In September of 2025, my work is generating the most income it ever has in my career. Yet, I'm being forced to shut down my successul operation, against my will, due to one cause alone: 95% of that revenue is being stolen by piracy and copyright infringement. I've lost more than $1 million to copyright infringement in the last 15 years, and it's finally brought an end to my professional storm chasing operation. Do not be misled by the lies of infringers, anti-copyright activists and organized piracy cartels. This page is a detailed, evidenced account of my battle I had to undertake to just barely stay in business, and eventually could not overcome. It's a problem faced by all of my colleagues and most other creators in the field.
Completed in 1909 and mainly financed by the wealthy oil tycoon Henry Huddleston Rogers, the Virginian Railway bypassed its two 'big-gun' competitors much to their chagrin (the C&O and the N&W) and built its own coal shipping line from the mountain mines of southern West Virginia to the Atlantic coast at Newport News, Virginia. This has always been one of my favorite 'old' railroads due to the fact that it was built as straight and efficient as possible (thanks to Rogers' deep pockets), rather than as cheaply as possible, as most railroads are. While most railroads stay confined to meandering, flat valleys, where construction is easier and cheaper, the Virginian (VGN) charged through the Appalachians with little regard for the terrain. As a result, tunnels and numerous long, high bridges are one of the trademarks of the original VGN line, and many are still in use today by Norfolk Southern.
Unfortunately, portions of the original Virginian are abandoned today, namely large stretches from Glen Lyn, VA (including what was the largest and most impressive bridge on the old line) to the Atlantic coast. The most interesting part of the line - the route from Deepwater, WV to Kellysville, WV - thankfully is not only still intact, but still in use by regular NS coal trains.
On my recent trip to Raleigh, I took some back roads off of I-77 to get a few shots of a couple of these structures, still impressive even by today's standards. There are at least a dozen of these large bridges on the route, but documenting all of them would take a day-long chase in remote terrain (which I may do sometime in the future). The largest ones (on Clark's Gap grade) require some long drives and strenuous hiking to get decent views of.
This is the bridge at Sweeneyburg, WV, probably the most easily-accessable one on the line. Perfect timing! I had no sooner got out of the car when a northbound train went over the bridge. There are only 2 to 4 trains per day on this line, so not having to wait a long time for one is very unusual.
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From Dan: Please Read
To my regular readers, I offer my apologies for this heavy-handed notice. Unfortunately it has become necessary, so please bear with me!
Please don't copy/upload this site's content to social media or other web sites. Those copies have been a critical problem for me, seriously harming this site and my photography/storm chasing operation by diverting traffic, viewers, engagement and income. "Credit" and "exposure" does not benefit this site or my operation, rather they threaten my ability to cover my operating expenses. Please read my full explanation for this notice here.
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