Mine 84- not shut down yet?

I keep seeing all these post about Mine 84 shut down, this is not true !!! my dad works at the prep plant there where NS loads up at and it is not closed yet, there are talks of laying people off or letting the mine idle for a few years but in the near future it may be closing down, it is not closed down yet, the reason not many trains have been coming and going is because the longwall underground was being moved to a new location, but now the mine is running at a good level and NS has trains goin about everyday there, sometimes 2 a day. Just thought i would clear up some things for you people.

I guess the papers were wrong then, but it is funny, the OR said they were being shut down and at the same time said they were renewing a 5 year license. Where do you reside, I live right next to that mine and the Ellsworth Secondary. Unless they are doing turns late in the evening I only hear them run a few times a week. The scanner confirms that, I'm a late riser so I dont get to bed til late and I hear the block clearance from Mon Valley Dispatch when they are sittin in the yard over in Shire Oaks to proceed on the Ellsworth Secondary. They finish loading and start running back to the Mon Line from anywhere at 8 in the morning to 12 in the afternoon. 2 trains a day, doubt it, but i don't know, I leave for work around 5 and dont get home until 1030 or so. But I have my scanner with me on the way to and from work and can hear Mon Valley dispatch. Like I said, only hear clearances 2 or 3 times a week, and when I'm not listening in on the scanner I can hear the trains.

I see you live in scenery hill, PM me, I might know you. I live in scenery hill.

i'm not sure how much traffic runs on the ex mga these days, but its certainly not what it was during the conrail days.

It's...........'ok'. This branch here we're talking about, the Ellsworth Secondary, used to see 3-4 turns a D-A-Y, 7 days a week with ol Blue leading the way. NS maybe makes 4-5 turns a week MAX. Over summer we'd only see maybe a train 2 times a week. But on the mainline it's really not that bad, not what it used to be, but not that bad. ESPECIALLY more to the south on the MGA, from Brownsville/West Brownsville to the south in West Virginia. Recently I've had an interest in the Manor Branch (CP85 to Bailey Mine) and they have a nice amount of traffic. I've only been there once so far, but when I was there: as soon as I got to waynesburg there was a NS load going through town, when I got around FORK there was a NS empty waiting and a CSX waiting to load up while another CSX was crawling out of the mine with the bailey helpers pushing. So that was 2 deep waiting to load out, 2 outbound and just in a time frame of ONE HOUR. I had to go to work but as i was leaving waynesburg another NS load was heading towards the Mon Line. That's just on the Manor Branch. I don't know about anything else south. So it's not too bad, espcially south. And think, if there isn't any coal loads for while, it's not the railroad companies fault, it's not anyones fault, it depends on how much the mine produces.

NS has been loading on average 1 train a day at Mine #84, with a few days seeing 2 trains. The C34 local also visits the Ellsworth Branch at least 3 times a week.

thats because its getting colder and the demand is growing larger for the winter months you'll never see 2 a day, and hardly 2 a week during summer when its nice out.

btw, what all does the c34 local duty out, the flexys plant? That's all i know of. I lose track of the tracks past the flexys plant from the 481 bridge there to monongahela, don't know if there's anything before it gets to flexys or not.

I live in Monongahela, and just the other day I got caught behind coal coming out on my way to work, and empties going up on my way back. If you ever get caught behind a train going up the secondary, be prepared to wait for quite awhile, those things CREEP. I'm not sure if it's because of the major road crossing, or the pretty sharp curve, but they take their time. The only thing I ever saw other than coal were tanker cars labeled `molten sulfur' and covered hoppers going to the flexsys plant, I believe they make rubber additives or something like that. That's the only other thing I know of on that line, unless there are other industries further down, but I've never seen anything else. I keep hearing that 84 mine is supposed to close by the end of the year, because they had been mining too much rock for a long time, but I keep seeing coal come out.

they take their time because the whole branch curves in and out all the way to the mine. mostly because it follows pigeon creek, which is windy. The speed limit on the branch isn't above 15.

Well last night my wife got caught behind a train coming out of there, and just today I shot this video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=zUCql7detzQ

So it appears they are still pumping it out to date.