Some people will complain about supposedly non-serious "railfanning" with this post, but I came across these two clips from YouTube that were, for me, too moving not to share. They portray coal railroading that to me, suggest a cross between operations on the Virginian Railway (the SYs remind me so strongly of VGN MBs), and the "gob pile" operation of Elk River Coal & Lumber (parent company of the Buffalo Creek & Gauley). For me, additional interest comes in the form of the cars, including large hoppers that look like a type of ballast car we used to us, and the side-dumping cars that were made by Difco--and all of them run on Andrews trucks! Maybe we need to look at those trucks for some of our preserved freight cars. . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQL09QFB4bM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1s6cVlLBJE

I have visited China 5 times and have witnessed these scenes in person. I often thought about the parallels between the end of steam in China and what it must have looked like in places like Dundon, West Virginia.

Good video....great times eh Tom?

Trevor,

Some of the best times. It was nice meeting you at the Limestone Railway outside of Beijing.