Cumberland Valley Subdivision

Not to be confused with Cumberland Subdivision.

The Cumberland Valley Subdivision ( CV Subdivision) is a railroad line owned and operated by the CSX Railroad (CSX Transportation) in the U.S. states of Kentucky and Virginia. The line runs from Corbin, Kentucky, east to Big Stone Gap, Virginia, along a former Louisville and Nashville Railroad line.

CV Subdivision

Overview
Service type	Freight rail
Status	Active
Locale	Eastern Kentucky Coalfield Southwest Virginia
First service	late 1880s
Current operator(s)	CSX Transportation
Former operator(s)	Louisville and Nashville Railroad
Route
Termini	Corbin, Kentucky, United States Big Stone Gap, Virginia, United States
Distance travelled	122.4 mi (197.0 km)
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Operating speed	10–60 mph (16–97 km/h)
Track owner(s)	CSX Transportation
Timetable number(s)	CV, WB, WH, WM

At its west end, the CC Subdivision heads north to Cincinnati, Ohio, and the KD Subdivision heads south to Etowah, Tennessee. The east end is at an interchange with the Norfolk Southern Railway Appalachia District, where CSX trains can proceed south to the Kingsport Subdivision at Frisco, Tennessee, via trackage rights.

History

In 1886, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N) began to work toward a route into the Eastern Kentucky Coalfield. Work from Corbin, Kentucky commenced on April 29, reaching the town of Pineville, Kentucky in 1888. The following year, the line was completed to Middlesboro, Kentucky. The line would be extended into Southwest Virginia through a tunnel under the Cumberland Gap and up the Poor Valley to a place called Intermont, Virginia (now Appalachia) where it connected with the Atlantic and Ohio (later Southern Railway). The route was completed to Norton, Virginia (then Prince's Flat) in April 1891, connecting with the Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W).

In the early-1900s, the L&N purchased the Wasioto and Black Mountain Railroad from local businessman T.J. Ascher, which split from the CV main south of Pineville at a location named Orby (now Harbell). Extending up the Cumberland River valley towards Harlan County, Kentucky, the line was completed to the town of Harlan, Kentucky in 1911, followed by branches up the three forks of the river: Poor, Clover, and Martin. The L&N's Harlan County service would be enhanced in 1921 with the construction of a 17-track yard at Loyall, Kentucky. Further progress was made in 1930, when L&N completed what was then the Martin's Fork Branch and constructed a 6,244-foot tunnel under the Cumberland Mountain at Hagan, Virginia. Original plans called for an extension to connect with the Carolina, Clinchfield, and Ohio Railway (better known as the Clinchfield Railroad). However, plans were scrapped due to financial uncertainty, and the L&N decided instead to connect the new tunnel to the existing Middlesboro–Norton mainline via a switchback. To compensate for the lack of a connection to the Clinchfield, the L&N would obtain trackage rights over the Interstate from Norton to reach the railroad.

The L&N would replace the double-tracked portion of the line between Corbin and Harlan Junction with centralized traffic control (CTC) in 1956. Later, in early 1986, now-owner CSX Transportation constructed a new bridge and a connection to the Norfolk Southern Railway (ex-Southern Railway) at Big Stone Gap, Virginia, utilizing that railroad's Appalachian District as a new route to the Clinchfield main. The original route to Norton would eventually be abandoned.