ALEXANDER, W.Va. — Beech Mountain Railroad has leased two former CSX SW1500s from LTEX Rail to continue moving coal from Carter-Roag Coal Co.’s Star Bridge processing plant to the railroad’s interchange with the Appalachian & Ohio at Alexander.
United Coal Co. subsidiary Carter-Roag has closed its Morgan Camp mine, which fed the Star Bridge preparation plant and loader [see “Owner of Beech Mountain Railroad prepares to close mine,” Trains News Wire, May 22, 2023]. But the company had created a vast stockpile of Sewell Seam coal prior to the shutdown. When the Beech Mountain moves the last of the stored coal, Carter-Roag is expected to close the railroad, perhaps permanently.
The 10-mile railroad has relied on vintage Alco switchers for motive power for most of its life, but had recently brought in an EMD SW7 from another United Coal subsidiary for road power while continuing to use one of the Alcos at the Star Bridge loader. The leased units make the railroad all-EMD for the first time.
The SW1500s, Nos. 1106 and 1118, were built for Louisville & Nashville, becoming part of CSX in the Seaboard System-Chessie merger. They were purchased by LTEX (also known as Larry’s Truck Electric) of Warren, Ohio, when retired by CSX in 2021. Currently, No. 1106 is serving as road power while No. 1118 is shifting hoppers through the Star Bridge loader.
The EMD SW1500 is a 1,500 hp (1,119 kW) diesel-electric locomotive intended for switching service and built by General Motors’ Electro-Motive Division from 1966 to 1974. The SW1500 replaced the SW1200 in the EMD product line. Many railroads regularly used SW1500s for road freight service.
It is similar in appearance to the EMD SW1000 model which has a different engine and has one exhaust stack while the SW1500 has two.
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