanawha River. Tracks have sectional stick rail and the maximum train length is 28 cars. The line literally sits right next to the highway in a few spots, goes under the CSX main line and is curvy and steep. The line ends at a coal loadout with a 4 track yard. This was the Winifrede Railroad until the line closed in 1989. After a decade it was reopened and called the Big Eagle Railroad. Coal business has waxed and waned over the years and today it is used as needed. When the line was originally built in 1854 the coal was shipped from the loadout to the Kanawha River where it was shipped by boat. Today the railroad leases 2 locomotives, both of which are GP38-3s. They were built by EMD. #2109 was built in August of 1972 and #2115 was built in October of 1976. Communications are on 160.605 and there is no EOT. This video shows the train being assembled and then we see it crossing the road with the dog barking at railfans from North Carolina. Then we see the train crossing a bridge next to a railroad crossing. At 11:28 we pace the train as it is running literally right next to the highway! After that we see the historic engine house that is also used as a maintenance of way facility. Then we see the train being loaded with coal at the end of the line. After a quick look at my dogs we see the train going under the CSX mainline while returning for its 2nd load of black diamonds. Coal keeps the lights on son! Don't miss the slide show at the end also! This is one of the most interesting railroads that I have ever seen. Luckily this line is still in operation with the current war on coal. Coal power plants keep getting shut down due to strict EPA regulations and with cheap natural gas available. Also, wind and solar power is hurting the coal industry. Until about 2009 it seemed like coal was safe for decades. Today I'm having a difficult time finding coal trains to film. I spent 2 and a half days trying to film a coal train going through Natural Tunnel, Virginia and there were only 2 that went through and both were at night. I use to visit there about 20 years ago and I saw coal trains every couple hours or so. I sure hope the Big Eagle Railroad will be here for years to come. I was really lucky that the day I was here they had about 112 car loads to ship out. It took 2 days to get the coal to the CSX interchange. Amtrak Cardinal operates 3 round trips a week on the CSX line here. I have ridden Amtrak on this line a few times. Big Eagle Railroad does not run everyday. Here is another video that I made of this railroad. • Coal Train In Middle O... Don't miss my future videos of this line! Filmed July 26, 2021.
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[@jeffgreen7499]

Kindhearted engineer slowed his train for the dog, bless him.

[@josephleveille2480]

Thanks for the video I love the location I love watching mountain railroading

[@JawTooth]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@rojo340s]

You definitely have the "gift" on finding the best locations!

[@JawTooth]

Thanks Rojo!

[@imapisces5156]

Just look at that awesome scenery, West Virginia is a beautiful state.

[@2flyabove]

It sure is. I love the trees and rolling hills.

[@richarddrum9970]

It sure is and the people are beautiful as well.

[@artmchugh5644]

Wife and I rode the Ducati 1100 miles into WV two weeks ago!!!! We love riding there !!!😀😀😁😁🏍🏍🍺🍺🍺

[@2flyabove]

The paint job on those old locos looks great. Nice and shiny and well kept.

[@jeffreygosselin1143]

Sorta like the CCET locomotives (BIG, BIG, BIG SARCASTIC comment from Jeff G!!!!)

[@mariedolphin2951]

I love the different trains you find. Gorgeous scenery too. Thank you.

[@bernierodriguez662]

Great video love the side by side road and railroad action . again you never fail me great video

[@2bigrailfans724]

Nothin' better than so back woods short-line live action!

[@JawTooth]

Yes!

[@JeffWeselyan]

@@JawTooth what ur favorite cars my is coal cars

[@charleendunn5446]

Gotta luv the big train on a little bridge and tracks through the woods😍! Plus the crazy dog🙀

[@JawTooth]

You got that right!

[@javierrprailfan]

very thoughtful of the engineer to almost stop because of the doggie!!! I had a black dog who loved to howl and bark when trains were coming, greetings

[@LiberatorYourself]

Nice job capturing the engine and the semi charging up at the beginning!

[@kenroberts4767]

Beautiful scenery! From the bridge clearances, no double stack intermodal will ever be using that line.

[@JawTooth]

You got that right!

