I arose and drove to the McDonald's in Whitley City, Tennessee, which had no power due to the storm, so my choices were either Oneida or Somerset. Since I was going to the Rathole, I decided on Somerset and drove straight there, enjoyed my breakfast and saw huge thunderheads so it was a good choice to avoid that area. I returned to Cave Spring Road and the bridge that Chris Parker and I visited in 2007.
The "Rathole" is the nickname for Norfolk Southern's busy main line through Kentucky which once had many tunnels, most of which have been daylighted, or bypassed in the first six decades of the 20th century, with wide cuts to accommodate heavy, double stack intermodal traffic. The nickname once aptly characterized the middle section of the Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific Railroad, where 27 tunnels helped the line traverse 160 miles of rugged mountain country between Wilmore, Kentucky and Emory Gap, Tennessee.
As I arrived, a southbound train's tail end was in my view.
That southbound train had left my sight. Might we see him later this morning?
A northbound train was also stopped at the next control point and I could see the rear of it.
Norfolk Southern 2760 North at the Cave Spring bridge. From here I drove to the Keno Road bridge.
Norfolk Southern 9619 North, after which I relocated south on US 27 to Parker Lane.
My vantage point.
Norfolk Southern 1127 North at Parker Lane bridge. I continued on to the Wyborg Loop bridge.
Norfolk Southern 3650 South was the train I saw leaving the Cave Springs Road bridge.
Norfolk Southern 6956 North. Later I called Chris Parker and he gave me the phone number of the Big South Fork Scenic Railway and later received a call that my ticket would be complimentary for their 12:30 train. I stopped at KFC in Whitley City before returning to the Parkland Motel and the train ride.
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