Four GP9s climb west on the Chesapeake & Ohio main line with empty hoppers to be reloaded with coal in the late 1950s. Classic Trains coll. […]
Empty hoppers on the C&O
Zone & Region: Appalachia
1954
The year and locomotive number are the same – 1954 – as one of Louisville & Nashville’s big M-1-class “Big Emma” 2-8-4s leads an Atlanta-bound freight out of Decoursey Yard in Kentucky, a few miles south of Cincinnati. Louisville & Nashville photo […]
When Ringling Bros. rode the rails
For 146 years, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Train criss-crossed the nation as America’s longest passenger train. With a mile-long train of passenger cars and container flats and housing about 300 performers and crew, the circus train was a regular sight on American railroads. The Ringling Bros. shut down operations in 2017 […]
Dixie Mikado
Louisville & Nashville J-4 class 2-8-2 No. 1882 rests at Carrolton, Ky., in 1956. Charles B. Castner photo […]
Ed King’s book canonizes N&W steam
Rumors of the death of railroad fiction are greatly exaggerated. The veteran railroad journalist Fred Frailey made that clear a year ago with his “Seldom Willing,” an absorbing tale of an ambitious 1980s Midwestern regional railroad that outmaneuvered a far larger rival. When Fred told me his novel was coming out soon, I wasn’t sure […]
The Norfolk & Western Pocahontas Division layout in N scale
Facts and features Name: Norfolk & Western Pocahontas DivisionScale: N (1:160)Size: 36 x 36 feetPrototype: Norfolk & WesternLocale: southern West VirginiaStyle: walk-inMainline run: 290 feetMinimum radius: 18″Minimum turnout: No. 6Maximum grade: 2 percentBenchwork: tabletopHeight: 52″ to 58.5″Roadbed: corkTrack: code 80 flextrackScenery: extruded-foam insulation board and SculptamoldBackdrop: hand-painted on drywall Control: NCE Digital Command Control […]
B&O F7s with empty hoppers
Three Baltimore & Ohio F7s pass Bond Tower, about 10 miles west of Keyser, W.Va., on Seventeen Mile Grade, with empty coal hoppers in March 1951. Note the runaway track curving behind the tower. William P. Price photo […]
Beech Mountain Railroad shuts down
ALEXANDER, W.Va — West Virginia’s Beech Mountain Railroad appears to have reached its final chapter. Owner Carter-Roag, a subsidiary of United Coal, has returned its two leased SW1500s to LTEX (also known as Larry’s Truck & Electric); those engines had been brought in to move the stockpile of coal remaining after the closure of Carter-Roag’s […]
Mike Farrow’s N scale Norfolk & Western
Mike Farrow’s N scale Norfolk & Western Pocahontas Division layout is set in southern West Virginia during the 1970s and early 1980s. The 36 x 36-foot walk-in model railroad features a 290-foot mainline run, 18” minimum radius curves, and No. 6 turnouts. Among the items used to re-create the authentic Appalachian scenery were ground foam, […]
Mike Farrow’s N scale Norfolk & Western
Mike Farrow’s N scale Norfolk & Western Pocahontas Division layout is set in southern West Virginia during the 1970s and early 1980s. The 36 x 36-foot walk-in model railroad features a 290-foot mainline run, 18” minimum radius curves, and No. 6 turnouts. Among the items used to re-create the authentic Appalachian scenery were ground foam, […]
Program to offer photographers access on Western Maryland Scenic’s Georges Creek Division
CUMBERLAND, Md. — Gunnoe Media Group and the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad are collaborating to raise funds, coordinate special access, and host the first photo freight event on the Georges Creek Railway, the short line leased by the Western Maryland Scenic. Western Maryland Scenic announced in January it had signed a long-term lease to operate […]
CSX derailment in West Virginia leads to Capitol Limited cancellations
MAGNOLIA, W.Va. — A Monday afternoon CSX derailment in a remote area of West Virginia has disrupted operations of Amtrak’s Capitol Limited. The Monday derailment in Morgan County, W.Va., near the community of Magnolia, involved nine cars, four of which were carrying sodium hydroxide, a corrosive material that can cause severe skin burns and eye […]
