Any Railroad Fans? Hagan Switchback

[Jim Oaks]

This is a pretty good video of the Hagan Switchback in Hagan, Virginia. Coal trains coming south from Harlan, Kentucky pass through this mountain tunnel, and then back up to align themselves onto an east-west track.

My grandparents farm is 3/4 mile east of this switchback and the tracks actually cross over their farm splitting it in half. I still have the handwritten agreement between my great-great-great-great grandparents and the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company from 1887 when they purchased the right of way for the tracks. My cousin owns the farm today and it's been in the family for well over 150 years.

The tracks used to run from Cumberland Gap to Norton, Virginia. When the tunnel was completed in 1930. This switchback was only meant to be a 'temporary' solution and is still in use today. It takes them about 45-60 to back the train up and switch it onto the other track.

On December 10th, 1941 my grandfather was employed as a watchman by the railroad police to guard the tunnel and did it until February 1942. At the time there was a fear after the Japanese bombing that our railroads could be sabotaged since they played such a vital role in this country.

I don't recall the timeframe, but trains stopped using the tracks west of the tunnel and they were eventually removed. There's just enough track there for the coal trains to back up on.

 

[Curious Hound]

That's pretty cool. I don't think I ever heard of that particular place. The railroads get pretty creative in mountainous areas. Logging railroads are riddled with switchbacks like that.

 

[Jim Oaks]

That's pretty cool. I don't think I ever heard of that particular place. The railroads get pretty creative in mountainous areas. Logging railroads are riddled with switchbacks like that.

It's kind of crazy to think that they've been doing this for 90+ years versus securing a right of way to loop the track up onto the main line.

There's another tunnel in the area...

If you head east 4miles to Hubbard Springs, there's an old wagon trail (on private land no longer accessible) that goes north up the mountain and then passes through a tunnel that miners blasted into the top of the ridge. It allowed people to go from Hubbard Springs to Hagan, Kentucky which was especially useful when the railroad came through Hubbard Springs in 1890. I remember my dad talking about going to Harlan when he was a kid and going through the tunnel to get there.

 

[Curious Hound]

It's kind of crazy to think that they've been doing this for 90+ years versus securing a right of way to loop the track up onto the main line.

Their needs probably changed or some bean counters figured out there wasn't enough revenue there to pay for doing it the other way.

For Logging railroads, there just wasn't any more expedient way to do it. The mountain terrain often dictated that switchbacks were the only way. And they weren't going to blast tunnels or build expensuve bridges for lines that may only be needed for 10-20 years until the area was cleared out.

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

I love trains. I wish that Issaqueena Tunnel was still open, @Jim Oaks! It was to be a railroad tunnel until the Civil War changed all that. I feel lucky to have walked to the back of Phase 1. The other two sections are either partially or completely underwater, as the CCC worked with the ACE to build lakes in the region and maybe unintentionally flooded most of the tunnel.

 

[Curious Hound]

I haven't visited Stumphouse since they made it an official park. Used to be nothing there but the tunnel and, if I recall, an old rotting railroad car? It's funny that Clemson tried making cheese there.

 

[Li'l Work Truck]

I haven't visited Stumphouse since they made it an official park. Used to be nothing there but the tunnel and, if I recall, an old rotting railroad car? It's funny that Clemson tried making cheese there.

Yes! The car rotted away and they turned it into a platform of sorts.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

It's funny that Clemson tried making cheese there.

You can make cheese anywhere if you're adventurous enough.