The line links parts of the Pocahontas Coalfield beneath Flat Top Mountain to consumers in the Midwest and East Coast.
[1][2][4] The very steep 2% grade from Elmore Yard up to Clark's Gap posed challenges for the operation of the line, necessitating "hill runs" where short coal trains were brought up to Clark's Gap and combined into longer trains for the rest of the trip.
The segment was difficult for steam locomotives, so the line was electrified south of Mullens, the location of Elmore Yard, from 1926 until 1962, which increased efficiency.
[10] In 2015, Norfolk Southern mothballed a 50-mile segment of the southern part of the line between Elmore Yard and Princeton due to decreases in coal traffic, opting to divert trains over the Guyandotte River Branch instead.
[8][12] In 2016, the new Kanawha River Railroad acquired the part of the Princeton–Deepwater District north of Maben, as well as most of the connecting West Virginia Secondary.