It continues southeast alongside the Russell Fork of the Big Sandy River through Breaks Interstate Park to Haysi, Virginia.
At Dante, the line follows Lick Creek southerly to St. Paul, where it interchanges with the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) Clinch Valley Division.
Industries around Kingsport and Johnson City, TN would still be serviced by trains coming North from Spartanburg, SC and Bostic, NC, as would the Alpha Natural Resources (now part of Contura Energy) coal preparation facility in McClure, VA by trains coming south from Shelbiana, Ky. Norfolk Southern would still use the line from St. Paul to Frisco, VA via a trackage rights arrangement with the CSX.
The line between St. Paul and McClure (19.4 miles) would be idled immediately, effectively ending the use of the Kingsport Subdivision as a functioning bridge route between Spartanburg and Elkhorn City.
The "Santa Claus Special," a decades-long CSX-Clinchfield Railroad tradition of distributing toys, candy and gifts to the residents along the line during the Christmas season, continues to this day from Shelbiana and Elkhorn City to the yard at Kingsport.