[@josephkrizauskas1052]

I disagree! There is plenty of room for double stacks. You just gotta believe. ( LOL )

[@richarddrum9970]

Probably not, but if you go down to the Heartland Corridor in WV you will see many double stacks each day. Watching them cross the Ohio River at Kenova, WV is a real treat. Actually when Jaw was in Matewan, WV recently it’s surprising that he didn’t see some double stacks through the Corridor there.

[@alexmodern6667]

That was act of love, bless the Train Crew for looking out for the Doggy..... Excellent choice Video Jaw Tooth....Made my day for sure.

[@charliefunboy5210]

Those locos are sweet! Damn, smooth, and quiet. You can hear those electric motors just purring... Thanks for the video.

[@RogerThunderhandsGilbert]

Clean running and looking locomotives!

[@philluk9639]

Useful shots of the BER. Much appreciated up to date shots of a railroad I'm attempting to model. Big thank you. Always appreciate your vids

[@JawTooth]

Many thanks!

[@robertdean9392]

Remembered this from last video This train can only do a maximum of 28 cars. Nice catch Jawtooth!!!

[@richarddelgado8913]

I appreciate and love the awesome coverage of the train and the scenery 👍

[@JawTooth]

Thank you very much!

[@ricmeister73]

Wow! That shot of the train coming over that little bridge was awesome. Thanks again JT for bringing us all these great videos and bits of unseen America at it's best!

[@jeremypreece870]

UK in the house again. Real railway action Mr Jaw Tooth! And much more valuable than just watching high speed trains flash past on the main lines. I think that these videos that you are making of the end of small spurs and branch lines are really interesting and will hopefully not become historical records of the past too soon. As a Brit, I find these pictures of the USA both fascinating and also very different from the American big cities which is what we mostly see on TV.

[@JawTooth]

Wow, thanks! Its fun to be in those areas. The people are nice and its peaceful. Have a great week Jeremy!

[@alandavis1245]

This is real America. Not smelly ass cities full of crime

[@markmccummins8049]

Jaw Tooth: this was a treat! This type of railroading is alive and well in W. VA. It has withered away in W. PA. I liked the little memorial at the beginning of the video. And the engineer watching out for the canine pedestrian was wonderful (being a dog lover myself). And then your doggies! Love this stuff, Jaw!

[@JawTooth]

Thanks Mark! I have more to post of this operation when I get time to put it together. I filmed them switching the train at the loadout and bringing the loads down

[@horror-metal-mike4320]

Two AWESOME locomotives pulling coal cars over a COOL little trestle. The CSX mainline bridge and the historic engine house were AWESOME to. Nice to see that coal tower as well. Thanks for sharing JT!

[@mr.j2776]

Just saw that someone else had the same thought as me: You always seem to find interesting locations. Great trains and often beautiful scenery! Keep it going!!!

[@jake2213b]

Seeing those mountains and valley's makes me miss home.

[@barbarathompson8604]

Glad the dog was okay, I was almost scared to watch.

[@kimberlyatwood5154]

Looks like brand new engines- beautiful blue paint job ! Great he slowed down for the dog!

[@williamralph5442]

Great video. The tracks through the wood are unique.

[@musclecarmitch908]

Love the train's in the mountains! Thanks for sharing Jawtooth!

[@backalleyrailroading2835]

That dog wasn't backing down until the last second... Good boy !!!

[@garyquelch888]

What a top spot JT these short line railways ,man they run thru some pristine areas I so want to visit all the places you and Mrs JT film the US is the best place in the world thanks again JT 🇦🇺❤️🇺🇸

[@carolgreco9538]

Another gem from J.T. Great video, beautiful scenery; and an engineer with a heart ❤️ (slowing down for the dog). Looks like another railfan like Chessie. What a guy !😀- Steve G.

[@richharris9489]

Thought the same thing good engineer

[@traditionallarry5378]

Those locomotives really look sweet,a switcher in those colors WOW.

[@train1962]

Beautiful. The hills and hollars of West Virginia. Thanks Brian.

[@chesterraybon3442]

You dug out another cool location. Drove down that same street about 3 months ago on the way to my uncle's cabin. Love those backwoods shots. Great video and take care. 😎👍👌

[@stretchlimo7275]

Such a beautiful area JT, it’s awesome you found this little gem basically in your back yard. Those GP38’s look pretty sharp👍🏼. Thanks for posting, have a good evening my friend 👍🏼😎🇺🇸

[@roseskindaeverything887]

Love the trains & towns you film in👍🌹 & looks like the doggy was teasing the train ..good job train master!!

