HiDef: "Up the Hill" on the Rathole 12/18/11

On a cloudless day in the middle of December 2011, S-Line Productions made a trip out to Norfolk Southern's Rathole in the Harriman, Tennessee area. Usually, we stick to the Rockwood-Oakdale stretch, but on this particular day, we decided to head north "up the hill" towards Sunbright. As a result, you'll see some new locations and a few hard-working freights grinding up the hill towards Danville. There are even a few rare catches, such as a burned out Dash-9 on 170, a B40-8 on 161, a Union Pacific GEVO on 143, and a cut of military tanks on 143 as well. Enjoy!

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• railfanning
• norfolk
• southern
• cnotp
• rathole
• harriman
• sunbright
• csx6900

[SEABOARDSYSTEMfan]

Another excellent production Evan! Great variety of freight and power in a beautiful setting.

[csx6900]

@SEABOARDSYSTEMfan Thanks!

[SFLRailFan]

Great one, Evan. Why do they call it the "rathole" anyway?

[csx6900]

@SFLRailFan Thanks, Ted!  I think it was originally called the Rathole because of all the tunnels and cuts that the route went through, but during the line's major renovation in the 60's & 70's, a lot of the tunnels were bypassed. The name really isn't as applicable today, but it's still kind of neat.

[rufec12]

Fantastic video! Well done! Fav'd!

[csx6900]

@rufec12 Thanks, Rudy!

[CarNutandTrainNut2]

@csx6900

The grade from Tunnel 24 to Lancing is between 1% and 1.25%, enough to bring NB's to their knees if they are underpowered.

[csx6900]

@cobras84robinjd Lol, thanks Joe! Yep, got a little bit more than just Trash-9's this time.

[csx6900]

@kenjr29mfl Thanks, Ken!

[csx6900]

@distantsignal Thank you very much, Danny!