Camera angle? Or is there a slight superelevation? I wonder if they miss having a second track there? Boxcab E50
Probably just camera angle. Actually there were three tracks and they pulled up the middle one. The other one is out of view on the right. Here is a shot looking down the other track.
The other photo has that same effect. Interesting. Was the removed track used as a center siding? Or was this actually triple tracked? Boxcab E50
It was probably a passing siding. The location is east of Roanoke before you get to the grade at Blue Ridge. O.W. Link took a lot of photos at Blue Ridge in the mid 1950s and they only show double track there. This was the main drag for trains heading east out of Roanoke for Norfolk until N&W took control of the Virginian. After that they moved most coal over the former Virginian line so this siding may have become nonessential at that point.
