Railroad #35

Boarding Location for the New River Train Only!

BOARDING LOCATION FOR HUNTINGTON, WV

The New River Train Excursions boarding location is at the old C&O railroad station on 7th Avenue & 9th Street in Huntington, WV. The address of the station is 935 7th Ave, Huntington, WV 25701. There is NO parking at the station. The station does not belong to our organization and we are not permitted to park at the station. There is street parking available for free on the weekends and there is one parking lot, free of charge 1 block away from the station.
Please be advised that when boarding the train, your whole party must be together in order to sit together. Also, the platform has some uneven places in it, so please watch you step. Coach passengers will board to the left hand (east end) side of the platform, while premium & dome passenger will board on the right hand (west side) end of the platform.
There will be walking involved while boarding the train. Since there is no parking at the station, you are required to park on the street or one block away at a free parking lot. This will require you to walk form your car to the station platform. On the platform there will be signs, and volunteers guiding you to where you need to to go to board the train. Please read the signs carefully. There is NO handicap parking available at the station!
**This trip will not be handicap accessible. Historic and antiquated rail passenger equipment, like that used on this excursion, is exempt from ADA regulations under U.S. Code: Title 42: Section 12184. The passenger cars and station facilities used on this excursion were constructed before disability accessibility laws were adopted. Platforms, boarding areas, stairs, step-stools, seating, and especially doorways, passageways, aisles, and on board restrooms may not accommodate all passengers. We will make all reasonable efforts to accommodate differently abled passengers who desire to ride this train.
Due to the length of our passenger train, we board from several locations. The coach location will be on the left side of the platform and will board from one location. You will then walk through other railroad cars to get to sit down at a seat. Please follow the volunteers instructions. If you have any difficulty walking, please let us know and we will try to accommodate you accordingly. The premium and dome boarding location will be on the west end, right side of the platform. Premium will board form one location, and passengers will be required to walk through other cars to get to their assigned car. If you have difficulty walking, you must contact us when you make your reservations and tell us, so we can accommodate you accordingly. If you do not let us know, we cannot accommodate you and you may be required to walk a longer distance than necessary. Dome service will require passengers to climb up 10 stairs to get into the dome car. Stairways and passageways on antiquated railroad equipment, cannot accommodate walkers or wheelchairs. Please advise us of any walking disabilities so we can accommodate you properly and so everyone has an enjoyable experience.

http://www.newrivertrain.com/boarding.shtml



The old C&O railroad depot is a very beautiful building. Here it is seen during the winter after the New River Train Excursions.
© Chris Lockwood 2010

Railroad History #34

CSX History and Evolution:

A leader in freight rail transportation for more than 180 years, CSX’s roots date back to the early nineteenth century when the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company (B&O) – the nation’s first common carrier – was chartered in 1827. Since that time, CSX has built on the foundation laid by early pioneers who had a vision to create a railroad that could safely and reliably serve the ever-increasing demands of a growing nation.
Since its founding, numerous railroads have combined through merger and consolidation to create what has become CSX. Each was a welcome addition to the CSX family, bringing unique and valuable geographical reach to new markets, gateways, cities, ports and transportation corridors. We're proud to share with you some of the many logos of our heritage railroads.

http://www.csx.com/index.cfm/about-csx/our-evolution-and-history/

Railroad History #33

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Depot (Huntington,West Virginia)  

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Depot is a historic railroad depot located at Huntington, Cabell County, West Virginia. It was built in 1887, by the Huntington and Big Sandy Railroad, later the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The former passenger station is two stories and constructed of brick with a slate roof and two chimneys. The former baggage section to the east is one story. The front facade of the former passenger station features a bay window extending from the basement to the roof and dividing it into two sections. At the rear of the passenger station is the former freight house. The freight house is a brick building with a slate roof completed in 1890, and expanded in 1897, 1911, and 1916.[2] The buildings have been renovated and are open as Heritage Station.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.[1]

References:
 a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2010-07-09.
Edward R. Bleau (October 1972). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Depot" (PDF). State of West Virginia, West Virginia Division of Culture and History, Historic Preservation. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-23.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_and_Ohio_Railroad_Depot_%28Huntington,_West_Virginia%29

Railroad History #32

Go to the this website to see an amazing railroad survey map from 1852.

Map of the Virginia Central Rail Road showing the connection between tide water Virginia, and the Ohio River at Big Sandy, Guyandotte and Point Pleasant; made by W. Vaisz Top. Eng.

http://www.loc.gov/item/98688843/#about-this-item

Railroad #31

Visit the CVB at Heritage Station
Kids can receive their Artisan's Express coin here after visiting each train and logging it into their Geocache app.

http://www.wvvisit.org/

Railroad History #30

Three Railroads

Railroads formed the foundation for the rise of King Coal.

