CSX Closes Erwin Tn Yard

Steamnsteel · **Joined:** Mon Feb 18, 2013 2:29 pm **Posts:** 12

If you Google the above there are lots of info out there about this closure and the job loss to the region. The town of Erwin has already commented that they would like to buy the property for expansion of the town.

So what does this have to do with preservation? There are either 2 or 3 turntables still in use here and if anyone has the ability, they may want to start checking to see if they can be purchased.

300 jobs will be lost in the yard alone and the trickledown effect will be felt throughout region.

http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/Local/2015/10/15/CSX-closure-ends-more-than-140-years-of-railroad-operations-in-Erwin.html?ci=stream&lp=1&p=1

p51 · **Posted:** Fri Oct 16, 2015 11:47 am

That's also the place where they stored most of the Clinchfield steam before scrapping. My parents remember seeing long lines of steam sitting there in the late 50s and 60s...

Termite7 · **Joined:** Thu Aug 21, 2008 8:29 pm **Posts:** 397

Turntables? I have spent a lot of time in the Erwin yard (not recently) and never saw a single turntable. I did see a fully operable transfer table but I believe that was even removed in recent years. Am I wrong?

My impression of the current yard is that of a steamlined and modernized place with few of the old amenities that were there in the 1970's. The depot has been converted into something...a welcome center or a library...I cannot remember which. The old HQ building was leveled as well as the shop buildings and well...everything. It may be too late for preservation of any kind.

T7

Termite7 · **Joined:** Thu Aug 21, 2008 8:29 pm **Posts:** 397

OK...I see a single turntable on Google Earth. But otherwise everything else "old" is gone. The shop building you see is a newer structure.
T7

whodom · **Posted:** Fri Oct 16, 2015 2:56 pm

I can imagine that is a huge economic loss to the area.

When I worked for the N&W, a pipe fitter who worked for me said he had worked in the Clinchfield's shops in Erwin for one year during WWII. He said raw sewage ran below the grating in the engine pits in the backshop. He moved back to Portsmouth, Ohio the first chance he got!

Steamnsteel · **Joined:** Mon Feb 18, 2013 2:29 pm **Posts:** 12

I stand corrected, there is only one turntable left. I know I saw the others before and there has been some construction inside the yard in the last couple of years, maybe they have been filled in or I could have been mistaken. I know someone locally that can verify this if I can track him down next week.

Termite7 wrote:

OK...I see a single turntable on Google Earth. But otherwise everything else "old" is gone. The shop building you see is a newer structure.
T7

steamfan765 · **Joined:** Thu Oct 24, 2013 8:30 am **Posts:** 184

this just show the economic decline in the apps. and the country. Combination of strict EPA regulations and declining infrastructure can and will create this kind of problem everywhere. I know infrastructure wasn't mentioned but minus well throw it out there. I think the EPA needs to ease off the regulations so the railroads and countless towns to survive and thrive. Coal is the bread and butter for the railroads but the market has now soften I don't know what other commodity there is to replace coal. The closed Erwin Tn Yard is a setback but CSX will survive and thrive I have no doubt that

Bobharbison · **Joined:** Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:42 pm **Posts:** 3011

steamfan765 wrote:

this just show the economic decline in the apps. and the country.

Odd, since I was just reading this yesterday:

Quote:

CSX Corporation Announces Record Third Quarter Financial Results
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Oct. 13, 2015
Highlights:
Third quarter record earnings per share of $0.52 and operating ratio of 68.3 percent
Strong service performance
Remain an industry leader in safety
CSX Corporation (NYSE: CSX) today announced net earnings of $507 million for the third quarter of 2015, versus $509 million for the same period in 2014, which translates to a third quarter record $0.52 per share, compared to $0.51 in the prior year.
Revenue declined nine percent in the quarter, as gains in price were more than offset by the combination of lower fuel recovery, a three percent volume decline and continued transition in CSX's business mix. At the same time, expenses declined 11 percent on the collective effect of continued low fuel prices, cost reductions reflecting lower volume and savings from efficiency initiatives. The resulting $933 million in operating income drove a third quarter record operating ratio of 68.3 percent.

boilerwash · **Posted:** Fri Oct 16, 2015 11:10 pm

Quote:

The town of Erwin has already commented that they would like to buy the property for expansion of the town.

If they manage to get their hands on it, they better be careful where they send in the bulldozers lest they dig up "Murderous Mary" again.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_%28elephant%29

whodom · **Posted:** Sun Oct 18, 2015 1:46 pm

There's a post on the B&O Historical Society's Facebook page that says CSX is shutting down the entire Clinchfield.

True?

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Sun Oct 18, 2015 2:21 pm

No, only part of it. Through trains will now run elsewhere--let me see what I have here..........

From Trains Newswire:

Quote:

The proposed cutbacks would detour most rail traffic, including coal loads and empties away from the Clinchfield mainline, routing them via the railroad’s Corbin, Ky., to Etowah, Tenn. route on the former Louisville & Nashville mainline or the former Chesapeake & Ohio mainline in West Virginia. Sources say this process is gradually taking place now.

The detours would affect most run-through trains on the railroad’s Kingsport and Blue Ridge Subdivisions, including southbound coal loads en-route to utility destinations in the southeast, as well as their respective empties. Run-through grain, ethanol, and other unit trains would also be detoured. Service to local industries in the Kingsport, Tenn., area would continue to be served by a shortened Q696/Q697 manifest train. Currently, the daily manifest operates between Russell, Ky., and Hamlet, N.C., but sources say it may soon operate from Kingsport, Tenn., to Hamlet, N.C.

The two subdivisions directly impacted include the Kingsport Subdivision between Shelby Yard in Pikeville, Ky., to Erwin, Tenn., as well as the Blue Ridge Subdivision between Erwin, Tenn. and Spartanburg, S.C. Consequently, these proposed cutbacks would also impact the Big Sandy Subdivision, which connects Russell, Ky., to Shelby Yard in Pikeville.

As someone of Facebook said, "The Clinchfield is now essentially two branchlines, with a 20 mile section between McClure Junction and St. Paul, Virginia out of service. The remaining trackage will remain in operation, to serve local, on-line customers. There will be no through trains." In addition, NS retains trackage rights over a portion below Frisco.

And, yes, Erwin Yard is shut down, with 300 local jobs now gone.

rcw7585 · **Joined:** Sun Nov 13, 2005 11:25 am **Posts:** 85

Notable Erwin history:

Ed Kapuscinski · **Posted:** Tue Oct 20, 2015 1:54 pm

I haven't picked it up anywhere else: was this a very sudden thing where everyone showed up Monday and found out they'd be closed on Friday, or was there more notice and it just finally happened?

Jennie K · **Joined:** Fri Feb 13, 2015 2:48 pm **Posts:** 198

I was reading some of the local newspaper articles, some of the employees found out while watching the evening news. Real classy, but hey the last full time job I walked into work one morning , found a note on my phone that the boss wanted to see me. In an hour I was on the outside looking in. Position had be eliminated. 'Merica....

whodom · **Posted:** Tue Oct 20, 2015 5:38 pm

Apparently Corbin, KY is getting similar treatment. 180 jobs cut:

http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/Busines ... achia.html