An eastbound NF&D freight train had them in the wind as it rolled through a dip east of Emporia, VA on June 30, 1980, with RS-11 No. 204 leading two N&W units. The A&D was in sad shape when N&W bought it out of bankruptcy in 1962. N&W invested a lot of money bring the railroad back up to a decent condition. From talking to people on the railroad in the 1960s and 1970s, I was told that N&W had to replace four of every five crossties. Looking at the old crossties laying in the ditch, it is not hard to believe.
