Next stop: Alvarado. The daylight is less than an hour old as N&W 382 hammers up grade at Watauga, Virginia, on her daily run to West Jefferson, North Carolina. The terrain is still gentle here, but over the course of the next 50 miles or so, both 382 and her crew will get a workout as their "Virginia Creeper" climbs grades exceeding 2.5%. They'll pass through White Top, the highest point ever reached by regular passenger service east of the Rockies before they finally arrive at the southern terminus of the Abingdon Branch, just past 11 AM. This re-creation courtesy of the Strasburg Railroad and Lerro Productions.
