Chautauqua & West Valley

Founded in 1978, the Chautauqua & West Valley (CWVR) is a small, fictional class 3 railroad in the states of Georgia and Alabama, running on ex Atlantic Coast Line trackage. As its name suggests, it runs between the towns of Chautauqua, AL and Fort Alexandria, GA directly interchanging with class 1 giant CSX on both ends, and Norfolk Southern in West Valley.

Even though it is not a long railroad, train traffic is relatively heavy, with multiple trains running every day. The C&WV acts as a bridge line between between 2 CSX divisions, that would otherwise require CSX to run trains north into Tennessee, then back south. The C&WV also forwards some NS traffic to and from the east coast via the Norfolk Southern connection, and trackage rights over CSX in Chautauqua. Because of this arrangement, run-through power is not an uncommon sight on the C&WV.

One of the most notable foreign trains are the tri-weekly CSX coal trains that run from the coal fields of West Virginia to a power generating station located on a spur that branches off the C&WV mainline in Westview, AL. This train almost always has CSX power on the head end. During peak power demand in the summer, 2 weekly Norfolk Southern coal trains are added to the mix. These trains originate on the C&WV at the respective railroads connection in Ft Alexandria. How can the plant support so many trains? The unloading loop at the power station can only handle trains up to 50 cars, so more, shorter trains are required to meet demand. Other notable trains include CSX empty sand trains and loaded auto trains running south to Florida over the C&WV.

The CF&A also runs its own trains, including a pair of locals. One local runs east from West Valley and a second one west from Chautauqua every day, unless there are no cars to be switched. The trains eventually meet and swap crews, with each crew returning to their starting terminal at the end of the shift.