When West Virginia became a state in 1863, 90 percent of its population lived on
farms. In 1870, only 85 coal mines were in operation. Most of the state, particularly
Southern West Virginia, was still rural and isolated from industy.          


Just before the Civil War, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad shifted the fortunes of what
would become northern West Virginia—even shaping the new state’s boundaries. In 1873,
the arrival of the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Railway would have a similar impact on southern West Virginia.

 Chesapeake & Ohio

Early attempts to connect the Atlantic Ocean and the Ohio River by rail failed. However,
after the Civil War, railroad magnate Collis P. Huntington took control of the Covington
& Ohio Railroad, renamed it the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O), and extended the line from
Clifton Forge, Virginia, to the luxurious resort at White Sulphur Springs. Between 1869
and 1873, crews laid rails west from White Sulphur Springs and east from the Ohio River.
The strenuous work was extremely dangerous and paid very little. The crews consisted
principally of recent immigrants to the country and African Americans, many of whom
had been freed from slavery only a few years before.

The crew’s greatest engineering feat was the Great Bend (sometimes referred to as
Big Bend) Tunnel at Talcott in what soon would become Summers County, where the
C&O engaged the latest steam-powered machinery to assist with the construction.
The Great Bend possibly was the birthplace of the “John Henry” folk song, in which the
legendary steel driver defeated a steam shovel in a digging contest. The song foreshadowed
an age in which machines would take the places of workers.

C&O officials drove the final spike on a frigid day at Hawks Nest in Fayette County on
January 28, 1873. The new railroad finally connected the nation’s East Coast with southern
West Virginia, via the towns of White Sulphur Springs, Hinton, Charleston and the newly
created city of Huntington—named in honor of the railroad’s president.

The C&O—along with two competitors waiting in the wings—served two main purposes:
 importing miners and exporting coal.

Norfolk & Western

Southern West Virginia’s second major railroad, the Norfolk & Western (N&W), traces its
roots to three Virginia railroads that played significant roles during the Civil War and were
merged in 1870. In 1881, the bankrupt railroad was sold to E. W. Clarke & Co. and
renamed the N&W.

With infusion of money from the Philadelphia area, the N&W was completed through
southern West Virginia to Pocahontas, Virginia. It quickly became the leading hauler of
Pocahontas coal. The Pocahontas Coalfield boasted the thickest bituminous coal seam in
the world—as high as 14 feet in some places. In addition, Pocahontas coal burned cleaner
than other bituminous coals, or, as an inspired marketing executive dubbed it, “smokeless
coal.” Overnight, the Pocahontas Coalfield—located primarily in McDowell and Mercer
counties—became the most valuable coal-producing region in the world.

By 1892, the N&W had been extended to the Ohio River at Kenova, sparking the rapid
growth of towns along the way, including Welch and Williamson. Bluefield’s population
grew from 600 to 11,188 people in just 20 years. One small Mercer County town became
a banking center for leading coal operators; Bramwell became known as the “home of
millionaires.”

Virginian

By 1900, the C&O and N&W had snaked branch lines into most valleys and hollows in
southern West Virginia. All that was left were the rugged mountains in between. By the
first decade of the 20th century, new machinery and engineering techniques allowed two
entrepreneurs to construct a railroad where few believed it could be built—along the crests
of narrow mountaintops and ridges.

The third major southern West Virginia railroad was the Virginian, the brainchild of coal
operator William Nelson Page of Ansted and Standard Oil executive Henry H. Rogers of
New York. In 1907 and 1908, crews were challenged to connect the former Tidewater
Railway in Virginia with West Virginia’s Deepwater Railway. The 443-mile-long railroad
was completed in 1909, linking southern West Virginia’s Winding Gulf Coalfield with the
 Chesapeake Bay ports at Hampton Roads, Virginia.

The Virginian tapped previously unreachable coal reserves—namely in Raleigh, Fayette
and Wyoming counties—by employing the heaviest locomotives and longest lines of cars.
The ingenious railroad was an immediate boon to the towns of Princeton, Mullens, Glen
Rogers and Glen Jean.

 By the early 20th century, branches of the C&O, N&W and Virginian extended into every
 coal-producing hollow in southern West Virginia. Coal from the most remote valleys of
southern West Virginia could be shipped to the Atlantic Ocean, Great Lakes and every
major eastern market in a matter of days. These three railroads formed the foundation for
the rise of King Coal.

http://coalheritage.org/page.aspx?id=15



© 2015 Coal Heritage. All Rights Reserved.

Railroad #29

The Huntington Railroad Museum

The Huntington Railroad Museum is located at Memorial Boulevard and 14th Street West, in Huntington's Ritter Park, this outdoor museum, owned and operated entirely by the local chapter of the Collis P. Huntington Railroad Historical Society, is open free every Sunday from 2-5 P.M., from Memorial Day to September 30th. Call 304-523-0364 to schedule special visits; Otherwise by appointment. Chapter members, as your hosts, are happy to explain everything on display.