The Mirant Lovett Generating Station in Tomkins Cove, NY--one of only three destinations for coal on the River Subdivision, and the only one on the lower 4/5th of the line--turned off its coal-fired generators and shut down on April 19, 2008. Since the River Subdivision is not a through-route for transporting coal, no coal trains now ply the lower 4/5th of the River Sub. No coal trains can be seen below Alsen, at the far north end of the line.
In this chapter, we take a look at the final days: the last empty coal car, the last full coal cars, and the very last coal train to be seen in Tomkins Cove. In the chapter that follows this one, Coal To Tomkins Cove, we look at what is now a piece of railroad history: the coal siding in regular operation.
Above: On April 16, 2008, three days before
the close-down, demolition equipment was already on site,
preparing to demolish the power plant. Mirant was
determined to have the plant razed by March 2009
in order to substantially lower its tax obligation.
South End of the Siding: The Last Empty
Coal Car
Above and Below: On April 16, this
straggler sat on the south end of the siding at MP 36,
as the power plant continued to operate in the background. This hopper would
be
the very last empty coal car on the siding.
Above: Q254 passes the straggler on April
22. Demolition is already underway in the background.
Above: A CSX track foreman examines the now
empty siding in late April 2008.
The North End of the Siding: The Last
Loaded Coal Cars
The siding had been empty for two weeks when a new load of coal suddenly appeared in the middle of the night on April 15. Was the plant not closing after all? No, it was just an insurance load, there in case the plant burned through the coal it had on hand before the Saturday close four days hence.
The coal was not used. We hung around for several days after the plant closed, hoping to see that last load of coal hauled away. (We finally gave up. It was only by a stroke of pure luck that we caught that final move when it occurred on May 5.) While we were there in those late April days, we documented this last load of coal to sit on the Tomkins Cove siding from a variety of angles.
Above: April 22, 2008.
Above: April 21, 2008.
Above: Q434 passes the coal hoppers on the
siding on April 22, 2008.
Above: From Route 9W, with the Indian Point nuclear power plant in the distance, April 16, 2008.
Below: The view from the switch at the north end of the
siding, at mile QR38.2. April 22, 2008.
