Sand Patch’s western slope features a gentler gradient (with a 1.2 percent eastbound ruling grade) but nonetheless requires horsepower and skill to lift eastbound trains, many of which are heavily loaded coal trains, up and over the Alleghenies. Sand Patch’s east slope climb culminates with a tough final stretch of 1.94 percent gradient at Manila, then, just below the summit, a plunge through the 4,475-foot-long tunnel with the name “Sand Patch” cast into its weathered eastern portal.

This section of the eastern slope of Sand Patch climbs through remote but iconic locations such as Brackens, Falls Cut Tunnel, Fairhope, and Glencoe and is highlighted by a horseshoe curve at Mance, Pennsylvania. Following the path of rushing Willis Creek, the Sand Patch right-of-way is rugged, steep, and twisting. At Hyndman, Sand Patch’s ascent of the Alleghenies begins in earnest and the westbound gradients typically approximate 1.5 percent on much of the unrelenting climb to the summit. But at a tiny hamlet named Hyndman, Pennsylvania (12 route miles from Viaduct Junction), that all changes.

At the western edge of Cumberland, at the place known as Viaduct Junction, Sand Patch Grade diverges from another ex-B&O line (CSX’s Mountain Subdivision) and the Sand Patch route (now formally known as CSX’s Keystone Subdivision) initially enjoys a low-gradient westward passage through the scenic water gap known as the Cumberland Narrows. The new title, albeit utilizing a similar theme, is treated as a completely new project, based on new solutions and technology. Expansive Cumberland (Maryland) Terminal stands at the eastern end of the mountain crossing and is home to a complex of yard and shop facilities. Train Sim World: CSX Heavy Haul for PC and XONE is a railway simulator developed by Dovetail Games, known from numerous incarnations of railway games, including Train Simulator series. Today, Sand Patch Grade serves as a busy steel path for CSX and the railroad’s tonnage moving between the U.

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