The Black Valley Railroad, cont.

Same location as the last pic on the previous page, facing the opposite direction, or "out the valley". The right-of-way more likely was on the left-most part of this flat area, with the red shed on the left standing directly on the path.

On past the sheds in the previous picture. I made a surprising discovery here, in that there appears to have been a little branch line going up towards the ridge! The main line continues toward the white house in the distance, while the branch turns to the left.

Standing on the main right-of-way, you can see where the branch line (or "feed line") enters the woods to the left.

The branch line grade only goes into the woods a few yards, before coming to the creek. It appears to have continued on the other side of the creek, and I plan to explore that another time. There are no signs of a bridge here, although I didn't really investigate the area in great detail. It's hard to say what was here. It may be that the branch was graded, and never used. Or, it may have been rails and light bridge used only for push-carts, bringing limestone and/or iron ore down from the ridge to be loaded on the train. It's also possible that the main train did cross a bridge that may have been here. The thing is, judging from the size of the gap here, it seems that more than just a simple bridge would have been needed, a bridge that you would more than likely still see traces of even if it was removed over a 100 years ago. It's really just hard to tell.

A side-view of the branch grade. Unfortunately, my camera likes to focus more on the branches and trees, and thus, the grade and creek can't be seen very clearly.

Back to the main line. The back porch of the house is on the right-of-way.

Standing around the location of the previous picture, looking back toward the direction of the furnace. Black Valley Road is to the left.