Cranberry Grade is located between M&K Junction and Terra Alta, West Virginia, with a maximum ruling grade of 2.84 % against eastbound trains as the Mountain Subdivision climbs Backbone Mountain. At the east end of the M&K yard is the McMillian interlocking where the yard tracks reconnect with the main two tracks through a system of crossovers. The grade begins to steepen a mile east of McMillian as the railroad begins to climb out of the bottom of the Salt Lick Creek valley towards Amblersburg. At Amblersburg the Mountain Subdivision crosses Salt Lick Creek on a single arch stone viaduct where it turns northeast leaving the Salt Lick Valley to follow Spruce Run to Rodemer. Between Amblersburg and Rodemer the line is almost constantly twisting through curves as the Mountain rapidly gains altitude towards the summit at Terra Alta. The small community of Rodemer is little more than a timetable name on the railroad with a few houses and radio base station, although this was not always the case.
During the early steam era the interlocking at Rodemer's "RO" Tower evolved into an important place as slow moving eastbounds, fast manifests, passenger trains and returning helpers were all threaded around one another at Rodemer until rising traffic levels required the installation of a 3rd track between "RO" and M&K Junction in the early 20th century. The third main track east of Rodemer however, was not completed until the early teens of the 20th century resulting in the intervening years often being a hetic time for operators who controlled the eastern end of the triple track. Even after the addition of the third track between Rodemer and Terra Alta, RO Tower continued to play a major role in operations as a consequence of its central location between the McMillian and Terra Alta interlockings as its operators continued to thread varios movements together. However, the dieselization of the B&O ended this need resulting in the closure of RO Tower in the mid 1950s and the removal of its interlocking plant a short time thereafter. The West End leaves the Spruce Run Valley a mile to the northeast of Rodemer where the line enters a deep cut which marks the former location of Rodemer Tunnel that was unroofed as part of the triple track project to Terra Alta. On the eastern end of the tunnel cut the railroad enters the steepest section of Cranberry Grade at 2.84% as the railroad passes Tanner's Crossing and swings into the beginning of the 180 degree Graveyard Curve. A small graveyard is located on the hillside at the apex of the horseshoe and it is believed this cemetery contains the graves of early railroad laborers and their families who helped build the West End. The railroad enters the Irish Run valley on the Graveyard Curve's eastern end as the line steadily climbs Backbone Mountain through several large curves reaching the dirt road crossing at McGuire. Another cut which was a former tunnel is located just east of McGuire which was also unroofed as part of the triple track project in 1911. The Mountain Subdivision re-enters the Salt Lick Creek Valley through the cut at McGuire and rounds another large horseshoe curve where Salt Lick Creek is crossed for a second time, lending the horseshoe its name. The summit of Cranberry Grade is reached a mile farther east at Terra Alta, West Virginia, after a climb of more than 1100 feet in eleven miles from M&K Junction. Terra Alta was originally called Cranberry Summit during the early years of the B&O because of several local cranberry bogs in the area which resulted in the line between Rowlesburg and Cranberry Summit being known as Cranberry Grade ever since. Terra Alta was the site of a complex interlocking during the steam era that was controlled by CA Tower where tonnage setoffs and pickups, passenger train stops, helper cutoffs and the turning of the locomotives on a large wye all took place. With the hard times of the 1970s and 80s however, this huge plant along with operations over Cranberry Grade began to be greatly reduced.
Photo by Jose Nevarez. AC6000 #653 has the point of an eastbound coal drag as it storms upgrade out of "the Hole" just short of the summit of Cranberry during the late evening of a summer day.
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By 1973 the traffic levels over the West End had fallen to a point which allowed the B&O to remove the third track between McMillian and CA Tower, leaving the present day two track mainline. In 1985 the Chessie System decided to close CA Tower and its interlocking resulting in the helper on an eastbound train returning to McMillian after cutting off on the same track each climbed Cranberry on. To expediate this operation the #2 main track was left signalled for movements in both directions although the interlocking at Terra Alta was not removed until 1990. Even with the advancements of modern technology eastbound tonnage trains still require either the most powerful locomotives or a lot of locomotives to move trains east out of M&K Junction. With the exception of light Q316s and 40 car drags, almost every eastbound train requires the use of helpers out of Rowlesburg to Terra Alta as a result of only one AC unit being able to move 20 cars. Train can still stall on Cranberry despite the invention of AC low speed traction motors resulting in those trains most frequently having to double the grade in two cuts to Rinard east of Terra Alta. In one such instance eight AC locomotives were required, four on the front and four on the rear, to get a loaded drag moving after it stalled in deep snow on one of the steepest sections near Graveyard Curve. The Rowlesburg Helper is most commonly used for assistance to Terra Alta, although on trains out of Grafton the helper set is usually applied farther west near Newburg - Hardman and left on down Cheat River Grade after shoving over Laurel Mountain. Although times have changed and Cranberry Grade no longer boasts three tracks or complex operations, Cranberry is a very rough section of the Mountain Subdivision for CSX with 10000 ton coal drags in Run 8 struggling up one of the steepest mainline grades east of the Mississippi River.
