I cannot imagine the amount of work that must be done to restore the infrastructure to this mountainous part of the country. Thank you for sharing these videos to give us some idea.
Man can't move a mountain over night ...but nature can ......Can't build a railroad over night ...But man is working on it . Every day is more footage ! great video of this history !
This is healthy! So much goodness in how this documented and what it communicates so deeply for those who like to think. And for those who would rather not reflect so much,there is the beauty of the 'paintings in motion' of the hard working men re-building the railroad literally 'piece by piece' !Awe inspiring! Thanks Designs in Orbit for more views of the struggle to move forward against all odds as it truly is in your recordings!
I like the under-cranked, black and white effect. It really does look like something out of a Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplain film. It simultaneously shows you that these guys are doing the same type of work that got done in the olden days, and also shows that the olden days weren’t really all that different from now.
I still grimace at the devastation and yet, I find myself amazed at the progress they are making at the same time. And I did get a good laugh at the pizza delivery truck 😂Such a huge task ahead but you at least feel it will be done!! Thank you for keeping us updated🤩
@@Greatdome99 One recorded measurement of rainfall was 29.3 inches. There was obviously more than that, but that is a lot of water in just a few hours. This was on top of a wet summer and several days of heavy rain.
Amazing footage, everyone working so hard & great to see the new track being laid a mammoth undertaking but im sure the railroad eill be back. Thank you for another update.
Great video-it takes real men to do that kind of work, but they are doing it. Never seen an excavator set up to ride the rails like that-very interesting. Still cannot get over the amount of destruction. 👍
In the Huntdale section this crew is trying to establish the track ballast. The RR track crew will have to come in and work the track (rock, correct tie spacing, tamp the ties. level track, final rock. In the Relief section they are clearing the right-a-way of the old track to establish the rough track ballast. I would say they'll bring in 60' sections of assembled track. It looks like they are going to build the new bridge there. This could become the bottle neck for future work.
Thanks for the continued videos. While I would love to travel up there myself and do a drone fly over myself, I do not want to get in the way of recovery. One day though, I'll return to see the finished project!
Was up near Walnut NC yesterday & had a chance to see the NS River Line rebuild. Good progress being made. Bridge out near TN border on it. East of AVL near Swannanoa there is still some washed out track that hasn’t been repaired visible from I-40.
I don’t think the Old Fort to Asheville section has much of a chance at being rebuilt. The coal trains as well as the wood hip trains to Canton are all long gone! NS spent millions on the “Loops” a number of years ago to supposedly stabilize the right of way, but it’s all washed away! It’s value as a through route has passed also. The trains that used to run between Linwood and Asheville/ Knoxville disappeared by mid 2020, rerouted north to Lynchburg/Roanoke/Bristol etc.. As tight as NS is, they’ll never spend the massive investment necessary to rebuild a line who’s time is passed! Whole different situation on the former Clinchfield!
I was expecting to see 300 armed guards and 750 prisoners from the penal system with picks and shovels, working 12 hour shifts with minimum sustenance.
Very interesting how they are repairing the tracks. Is the railroad hiring people down there? I’m from South Shore Massachusetts and am looking at coming down there to help with the clean up but would also like to relocate there and work. I am a skilled carpenter with all tools to basically build/remodel/fix most wooden structures.
I hate to think what CSX is paying Corman to do this cleanup and restoration. Quality Gandy Dancing as we know and love it. The pizza delivery to the middle of nowhere must have cost a fortune.
They have to put something under the rail so it will support the equipment that's rebuilding the road bed so they use the ties they have on hand. When the road bed is stable they'll bring ballast trains and tie trains to dump rock and new ties. When that's done they'll run the tie gangs, rail gangs, signal gangs, ballast regulators and the dressers to make everything nice, neat and new. It's going to be many months before the first railcar moves on that track.
@@designsinorbit These people /r.j. coreman/ know what there doing . this is not there first rodeo.I have lived by the CRR sense 1970 .I have scene them clean up lots of wrecks.Usto be a weakley thing around clinchco that that train was in McClure River track was in real bad shape a /
Sub-roadbed and roadbed first. Replacing track components and alignment and final ballasting and tamping then. Sensors have to be restored at key points and signals also.
