I was driving down US 340 yeasterday through Shenandoah, VA, and was pleasently surprised to find a train yard there! I came home and looked up the town on TerraServer-USA and saw that are actually two yards there. Do any of you know why this is? I mean is there a junction nearby that I missed? Or do they sort rolling stock there before they send them north through Front Royal or southwest to Harrisonburg? Just curious....
I am not sure about the two yards but here is a link to some info on the area. http://www.trainweb.org/varail/nsvall.html I am in the Staunton area fairly often and enjoy the rail scenery around those parts.
Zxxxxxx, Just checked Google Map of Shenandoa, Va., only spotted one yard (NS, listed on 1st Street) anywhere near town on the aerial photo. Am not familiar with Terra-Server,??? Does not look like a classification yard - probably serves local industry (not familiar with the location.):tb-err: Give Google Maps a look. Bob C.
Hi! Thanks for the replies so far!! Why I thought that there were TWO yards is because the aerial view from 3/31/2000 on TerraServer-USA shows 10 or 11 tracks stretching NW from the center of town. Then SE of there, the tracks shrink down to 2 or 3. Then they widen out to 8 or 9 tracks with a wye on the NE of that southern most yard. Anyways, that is why I referred to them as TWO yards. Maybe it really is just one long yard nestled between the South Fork of the Shenandoah River and the town. Not enough room to put everything side-by-side. And as one of you said, maybe it is just for local industries.... Thanks again!
Also, thank you pilotdude for the great website that shows and talks about the NS Shenandoah Valley Line. After viewing it, I am going to have to spend the day there checking-out the town and the RR!!
