Hagans Switchback ?

[MarkInLA]

Anybody know if it is in use today ? Would it now be NS ?
There is a nice Vid on YuTube under "Sunday Morning Coffee and Trains", from what looks like the 1970s-80s..titled "Mainline Switchback"..
My prior MRR was, and my now planned HO L shelfie will be a switchback, in the same vain as the 1:1 scale, Hagans..

BTW. I Would like to add that, a switchback MRR is really a 'point to point' layout, but perhaps with a 3rd point, say..
If you are a point-to-point-only person, as I am, and you have limited room or funds for a standard point to point RR, next best thing is a switchback, demanding/enabling lots of proto ops to negotiate = longer running sessions, due to, yet in a compact size !! 
And, as we see, it can be heavy main line, not just olden days logging/mining.. [Well..., servicing a mine or and imaginary mine somewhere miles away].....
M


*edited today for syntax only

[squirrelhunter]

I think it is run by CSX now. I've always thought it would make a good way in N to do prototype length trains without needing massive real estate.

[Mark5]

This goes back to L&N so yeah CSX now.

Here's some vid from 2015:

[MarkInLA]

 I cited a great Vid in the OP.. Still, no one has stated if Hagans switchback is absolutely in use today..Thanks, M

[Mark5]

You cited one "from what looks like the 1970s-80s" so I posted one showing it in use in 2015. I don't get down that way much so maybe someone else has more current info. 

[eja]

Have you looked at a web satellite map view? If there was a train in it, then it is probably still in use.   If not, who knows.

[delamaize]

https://bit.ly/3dIzKYF

[learmoia]

LOL. Nice!

[MarkInLA]

MARK5
Yeah, nice Vid. I hadn't watched the whole thing..Sorry. M 

[EL3632]

Going to library school has its advantages, used Google's Advanced Search function to limit search to "Hagans Switchback" published within the last year.
I ended up finding an article in Railfan & Railroad's January 2020 issue titled: "Hagans Junction • by Ron Flanary and Samuel Phillips — Built by Louisville & Nashville, this unusual mountain switchback continues to move coal for CSX."
This, to me, means it is still in use, at least as of late 2019, when I assume the article was written. I currently do not have access to the article itself, if anyone does please feel free to elaborate.

[High Hood]

Hagans is still used a few times a week. The trains that still use it are: empties/loads to Eastman Chemical from Balkan and Creech, the newly restarted mine runs from Corbin to Benedict and return, and the occasional scrubber stone train from Mt. Vernon. I’m not sure on the status of Southbound power plant trains. Loaded trains require a helper, and some may be taken in two cuts depending on length.

[MarkInLA]

High Hood, thanks for that informative confirmation !...
I suppose the terrain in that vicinity just will not permit a bypass to the switchback. It intrigues me as to why that is, but that's fine with me as my prior and planned next layout will be a SB similar to it !! M 

[High Hood]

High Hood, thanks for that informative confirmation !...
I suppose the terrain in that vicinity just will not permit a bypass to the switchback. It intrigues me as to why that is, but that's fine with me as my prior and planned next layout will be a SB similar to it !! M

You’re welcome! Now when it comes to bypassing the switchback, there was a plan. Originally the switchback was built as a short cut for Harlan County coal heading to N&W, CRR, and points South. It was just a temporary solution until L&N could build something else- a series of loops I believe. Then the Great Depression hit, and L&N put the loops aside. Time passed, and the temporary solution happened to become permanent.

You may find this article interesting: http://csxthsociety.org/railfanning/hagansvaphotoshopped.html

Traffic was so dense on the CV back in the day, that the crew in a caboose could see the motors on the train following them! Of course they were going slow so there was no danger. Now Hagans also had a “passing siding”. Since it replaced a large chunk of the Old CV, the junction is where the “siding” was. To allow trains to pass, one would simply pull on to the Old CV and then back out after the meet was complete.

[Mark5]

I think it quickly got to the point where they had to ask (given the level of traffic) - how many trainloads would it take to offset the cost of re-alignment?

Mark

[MarkInLA]

I think it quickly got to the point where they had to ask (given the level of traffic) - how many trainloads would it take to offset the cost of re-alignment?

Mark

Yeah, that's what I think...Mark