Sand Pit Run

Whenever travels take me up Interstate 81 through the Shenandoah Valley, I build in some extra time to make the short hop west of Winchester to the village of Gore, to see what power is tied down at the Winchester & Western shops just off the highway. This visit was no disappointment, for just as I finished taking my roster shots of their ex New York Central high-hood, I heard a horn to the east in the direction of Winchester. Sure enough, a sand pit run was coming back into town with a few dozen empty WWUX shorty hoppers.

The two-man crew pulled their train through the crossing at Sinking Spring Lane, near the shops, then backed the entire string of empties into the southern-most siding. The twin chop-nose Geeps were cut off and run around to the eastern end of the long cut, where the brakeman separated about half the cars for transport up to the sandpit. The other half was tied down for the night. The train came back to Sinking Spring Lane, brakeman on the front with the cars and locomotives on the rear for the push up the line.

At the sand pit entrance, the crew shoved their empties up the last 200 yards before the loader, a stretch of track with a pretty good grade uphill. From the vantage point of the pit entrance road, the locomotives disappeared into the loading area as they broke down the cut and arranged empties for sand loading. Fifteen minutes later, 572's headlights -- now on the point -- could be seen at the top of the grade. The units floated light downhill all the way back down to Gore, where the crew tied them down for the night. Electrical power was connected to both units to keep the blocks warm on a December Shenandoah evening, and with a friendly wave and "goon night" the two Winchester & Western men disappeared into the shops to finish up their paperwork and no doubt call it a day.