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The Norfolk Southern CR&E Division and the CSXT Shenandoah Division (www.shendiv.com) are two railroads that were designed to pass through the same region by two N Scale model railroaders who didn't even know each other. The two met through their common interest in the Clinchfield Railroad.
After further discussing their layout plans, they realized their routes would cross somewhere near New Castle, VA, and would parallel each other into the Roanoke/Salem area through the towns of Abbott and Catawba. The two became friends and eventually built junctions on each of their railroads so they could interchange traffic.
On the CR&E, the junction is designed similar to the crossing of the former Clinchfield and the former Norfolk & Western at St. Paul, VA. A pair of turnouts were used instead of a diamond so that trains from both railroads could operate on either route. Joint operations on the CR&E and the Shenandoah Division are based on similar operations on the Southern Railway and Clinchfield Railroad in Southwest Virginia.
A southbound CSX merchandise train has just crossed the CR&E at Shenandoah Jct., VA, and is moving onto home rails toward Salem, VA. The CSX Shenandoah Division mainline drops downhill from the NS CR&E Division mainline here. The rails of the CR&E can barely be seen behind the pine trees that are behind the lead CSX SD40.
Shenandoah Junction is a hot spot for railfans, with upwards of 50 trains a day operating over the NS and CSX lines. Here an eastbound NS train stays on home rails, shooting straight through the junction. CSX's route crosses the NS here on a pair of turnouts, allowing for joint operations between the Roanoke/Salem, VA, area and the coalfields of West Virginia.
