GORE, Va. — A sand mine that has provided the majority of carload traffic for the original main line of the Winchester & Western Railroad for 80 years is preparing to close, with an uncertain impact on what is now the railroad’s Virginia Division.
The Winchester Star reports the mine in Gore stopped accepting orders as of Dec. 15 and will be closed by owner Covia Corp. by Feb. 29. Covia was formed by a 2018 merger of the mine’s prior owner, Unimin — which also owned the railroad — with Fairmont-Santrol; the new company soon sold the railroad to OmniTRAX, the transportation holding company that is a major short line owner.
The Winchester & Western Railroad was formed in 1916 to haul timber products, mainly railroad ties, east from West Virginia forests to Winchester for interchange. By 1921, the railroad had reached Wardensville, W.Va., and the Winchester Lumber Co., which soon constructed a narrow-gauge logging railroad, the Lost River Railroad, into the surrounding woodlands. The Great Depression and depletion of the Wardensville area’s timber resources forced the Winchester & Western to begin cutting back its main line and, by 1944, the railroad’s western terminus was Gore, site of the rapidly expanding sand mine. Gore became the Winchester & Western’s headquarters and the site of its shops and rail yards, and sand from the mine would remain the railroad’s chief source of revenue for decades.
The railroad expanded northeastward to Williamsport, Md., with connections to CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern, in 1986 when it bought Conrail’s Winchester Secondary. It purchased three New Jersey shortlines that also served Unimin interests and had connections to the same two Class 1 railroads in 1987. After that, the original Winchester & Western became the railroad’s Virginia Division, with the line to Gore as the Sandman Branch, and the New Jersey operations became the railroad’s New Jersey Division.
With the mine closing, the railroad’s offices having moved to Martinsburg, W.Va., and reports that OmniTRAX was selling off some of Winchester & Western’s sand hoppers, speculation centers on the future of the 18-mile Sandman Branch and the railroad’s shops in Gore. OmniTRAX has not responded to a request for comment.
Though this not a “historical” railroad it has a multitude of assets that make it ideal for tourist and/or common carrier operation. It is located relatively near the DC metroplex, with excellent highway and rail access. It traverses some very rural and scenic countryside utilizing steep grades and sharp curves. There is a good amount of real estate that could be developed for industry. They have a modern shop facility at Gore. It lacks such liabilities as numerous bridges, tunnels, etc. And as far as we know the sand will still be there if needed later. I am glad I had the opportunity to photograph there several times.
Sad. One of their last trains was the first train my grandson got to see. Hopefully, someone can resurrect this as a tourist line.
I believe the sand is primarily used for glass and saw bump from the frac sand boom, not necessarily to be used as frac sand, but to replace other sands that were. Perhaps shifts in glass production have impacted the demand in this part of the country. It could theoretically be used for construction, but with the added freight cost it may not be able to compete with inexpensive local alternatives.
What is reason for Gore, W Va. mine closure? ls their feed stock [Sand] running out?
Seems like Sand would be in demand? Even as a construction product, or possibly, as a drilling product,( ie: Fracking sand ? ) I think that NE oil/gas (Pa., NY. Oh.) production would be needing it ?
I can tell you that as far as frac sand is concerned, there’s a couple of pretty big headwinds. One is that a lot of active basins have much closer sand mines opened up, the entire purpose of them is to cut out the extensive transportation cost. The other headwind is the business just isn’t that busy right now. Even a lot of the new “in basin” sand mines have been idled due to lack of demand.
I think you can add to the fact that Fracking became much more efficient in how resources are used. Less inputs, including Frac sand, for same amount of output…