The ‘holler’ or ‘hollow’ is ubiquitous in the mountains of SW Virginia. These networks of narrow valleys between ridges form a central organizing principle in human settlement and are often associated with coal mining. In order to avoid going up and down the mountains, railroads (and later on, roads) followed the contours of the river bank and to this day allow for the export of coal from the Appalachian coalfields.

Concrete piers stand sentry in the New River where the Glen Lyn railroad trestle, completed in 1909, once stood. It is not uncommon to run across remnants of forgotten infrastructure while navigating the New River.