[@thomaswilt4194]

The scenery in these videos reminds me of home in Ohio. Love those dogs.

[@jeromekay2106]

Wow. That was great. I have been through that area so many times on the interstate and never knew this little railroad existed. I love those GATX units. They look sharp!

[@melted_cheetah]

Doggo was like: hey slow down a notch

[@chrisryan5339]

Another great job cheers Jt. Chris from England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@celioleitao7303]

Awesome, you keep finding cool locations to film trains.

[@daf827]

Some fine locations, JT. Very picturesque. Suitable for modeling. Short line railroading is alive and well in WV. Love those pooches ❤️

[@problu9586]

Impressive to see the train brake for the dog on the tracks.

[@rogertemple7193]

Glad that the dog got off in time, I think his owners called him in.😯

[@bobgallo2178]

Cool post. Not only are the locos in good shape, but the track as well.

[@Jumpingoffthecliff]

They must lease engines from GATX. Thanks for the video.

[@jasonminier6782]

Man, I love that bright Ozark Green with a train coming through.

[@craigpalmer5693]

Awesome video west Virginia coal train miles long football field bless you jaw tooth beautiful state weather is different environment be safe out there

[@jameswilson3149]

This would be a great railroad to model for short line fans.Great video! thank you Jawtooth for getting to places some can`t

[@JawTooth]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@normnewman4450]

I like the way U show ur dogs relaxing at the end ,, COOL...

[@anteliomonteiroabellan1214]

Congratulations! His reports are always very interesting to see. It usually takes me back to my childhood.

[@JawTooth]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@rons3103]

Jaw Tooth, this is almost a self-educational video! Based on what you have shown in combination with looking at Google Maps, this seemed to be booming business back then, moving coal by river and rail. Now, the river pile is dried up and only thing remaining is the on-demand coal cars that are delivered to the CSX, where they perform a drop and pick up. The rest goes down the road by truck traffic!

[@zephyrwilliamson7408]

12:13 on the video is a little gem!! So beautiful! Thank you for sharing!

[@davidpulaski5628]

Beautiful, sparkling head end power and railroading right on what would normally be a road breakdown lane. Damn fine video, "JT". Stay safe out there, big guy ! A+++

[@msnpassjan2004]

14:55 Excellent shot ! That's postcard perfect !

[@cnosprandt5155]

As always, a great catch Jaw Tooth. Thanks for chasing this train and sharing. Seeing that engineer brake for the dog made my day - -we need more kindness in the world! And thanks for the slide show with Chessie and the gang!

[@JawTooth]

Thanks again!

[@Phantom-Signal]

Man am I ever jealous of you. You get to go some fantastic spots

[@brookeduvall3474]

thank you Jawtooth!

[@RodrigoSousaFerrovias]

Beautiful locomotives, great video my friend 👏👏👏

[@timothyxv171mmmpertinentgamer]

West Virginia narrow locker all trains stops, moves back up and go when clear I know is gonna happen always dispatchers, engineers, contractors puts in the time that train is right on the road WOW very Impressive my friend

[@csrrjefflloyd6496]

Leased locos too. Thanks for the video Brian.

[@JawTooth]

Thanks for watching!

[@camsmith7651]

Nice colors, black, and blue, and clean

[@shiftintohigh5564]

Neat find! Nice locos even if they are leased.👍👍😎🇺🇸

[@rachelolvera9435]

Great shot of it going over that little bridge .

[@ricknixdorf7316]

Great job on always finding the out of the way really cool rail operations! I enjoy watching them. Thanx!

[@BillSchlichting]

Thumbs up for the engineer who slowed down for the dog. But later, at the little bridge, the second locomotive caught a tree.

[@petebachelder1131]

Good grief I thought I was going to watch a train dog collision, I was about to look away 😱…. That was some really neat scenery with the train in the woods, and so close to the road !! Awesome video!! 👍👍

[@tzadik36]

Hauling away sunshine buried hundreds of millions of years ago, after its recent extraction. Thanks for the great video.

[@TheMilwaukieDan]

And unfortunately destroying the earth atmosphere.

[@RandySchartiger]

I miss hearing those train horns here echoing thru the mountains, they even tore the tracks out. great stuff man!