Unfortunately at normal speed, the videos would turn into very boring 3 hour movies. Everything moves SO slow in this process. But maybe someday I'll post an unedited marathon version...
I would hate to be the first train across after they finish! 10 to 25 mph slow orders for at least 50 miles! May be a lot of recrews until this portion is back to max speed!
They are using the existing track to allow access in there for the rotary dump trucks. They will replace a good deal of the ties (likely the rail as well since it has likely been overstressed) once the line is reopened. The Corman guys in the video are just using existing materials to keep the existing track in gauge so the dump trucks and excavators wont derail.
I have a friend who works for R J Corman and he told me this is the fastest way to get the hopper cars in with the new ballist that will be needed. Then they can replace the ties and rework the grade.
@@stuartmonohan2277 The EK line is really bad and looks like it will get pulled eventually. Signals are still active on it though. Eastern Kentucky floods in past years really wrecked it. No active mines on it anyway. The sidings have all been pulled in past years.
They will start there and will work from there. Crushed rock compacts fairly easily, which with the equipment passing over it, I am sure it will be fairly stable. They are also driving sections of rail in spots as piles and are placing old ties behind them to hold back the ballast, which the outside face then gets covered with rip rap.
Most of the video shows a section repair. The track is still intact and in good shape. They will rough in the track and the movement of heavy equipment on the track will compact all the stone. Later another crew will come along and level the track, replace ties where necessary, and add the finish stone. On the other side of the river the track and base were wrecked, you see the excavator trying to break apart the track. Long sections of track are difficult to take apart. they will salvage what they can and rebuild the base and track as you suggest. It's not only money but time, they need to get the trains running again for the benefit of the people that live there. Rails and ties built strong so re use of what's good saves time and money.👍
I’d bet hat you’ll see a lot more concrete retaining walls built, but they have to get to the areas first. The walls built after the massive (at that time) flood of 1977 held up well in this disaster, so it’s a proven repair!
That was the worst example of bad railroad construction I have ever seen. Even worse than Chinese " tofu dreg construction" . You always make a roadbed from the bottom up... not patching sideways like this! To do this correctly you must of course remove the old rails and crossties!
@@ygberg I think it's just a patchwork rail way for equipment to get to the center point, which is otherwise unreachable...then work their way back out with new construction.
Its temporary. As time goes on new rail, ties and ballast will be dropped. Car sized rip rap and retaining walls installed, etc... To do that you need the tracks back in service.
That is some serious video work you are doing. Thank you for sharing with us.
I cannot imagine the amount of work that must be done to restore the infrastructure to this mountainous part of the country. Thank you for sharing these videos to give us some idea.
Man can't move a mountain over night ...but nature can ......Can't build a railroad over night ...But man is working on it . Every day is more footage ! great video of this history !
My respect to the people who are doing this work. God bless.
These videos are getting quite artistic. Thanks for the update!❤
@@Deb-y2z Thanks Deb!
This is healthy! So much goodness in how this documented and what it communicates so deeply for those who like to think. And for those who would rather not reflect so much,there is the beauty of the 'paintings in motion' of the hard working men re-building the railroad literally 'piece by piece' !Awe inspiring! Thanks Designs in Orbit for more views of the struggle to move forward against all odds as it truly is in your recordings!
@@wingsly Thanks so very much!
I like the under-cranked, black and white effect. It really does look like something out of a Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplain film. It simultaneously shows you that these guys are doing the same type of work that got done in the olden days, and also shows that the olden days weren’t really all that different from now.
I still grimace at the devastation and yet, I find myself amazed at the progress they are making at the same time. And I did get a good laugh at the pizza delivery truck 😂Such a huge task ahead but you at least feel it will be done!! Thank you for keeping us updated🤩
I still can’t believe the power of that water to do that damage like it did to the railroad!
The hurricane dropped 40 trillion gallons of water on the region--equivalent to all of Lake Tahoe.
@@Greatdome99 One recorded measurement of rainfall was 29.3 inches. There was obviously more than that, but that is a lot of water in just a few hours. This was on top of a wet summer and several days of heavy rain.
Thanks so much for posting these videos! I could not even fathom an idea 6 weeks ago..how they were going to do any of this?? Fascinating to watch!
