Hello Dan,
Thanks for posting your videos of "The Valley" again. I would like to add a few things to the places where you took the videos.
Cloverdale - The track coming off of the main line, just to your right, is the Cloverdale Branch. Once known as the Lone Star Branch, it is about nine miles up the the former "Lone Star Cement Plant". The plant used to be serviced by two shifters a day. Back in the steam days and since there were no wye tracks up at Lone Star, the trains would be backing out of Roanoke Terminal in order to be heading back into Roanoke.
Troutville Trestle - This bridge is known as "Stoney Battery Bridge". The road below is "Stoney Battery Rd."
Arcadia - The control point (signal) the train is passing is now known as "Arcadia". However, Arcadia, the place, is about a mile back from where the train came from. This area shown is known as "Solitude" and that is "Solitude Siding".
Buena Vista - Across the tracks, behind where the train is, there used to be the C&O branch line that went to Lexington, Va. Their line followed beside Rt.60 as you are leaving town to the west. It was mostly washed away between Buena Vista and Lexington back in '69 by hurricane Camille. Their line was then shortened to where Rt. 60 crosses the track near the bridge over the Maury River there at Buena Vista. What Camille didn't get in '69, the flood of '85 took and the rest of the CSX line there in Buena Vista was abandoned.
Old Buena Vista Rd. - This is the south end of what is known as "Riverside".
South River Road - This area is known as "Cornwall". Just off to your left was at one time the lumber mill of the South River Lumber Co. that was serviced by the narrow gauge "Irish Creek RR". You may have seen to your left, up on the hill the former cab of one of the ICRR"s Climax locomotives. For years this old cab sat behind the church that is across the tracks and to the left, out of sight in your video.
Vesuvius - This is the south end of the double track (not a siding) that ended on the north end at "Cold Spring, Va." (just a little bit north of Greenville, Va.) over on the other side of Lofton Mt. It was constructed during WWII to help with the congestion of getting trains over the mountain that was formerly single track.
Cold Spring Rd. - Behind you, the road you are standing on will take you over to the top of Lofton Mt. (via Lofton Rd.) or Greenville (via Greenville School Rd.). Cold Spring being a little over a quarter to half mile north of the road crossing. Beside you to the left is the St. Mary's River, which the bridges are passing over. You can't see the second (Southbound) bridge in your video as it is blocked by the "Northbound" bridge. The southbound tracks were taken up in the latter '60's from "Cold Spring" to "Pkin". I won't comment on the brain power that OK'd this debacle!
N&W Avenue - This is actually "Lofton Va." The top of the mountain. It is basically all downhill from here on in to Shenandoah, Va. You are on Lofton Rd. After the train passes and you look north, in the distance is the former "Pusher Wye track" at Lofton. Steam engines, think Y6 class locos, pushed trains out of Roanoke to here. The pushers cut off from the train, the cabs were dropped back on the train while the pushers turned on the wye. They went through a crossover from the northbound to southbound tracks and went back to Roanoke while the train continued north. If you are closer north, you can still see the tree line and culverts marking the right of way off to the left.
