Chasing Trains on the Famed Clinchfield Route ~ Episode 1

The car you rode in is a type of smaller open-top hopper, often called an "ore jenny" or a composite hopper car, which typically has lower sides (around 4-6 feet high).
These smaller cars are designed to handle very dense materials, such as iron ore (taconite), aggregates (gravel/rock), sand, or petroleum coke, where the weight limit (286,000 lbs gross rail load) is reached before the car is completely full.
The Clinchfield Railroad historically used composite hopper cars for both coal and phosphate service, demonstrating their versatility for different dense commodities.
This design allows for maximum load by weight for heavy materials without exceeding the maximum height or weight limits for the rail lines they operate on.Capturing freight trains like never before along the Blue Ridge Subdivision. This is from Poplar to Green Mountain, NC.

Link to Rebuilding the Clinchfield Railroad SERIES:
   • Rebuilding the Clinchfield Railroad  

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Link to our Blue Ridge Subdivision interactive map:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/vie...

Learn all about the history of the Clinchfield here: https://www.clinchfield.org/clinchfie...

Link to Rebuilding the Clinchfield Railroad SERIES:
   • Rebuilding the Clinchfield Railroad  

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The Clinchfield Railroad, officially known as the Carolina, Clinchfield and Ohio Railway (CC&O), was one of the most legendary and ambitious railroad projects in the United States. Built to conquer the rugged terrain of the Appalachian Mountains, this route carved a lifeline through some of the most treacherous terrain in the eastern U.S.

✅ Key Facts about the Clinchfield:

🚆 Completed in 1915, stretching 277 miles from Elkhorn City, Kentucky to Spartanburg, South Carolina.
🛤️ The most famous stretch: the Clinchfield Loops in North Carolina, an engineering marvel designed to conquer the Blue Ridge.
⛏️ Built to haul coal, timber, and raw materials from the Appalachian coalfields to southern markets and ports.
💥 Known for its steep grades, deep tunnels, and massive trestles — including the famous Copper Creek Viaduct and Lick Creek trestle.
🔂 Originally built under George L. Carter, who envisioned it as part of a larger route linking the Ohio River Valley to the Atlantic.
🚧 Known as the “Costly Clinchfield” because of the extraordinary expense required to cut through the mountains.
🌲 Its route passed through remote, isolated communities that had never seen modern transportation before.
⚒️ The railroad was built without federal funding — a rare feat during the era of massive infrastructure expansion.
🧱 Workers used hand tools, dynamite, and mule teams to blast through solid rock and create embankments.
🎥 Today, the Clinchfield is remembered not only for its freight legacy but for the famous Clinchfield Santa Train, a holiday tradition since 1943.

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This video is part of the "Rebuilding the Clinchfield Railroad" documentary series and is protected under U.S. copyright law. Unauthorized copying, reproduction, distribution, or use of any part of this video — including screenshots, audio, and animations — without written permission is strictly prohibited.

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