[@JawTooth]

Thanks!

[@sanddabz5635]

sad!

[@lexpo181]

the scene you got at the Field Creek little trestle was very great! Nice and scenic place! Thumbs up from me Jaw ;)

[@willyct207]

Thanx for the cool train and nice scenery that you bring us Mr Jaw Tooth. You are sure pushing rail fan videos to the limits!!

[@steverusie6986]

Wow up close and personal! It was funny that we both counted the cars at the same location and came up with the same count of 28 cars! I don’t usually count the cars. I agree get sound as well! Start the video son!

[@t.j.gallagher3355]

Jawtooth. You Simply Do NOT Know How To Make A Bad Train Video! That Was Awesome! I Enjoy All Your Videos. I Have An Affinity For Trains And I Have Ever Since I Was Just A Boy! I Still Would Like To Meet You, However Before I Move To Northern Kentucky To Be With My Lady. I Know You've Been There Before. I Look Forward To New Train Videos From You. Start The Video, Son!

[@larrythumper1559]

At 11"30 that is almost street running. Excellent video

[@jakew9887]

It would be nice to see them loading the railcars if possible. Good video. Thanks

[@carllind949]

Hey jaw t00th, the dog story was true. It was a real pleasure meeting you in Britt. tall carl in UP

[@SMichaelDeHart]

Jawtooth, you're on the òther end of my County. I've worked up Winifred Hollow many times over the years. Definitely the beginning of the southern coal field's of WV.

[@davidf-kt6ei]

I saw and filmed that same car with tag tubby on it and ones with that ghost looking tag up in the top corner in Thurmond W.V. yesterday 8/2/21 on dunloup branch. I live about 8 miles from Thurmond when i was a kid in the 1970s i lived in Thurmond

[@robertf3479]

Some beautiful country up there.

[@greenfire919]

The picture of the blue truck running alongside the blue train is freakin cool!!

[@Eddy63]

Not the best sounding horn but those EMD diesel engines are second to none ...👍👍👍 Good video Son ...

[@elteescat]

Aww! How sweet of them to take a moment for that dog! (I saw a dog get killed in the road right in front of me once, but it wasn't the driver's fault. The dog decided to stick its head out in the road and got its head stuck in the wheel well. Broke its neck.)

[@kevinmiller6324]

elteescat-Ick! No doubt you'll be having nightmares about that for the rest of your life.

[@elteescat]

@@kevinmiller6324 there wasn't any blood or anything. It just snapped the dog's neck and threw it to the side of the road. It happened so fast it was like huh? Dead dog just like that!

[@hernanpatricioorellanaalar3473]

Great report! You’re the best Mr. Jaw Tooth!

[@ronhelman3985]

Awesome video Jawtooth!!! Love those west Virginia coal trains!!!!

[@michaelhayes1340]

Great find sir

[@jamescotter5376]

I don't know how you do it but you find some of the best railroads in the country you need to come to Colorado and do the thing on the Moffat sub thank you again just great video

[@johnfick6347]

Got to love their short lines

[@ruslsdad]

👍👌✌ pretty cool JT. Keep 'em coming.

[@ballardja1972]

That sure is a good sounding train horn better than those two you had on the other day the red and black new ones.

[@UnionPacificRailroader]

I haven't seen an animal on the railroad tracks in a long time. Great video. (: and I haven't seen gatx trains themselves in a while

[@55tmilam]

Locos look nice!

[@derrickanderson4932]

Those locomotives really look Nice .

[@silverhawk_25]

Great video Jawtooth loved the live action trains I see alot of tractor trailers go through that way nice little railroad

[@walkerdalton11435]

The dog at the end was the best

[@0779BooBoo]

This one is one of your best!.

[@kenrosser8160]

That was a cool picture of the old truck dump wall

[@Chessie1985]

Excellent coal train JT!!!

[@JawTooth]

Thank you very much!

[@Chessie1985]

@@JawTooth You're welcome!!

[@julianp2868]

That Labrador was just wanting to say "and there's MORE Mr Engineer?"

[@JM_Sports]

That’s cool! The GATX units are some times found in Saint John New Brunswick for their Southern Railway!

[@brianperkins4191]

Jaw Tooth keep up the great work man love your videos. Keep them coming.