March 2024
The Smoking Gun
16/03/24 08:11 Filed in: Nelson County | Soapstone in Virginia
The beginning of this saga can be found here.
Standard gauge tracks at the Standard Soapstone plant near Phoenix in Nelson County
My tour of the Phoenix area with Jim, along with the old photographs he sent me from his collection, certainly verified the existence of a narrow gauge industrial railroad initially serving Phoenix Stone then Standard Soapstone. In Hearbeats of Nelson, Paul Saunders had interviewed Phoenix residents who had worked as railroad laborers laying dual gauge track.
Worn scrap of light rail at an abandoned Phoenix soapstone quarry site
But I had yet to see a photograph that showed narrow gauge track beside standard gauge track in a straight forward manner that would put the entire matter to rest. And so it was to remain for years. Subsequent visits to Phoenix turned up shallow cuts and fills that may well have been part of the narrow gauge right-of-way, as well as railroad track hardware near the abandoned quarry sites.
Immediately after the Pandemic I paid a visit to Garth Groff, author of the Soapstone Shortlines book. We discussed my efforts to uncover evidence of a narrow gauge soapstone railroad. Afterwards Garth sent me exactly what I was looking for.
The Southern Railway Historical Society had published an article by E.R. Conner, III about Arrington, Virginia. Conner's article mentioned the Southern's dealings with Phoenix Stone's narrow gauge railroad. It also included the photo I had wanted to see for so long.
The Southern mainline is to the right, dual gauge in the center, narrow gauge track diverging off to the left
A track diagrm showing narrow gauge tracks
Garth supplied the evidence needed for me to consider this case closed. As an added bonus, he sent along a photo of a standard gauge Standard Soapstone locomotive.
Standard gauge locomotive at the Standard Soapstone plant
This Heisler was the only steam locomotive owned by any soapstone railroad that was not a saddle tanker. Or was it? That is an investigation for another time.
More facts come to light.
Standard gauge tracks at the Standard Soapstone plant near Phoenix in Nelson CountyMy tour of the Phoenix area with Jim, along with the old photographs he sent me from his collection, certainly verified the existence of a narrow gauge industrial railroad initially serving Phoenix Stone then Standard Soapstone. In Hearbeats of Nelson, Paul Saunders had interviewed Phoenix residents who had worked as railroad laborers laying dual gauge track.
Worn scrap of light rail at an abandoned Phoenix soapstone quarry site
But I had yet to see a photograph that showed narrow gauge track beside standard gauge track in a straight forward manner that would put the entire matter to rest. And so it was to remain for years. Subsequent visits to Phoenix turned up shallow cuts and fills that may well have been part of the narrow gauge right-of-way, as well as railroad track hardware near the abandoned quarry sites.
Immediately after the Pandemic I paid a visit to Garth Groff, author of the Soapstone Shortlines book. We discussed my efforts to uncover evidence of a narrow gauge soapstone railroad. Afterwards Garth sent me exactly what I was looking for.
The Southern Railway Historical Society had published an article by E.R. Conner, III about Arrington, Virginia. Conner's article mentioned the Southern's dealings with Phoenix Stone's narrow gauge railroad. It also included the photo I had wanted to see for so long.
The Southern mainline is to the right, dual gauge in the center, narrow gauge track diverging off to the left
A track diagrm showing narrow gauge tracks
Garth supplied the evidence needed for me to consider this case closed. As an added bonus, he sent along a photo of a standard gauge Standard Soapstone locomotive.
Standard gauge locomotive at the Standard Soapstone plant
This Heisler was the only steam locomotive owned by any soapstone railroad that was not a saddle tanker. Or was it? That is an investigation for another time.