Electrification was extended in the 1920s, reaching 52 miles (84 km) before the N&W abandoned it in 1950 when a new Elkhorn tunnel was built with an easier grade and a double track mainline.

In the early twentieth century the Bluefield Division of the Norfolk and Western Railway featured a forbidding two percent average grade.

Including sidings, yard trackage, and branches to coal mines, 90 miles (140 km) were under catenary.

In June 1915, with electric operation only partially implemented, this rose to 397 trains averaging 3,054 short tons (2,771 t), a 60 percent increase.

[6] Pleased with the results, in 1915–1916 the N&W electrified another 6 miles (9.7 km), from Bluestone Junction to Clift Yard and to Pocahontas.