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AC6000 #627 on the Rowlesburg Helper is throttling up for the the climb to Terra Alta as the two unit helper set passes through the interlocking at McMillian.
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CSX #708 is the trailing unit in the Rowlesburg Helper as it pushes Q316 upgrade at Amblersburg in the fall of 1998.
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A fully loaded T104 is battling gravity at Amblersburg as the train's brake shoes smoke intensely while trying to control the ten thousand ton drag. As a result of 15 handbrakes set on each end of the train along with 18 axles of dynamic braking, the train safely reached M&K Junction. Westbound loaded coal trains are rare to Cranberry Grade - this train had experienced a major malfunction when its lead units had become in operable.
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The two ACW44s on the Rowlesburg Helper are wide open in Throttle Position Eight as the units shove a loaded drag around one of Cranberrys many curves east of Amblersburg.
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Photo by Terry Moore.
The three locomotives in this lashup are wide open as they storm upgrade through the Rodemer Tunnel Cut on June 4th, 1992. The gravel access road to the left marks the roadbed for the old third track.
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The three SD50s making up Hardman helper are passing over Tanner's Crossing on the end of a heavy general merchandise train in the summer of 1985.
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CSX CW44ACs #12 and #360 head up one of the Western District's finest, a T104 drag for Bostwick Florida, as the coal train storms across Tanners Crossing on June 5th, 1999.
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Photo by Terry Moore. Looking south towards the graveyard, CSX #8626 has the point of a eastbound loaded drag as it and two other EMDs work to keep their train moving around the Horseshoe Curve.
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In an opposite angle several years later, the two units on the Rowlesburg Helper are also slugging it out as they shove a V975 PEPCO drag east towards Terra Alta in front of the stone headstones marking the graves of immigrant railroad workers.
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The three SD60s on the Rowlesburg Helper are at the eastern end of Graveyard Curve as the train wraps around the Irish Run Valley through the Lewis Curve signals in the background.
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Photo by Chris Strogen. CSX #8547 and two other units are hauling Q316 upgrade near the McGuire's Crossing on March 8th, 1999.
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Photo by Ira E Moore. CSX #8703 and two other units are pounding uphill on the east side of the old McGuire Tunnel Cut on June 4th, 1992. The headend of the train has just re-entered the Salt Lick Creek Valley two miles below the summit.
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Two brand new Chessie SD50s have their train wrapped around the Salt Lick Curve horseshoe in 1985 as they work upgrade just short of the top of Cranberry.
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Photo by Terry Moore. This coal drag's battle is nearly won as it grinds upgrade with 76 loads of coal underneath the roadbridge at Terra Alta on July 15th, 1992.
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The three SD50s on the Hardman helper are about to crest the summit at Terra Alta in the early winter of 1985. The locomotives will soon cut off "on the fly" at CA Tower and return to M&K Junction or Hardman for the next train.
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Running against the normal direction of traffic on #1 main, this short drag, W510-07, is draped over the summit of Cranberry Grade on March 7th, 2000.
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The three units on this U822 has reached Terra Alta, but the battle is far from over as its train of 10000 tons of coal are still grinding upgrade.
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Although CA Tower closed in 1985, non Helper Link equipped helpers still stop and uncouple here when they are not required to shove to Altamont, as demonstrated by the Rowlesburg Helper in the late winter of 1999.
At 8:34 am on June the 5th, 1999, eastbound coal drag T104-30 is approaching McGuire Xing on Cranberry Grade when the train is abruptly thrown into emergency. Listen in to true mountain railroading as the crew holds this 10000+ ton train on grades of 2.5% while trying to identify and remedy the train's ailment so they can continue their journey east to Cumberland. Experience the humor, victory and the bitter taste of defeat with the T104's crew during this condensed sound clip of 15 minutes....
Northern West Virginia's Railroads proudly presents the less than epic recording of Mountain Railroading:
The T104-30 Saga
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Copyright 1998-2002 © Northern WV's Railroads
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