Honoring the ongoing farce that is politely being referred to as the Copenhagen Conference in my own unique way, today's very green Train of Thought features 158-mile West Virginia coal hauler Appalachian & Ohio working it's way through the hilly, lush hills of the Mountain State. The A&O has had a short but tumultuous existence so far. In March 2005, Kansas-based WATCO purchased the former Baltimore & Ohio Cowen and Pickens Subdivisions from CSX transportation. The line was in the WATCO fold for barely a year when it was sold off to Four Rivers Transportation, parent company of the Paducah & Louisville and Evansville Western Railroads. The WATCO locomotives were dispersed to other WATCO railways (the majority of them west of the Mississippi) while Four Rivers brought in their own 4-axle power in their own trademark light green & black with white trim paint scheme.
One of the A&O's main customers gained the national spotlight in January 2006 with the Sago mine disaster which killed 12 coal miners and left only one survivor. [The media initially reported that all 13 miners were alive and well- NANESB!]
Here, railpictures.net user Mark Hardin caught this image of A&O GP40-3 #2121 making its way across the Pleasant Creek Viaduct at Pleasant Creek, WV with another GP40 on their way back from the CSX interchange at Grafton with a mixed freight on a bright June 2007 day.
No comments:
Post a Comment