Amazing footage, everyone working so hard & great to see the new track being laid a mammoth undertaking but im sure the railroad eill be back. Thank you for another update.
One shovel full at a time and it's amazing what humans can accomplish!
No doubt about that!
One tie at a time, blows my mind...
Railroad Monopolies always win. Land grab America.
Love the rebuild videos! I have been wanting an update of the rebuild. 😎
Thank you for documenting history!!
Yes, rj corman got hand full the work just overtop.The wreck just insane.Thanks drone update.😮
These guys are earning their pay! My wife and I really enjoy this content. Have been following the frequent updates.
Great video-it takes real men to do that kind of work, but they are doing it. Never seen an excavator set up to ride the rails like that-very interesting. Still cannot get over the amount of destruction. 👍
In the Huntdale section this crew is trying to establish the track ballast. The RR track crew will have to come in and work the track (rock, correct tie spacing, tamp the ties. level track, final rock.
In the Relief section they are clearing the right-a-way of the old track to establish the rough track ballast. I would say they'll bring in 60' sections of assembled track.
It looks like they are going to build the new bridge there. This could become the bottle neck for future work.
Absolutely fascinating RJ Corman work! And superb drone-camera footage!! Well done.
Excellent video, well done!
@@davidmiller6010 Thanks!
Thanks for the continued videos. While I would love to travel up there myself and do a drone fly over myself, I do not want to get in the way of recovery. One day though, I'll return to see the finished project!
Was up near Walnut NC yesterday & had a chance to see the NS River Line rebuild. Good progress being made. Bridge out near TN border on it. East of AVL near Swannanoa there is still some washed out track that hasn’t been repaired visible from I-40.
I don’t think the Old Fort to Asheville section has much of a chance at being rebuilt. The coal trains as well as the wood hip trains to Canton are all long gone! NS spent millions on the “Loops” a number of years ago to supposedly stabilize the right of way, but it’s all washed away! It’s value as a through route has passed also. The trains that used to run between Linwood and Asheville/ Knoxville disappeared by mid 2020, rerouted north to Lynchburg/Roanoke/Bristol etc.. As tight as NS is, they’ll never spend the massive investment necessary to rebuild a line who’s time is passed! Whole different situation on the former Clinchfield!
Amazing! Rebuilding it one tie at a time. Thanks for the video.
You're welcome, Art.
Was at Toecane last week. We used to live in a AirB&B outside of Bakersville, 75 feet from the Clinchfield tracks. Very sad to see the destruction.
Real Nice!
Pull the tie up to reattach the plate then run ballast underneath. Backwards but a great plan.
That is so cool that they invented a power shovel with retractible rail-road wheels.
40 miles of track to rebuild good luck they are going to need it.
RJ Corman is the best railroad wreck and reconstruction service in the US.
Good sound effects
I have to laugh when I see the guys each getting a whole pizza for lunch, they must be working up a powerful hunger...lol
I was expecting to see 300 armed guards and 750 prisoners from the penal system with picks and shovels, working 12 hour shifts with minimum sustenance.
I hope you can continue the series until trains are running regularly again.
@@chadmoore9336 Me too. I need each video to at least get 40k views to be worth the effort it takes...so far they are slowly getting there.
@@designsinorbit are you on fb? Maybe some short reels to draw to TH-cam channel? Have been sharing over there because your videos are history!
Very interesting how they are repairing the tracks. Is the railroad hiring people down there? I’m from South Shore Massachusetts and am looking at coming down there to help with the clean up but would also like to relocate there and work. I am a skilled carpenter with all tools to basically build/remodel/fix most wooden structures.
CSX has a nice website that would give you that info...
I think about how this railroad was built without all this modern technology,Amazing! Though putting people back in homes should be the Priority!
Could you do a video of repair work on hwy 81 in unicoi where the road was washed out? I understand they are repairing it now.
Haha😂it really was pizza delivery! 😮
Old school real men!
Hey Brandon. Those are the people you called garbage
I hate to think what CSX is paying Corman to do this cleanup and restoration. Quality Gandy Dancing as we know and love it. The pizza delivery to the middle of nowhere must have cost a fortune.
❤❤❤❤Good job on the video lots of work to be done 🇦🇺👍🇦🇺👍🇦🇺👍🇦🇺🇦🇺
My dad and brother retired from CSX. They both complained about shitty track. As you see here, they're using busted rr ties instead replacing them.
