When the L&N Railroad completed the "CC&O Connection" linking its Martin's Fork Branch in Harlan County, KY to the original Cumberland Valley Division at Hagans, VA (via a switchback) in 1930, the route immediately became a major conduit for southbound coal tonnage and mixed freight. On Saturday morning, April 26, 1936, at 2:20 AM, two thundering J2A-class Mikes of the L&N were pulling fast freight 99, the "Southeastern Manifest," when a rock slide was struck near Smith, KY, about a mile north of the big tunnel linking Kentucky with Virginia. Lead engine 1491 turned over, and trailing engine 1468 followed, with several cars of the train climbing the slide behind them. A flat car loaded with rail was immediately behind the 1468's tender, and several of the rails holed through the tender, so violent was the impact. One rail telescoped the tender and embedded in the backhead of the 1468 beneath the feet of fireman A.P.Wilson! Here, the "hook" is working the south side of the derailment late that same day, and all of the cars (and 1468's impaled tender) have been removed. Slide fences with detectors and signals were installed as a result of this wreck, since several of the cuts were deemed unstable. This photo is from the collection of the late Lonnie Hibbard, a CV engineer, and was shared with me by my friend Greg Whitaker, who (like me) is a life-long devotee of the L&N Railroad in the steam era. Railroading back then was not for the faint of heart or the lazy.
