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Chesapeake and Ohio Historical Magazine, Jun 2002

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Old Blue Ridge Tunnel Eyed for Trail

From The Richmond Times-Dispatch,

December 26, 2001

submitted by Ray Saunders

Trains haven't run through the original Blue Ridge Tunnel on Afton Mountain since the 1940s, and Nelson County officials are now hoping to replace them with foot and bicycle traffic.

The roughly 4200-foot-long tunnel was dug in the 1850s and once connected Nelson County with the city of Waynesboro. It was shut down when freight trains became too large to fit through, and a wall was built halfway down the tracks to close it off County officials believe that general maintenance work could make it an important part of the trail system that Afton Mountain is famous for today.

"It's just unique, the design, the history of it, and what we would like to do is secure it from CSX Corp. and convert it into a recreational trail and tie it into the Blue Ridge Parkway, Skyline Drive and all the federal trails that are right there above it," Nelson County Administrator Steve Carter said.

The tunnel would require facelifts at its openings and a lighting system on the inside. Aside from that, the project's proponents said, the tunnel is in generally good shape. "You need flashlights. It's really dark," said Frankee Love, director of tourism and economic development for Nelson County. "Most of the time you can see the so-called light at the end of the tunnel, but it gets smaller and smaller."

The tunnel was designed by Claudius Crozet, one of Napoleon's artillery commanders and a former member of the West Point faculty, Carter said. [Crozet] was a founding father of the Virginia Military Institute and one of the first secretaries of the Virginia Department ofTransportation. "He actually designed the tunnel mathematically," Carter said. "They started from the two opposite ends and worked toward the center, and as I understand it they were just a fraction or so off when the two sides came together. Previous to that, you would just work through from one side." [See the November 1998 C&OHS Magazine.-Ed.]

The project is still in the earliest of plan ning stages and must be approved by the governments of Nelson and Augusta counties. It also needs permission from CSX and funding from VDOT to move forward.

But Carter said state representatives who toured the tunnel reacted favorably to the idea of reopening it. "We feel pretty comfortable that it's potentially a winner of we apply for it, but there are still a lot of details to work out," he said.

Cincinnati-area C&O Landmarks Gone

The OB Cabin and KC Junction interlocking towers have been demolished. OB Cabin was situated at the east end of the C&O's Ohio River bridge in Covington, Ky. KC Junction, also in Covington, was located where the L&N main line joined the C&O. The predecessor of the L&N was the Kentucky Central Railway which L&N acquired from the Collis P Huntington interests in 1891. L&N passenger trains used the C&O to reach Cincinnati Union Terminal. L&N freight transfers as well as those of other roads used the C&O to access L&N's DeCoursey Yard and others in the Cincinnati area. OB Cabin had not been open in many years, while KC served a small yard until a few years ago.

Addington Coal Reorganizes

from the Lexington, Ky., Herald-Leader, May 11, 2002

Horizon Natural Resources Inc., the Ashland company formerly known as AEI Resources Holding Inc., has emerged from a Chapter 11 bankruptcy restructuring after ten weeks.

Donald Brown, Horizons chairman and CEO, said the company has reduced its long-term debt to $925 million from $1.3 billion, but debt reduction will continue to be a priority. He said Horizon has $250 million in financing from Deutsche Bank and has removed all members of the founding family, the Addingtons, from the company.

Horizon, the nation's fourth-largest steam-coal producer, has operations in Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois and Colorado.

Editor's Note: Among the units that operate along CSX are Pike County Coal Corp., Clark Elkhorn Coal Co., Knott County Mining, Sunny Ridge Mining Co., and Skyline Coal Co. in the Big Sandy District (former C&O); Evergreen Mining in the Grafton District (former B&O); Straight Creek Coal Resources on the Cumberland Valley District (ex-L&N); and Leslie Resources in the Eastern Kentucky District (former L&N).

AEI Resources was the fourth largest coal producer in terms of revenues and tonage. Tonnage-wise, Peabody ranked the largest, selling 178.9 million tons. Arch Coal was the second with 81.1, and Consol Energy third with 78.7 million tons. AEI Resources sold 51.5 million, and Massey Energy sold 37.9 million tons. All have extensive mining operations on CSXT.

Arch Coal Cuts Production

from the Bluefield, W.Va., Daily Telegraph,

May 5, 2002

submitted by Tom Seay

An unusually warm winter and weak industrial demand have forced Arch Coal Inc. to cut production by seven percent and reduce its 2002 capital expenditure budget by $30 million to $50 million, the company said yesterday.