They have to put something under the rail so it will support the equipment that's rebuilding the road bed so they use the ties they have on hand. When the road bed is stable they'll bring ballast trains and tie trains to dump rock and new ties. When that's done they'll run the tie gangs, rail gangs, signal gangs, ballast regulators and the dressers to make everything nice, neat and new. It's going to be many months before the first railcar moves on that track.
@@allenhughes12 That's what I recently came to realize...all this work is just so they can start rebuilding...someday. Incredible.
@@designsinorbit These people /r.j. coreman/ know what there doing . this is not there first rodeo.I have lived by the CRR sense 1970 .I have scene them clean up lots of wrecks.Usto be a weakley thing around clinchco that that train was in McClure River track was in real bad shape a
/
They are using what they have to get equipment in there. Permanant repairs will happen in time.
Better than yule log. Thanks for the coverage.
How long will it take
Where is all of the railroad track laying equipment?
Sub-roadbed and roadbed first. Replacing track components and alignment and final ballasting and tamping then. Sensors have to be restored at key points and signals also.
The old timey camera look is difficult to watch what they are doing. Good video overall.
Would have liked it at normal speed, but very cool video all the same.
Unfortunately at normal speed, the videos would turn into very boring 3 hour movies. Everything moves SO slow in this process. But maybe someday I'll post an unedited marathon version...
I would hate to be the first train across after they finish! 10 to 25 mph slow orders for at least 50 miles! May be a lot of recrews until this portion is back to max speed!
I was thinking it might be a remote controlled first train... hopefully.
Temporary repairs moving fast, im shure they will come back and stabilize the beds.
Indeed.
start from scratch...build a new roadbed and lay new track...one tie at a time shouldn't be the plan
They are using the existing track to allow access in there for the rotary dump trucks. They will replace a good deal of the ties (likely the rail as well since it has likely been overstressed) once the line is reopened. The Corman guys in the video are just using existing materials to keep the existing track in gauge so the dump trucks and excavators wont derail.
@@Maine_Railfan Rebuilding the sub-roadbed first.
I have a friend who works for R J Corman and he told me this is the fastest way to get the hopper cars in with the new ballist that will be needed. Then they can replace the ties and rework the grade.
@@stuartmonohan2277 The EK line is really bad and looks like it will get pulled eventually. Signals are still active on it though. Eastern Kentucky floods in past years really wrecked it. No active mines on it anyway. The sidings have all been pulled in past years.
Remember the Monopoly game America.
They are just trying to back fill existing tracks? I don't think that will be very stable.
Gotta start somewhere
They will start there and will work from there. Crushed rock compacts fairly easily, which with the equipment passing over it, I am sure it will be fairly stable. They are also driving sections of rail in spots as piles and are placing old ties behind them to hold back the ballast, which the outside face then gets covered with rip rap.
Most of the video shows a section repair. The track is still intact and in good shape. They will rough in the track and the movement of heavy equipment on the track will compact all the stone. Later another crew will come along and level the track, replace ties where necessary, and add the finish stone. On the other side of the river the track and base were wrecked, you see the excavator trying to break apart the track. Long sections of track are difficult to take apart. they will salvage what they can and rebuild the base and track as you suggest. It's not only money but time, they need to get the trains running again for the benefit of the people that live there. Rails and ties built strong so re use of what's good saves time and money.👍
My guess is they will do enough to make any remaining track usable for a MOW unit to roll in and replace/rebuild the track to operating standards.
I’d bet hat you’ll see a lot more concrete retaining walls built, but they have to get to the areas first. The walls built after the massive (at that time) flood of 1977 held up well in this disaster, so it’s a proven repair!
That was the worst example of bad railroad construction I have ever seen. Even worse than Chinese " tofu dreg construction" . You always make a roadbed from the bottom up... not patching sideways like this! To do this correctly you must of course remove the old rails and crossties!
@@ygberg I think it's just a patchwork rail way for equipment to get to the center point, which is otherwise unreachable...then work their way back out with new construction.
Its temporary. As time goes on new rail, ties and ballast will be dropped. Car sized rip rap and retaining walls installed, etc... To do that you need the tracks back in service.