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RIVER SUB DVD -- Click For Details

The CSX River Subdivision

Coal To Tomkins Cove 1 (of 6)

Added 12/2007; updated 11/2008. Copyright © 2008 Lewis Bogaty

Be sure to see Lewis Bogaty's articles:

"The Last Days of Coal To Tomkins Cove" in the
February 2008 Railfan & Railroad Magazine
and
"Last Look: Tomkins Cove Coal Finale" in the
July 2008 Railpace NewsMagazine.
 

The Mirant Lovett Generating Station in Tomkins Cove, NY, was one of only three destinations for coal on the River Subdivision, and the only one on the lower 4/5th of the line, before it closed down on April 19, 2008. As of this writing, and for the foreseeable future, no coal trains will be seen on the lower 4/5th of the River Sub (below Alsen, at the far north end of the line).

 

 

What follows is a look at the coal operation in Tomkins Cove, along the scenic Hudson River, as it existed before the shut down. The first page of this 6-page chapter looks at the CSX unit loaded coal trains that brought coal to the plant; the second page, the Mirant switcher at work; and the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth pages, the CSX unit empty coal trains that took the hoppers away from the plant.   

 

Above: Loaded coal cars rest on the siding north of the Mirant power plant on February 19, 2007.
 

Above: Empty coal hoppers wait to be retrieved on the south end of the Tomkins Cove
coal siding, with the power plant in the distance. February 16, 2007.



Loaded Coal Trains

Above: Unit coal train V806 from Elk Run Junction, West Virginia, travels north through Russell, KY and Columbus, OH, to Cleveland, then east through Buffalo, NY, to the Selkirk Yard, where it turns south onto the River Subdivision. (In the early years of the decade, the symbol V798 was often used for trains originating at Elk Run Junction.) Here V806  is seen entering Iona Island with the Bear Mountain Bridge in the background, headed  toward the Tomkins Cove power plant three miles to the south. July 21, 2007.
 

Above: V806 rolls south alongside the Hudson River, passing through Highland Falls, NY,
on its way to Tomkins Cove. February 28, 2007. (The New-York-Central-era
searchlight signals in the picture were removed in March 2007.)




Above & Below: The train swings around the river at MP 38 in Stony Point, NY,
as it approaches the power plant, visible in the lower photo.

On The Siding

Above & Below: V806 is stopped at the power plant, as the conductor returns
to the front of the train after splitting the cut of cars. February 28, 2007.

Below: On July 21, 2007, V806 pauses on the coal siding for a crew member to line and lock
the siding switch at the rear of the train for the main track, before proceeding south on the siding to the power plant.
The Indian Point nuclear facility is visible across the Hudson River in Buchanan, NY.

Above & Below: The train comes to a stop at the north end of the plant, Milepost 37.

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