Folks,

In returning from Roanoke a few days ago (see Trains Newswire for details), my wife and I decided to head home along the Blue Ridge Parkway all the way from Roanoke to Charlottesville.

Along the way (and if pressed, I could come up with mile marker numbers), we saw a preserved section of logging railroad, laid with ties and rail.

Does anybody (paging you, Gary Gray) know the details of this particular rail right-of-way?

Sandy, It has been quite a while since I was up on that stretch of the Parkway, the Peaks of Otter is about as far as I get on a regular basis. Per a google search, the place you found was "Yankee Horse Ridge" (there's probably a Civil War connection there somewhere), at MP 34.4. The guides list a logging exhibit and a reconstructed stretch of the "Irish Creek Railway". Around the turn of the (1900) century, there were a number of logging operations that connected with the old Virginia Blue Ridge RR. Since Piney River is only about 10 mi. away, I would suspect that it is a remnant of one of those. There were a bunch of logging and mining operations along the Blue Ridge prior to WWI, but most of them were not common carriers, and very little historical data exists on them. Supposedly, there is a "mythical" shay abandoned inside an old mine just off the Parkway in Bedford County. However, those who claim to have seen it have a problem finding it again. Kind of like those A's, J's and Y's stored in old Elkhorn tunnel.