The start of my exploration was at narrow gauge milepost 0 at the town
of Redstone. This is where the NG met the SG and the coal was delivered
for the coke ovens. The overlay below provides the layout of the rail at
this location. The red labels provide the locations of the photos to follow.
USGS
historic photo of the coke ovens
Photo 1 - Taken at the highway pullout that
is set up to view the remaining coke ovens. A sign here provides some of
the history of the coke ovens. The ovens in the near view have lost their
block face and reveal the construction details. Farther down the block faces
are still intact.
Photo 2 - A view of where the
northern part of the NG loop would have crossed over the SG and dual gage
tracks. This view was taken just off the highway on the Coal Basin
road.
Photo 3 - This is about where
the ends of the loop merged and the line starts heading up towards coal
basin. The grade is up above the grassy area in the center of the shot.
Some concrete footings remain at the bottom of the grassy area. This was
fenced so I didn't try to get up on the grade. The first 2 miles of the
grade are mostly on private land.
Photo 4 This shot is looking
to the south and is where the former grade crosses the present day Coal
Basin road.
Photo 5 - The view on the other
side of the road looking towards the northwest. I haven't decided whether
the grade was on the dirt road or along the fence line. The overlay isn't
quite lined up at this point on my map above. Again, this is private land
so I didn't have an opportunity to explore any further.
Photo 6 - This shot back tracks
a little bit and was taken on the second day of my exploration of the line.
This is a view of the eastern portion of the elevated NG loop.