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Photo by Kevin Scanlon
CSX power for the Piney Creek Turn is parked in Quinnimont Yard in Quinnimont, W.V., on Jan. 20, 1991. To the left of the engines across the tracks is the foundation for the iron furnace.
The New River Gorge is a pristine wilderness area in West Virginia. The CSX main line runs along the bottom beside the wild river, passing only a couple of settlements along the 46 miles between Meadow Creek and Gauley Bridge. The Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad built through the gorge to provide an eastern outlet for coal mines to the west.
These were my observations and assumptions from my first few visits to the gorge. Like most uninformed viewpoints they were wildly incorrect.
Part of the enjoyment I get when photographing railroads is to learn a little bit about the area where I’m shooting. With the New River Gorge, this learning experience stretched out for years through dozens of books, maps, conversations, and countless visits. Yes, today if you were to make a visit to the gorge, it would appear as I described. However, the history of the area is an arc of Native American lore; growth of the iron, coal, and coke industries; numerous towns strung almost continuously through the gorge; and finally the fading of commerce and reclamation by nature.
Learning the true story of the area increased my enjoyment of photographing there and led me to explore some spots I might otherwise have ignored. One of the first spots I visited in the gorge was Quinnimont Yard. I wanted to see the spot because of some photographs I’d seen of the great old yard office. Had I been better informed, I would also have noticed the large crumbling stone foundation directly in the center of the railroad wye. This was the base of an 1870s-era iron furnace. The need for a source of coke for this furnace led to the development of the New River coal fields. The “smokeless” coal in the gorge was excellent heating and metallurgical coal. Coke ovens lined the river along the tracks for miles. If you look carefully you can still see them today.
The dozens of towns within the New River Gorge were all there to support the coal mines and coke works. The tiny town of Thurmond deep within the gorge was a huge source of traffic for the C&O Railroad. An oft-repeated bit of trivia credits Thurmond for originating more traffic than Cincinnati during coal’s heyday.
These were my observations and assumptions from my first few visits to the gorge. Like most uninformed viewpoints they were wildly incorrect.
Part of the enjoyment I get when photographing railroads is to learn a little bit about the area where I’m shooting. With the New River Gorge, this learning experience stretched out for years through dozens of books, maps, conversations, and countless visits. Yes, today if you were to make a visit to the gorge, it would appear as I described. However, the history of the area is an arc of Native American lore; growth of the iron, coal, and coke industries; numerous towns strung almost continuously through the gorge; and finally the fading of commerce and reclamation by nature.
Learning the true story of the area increased my enjoyment of photographing there and led me to explore some spots I might otherwise have ignored. One of the first spots I visited in the gorge was Quinnimont Yard. I wanted to see the spot because of some photographs I’d seen of the great old yard office. Had I been better informed, I would also have noticed the large crumbling stone foundation directly in the center of the railroad wye. This was the base of an 1870s-era iron furnace. The need for a source of coke for this furnace led to the development of the New River coal fields. The “smokeless” coal in the gorge was excellent heating and metallurgical coal. Coke ovens lined the river along the tracks for miles. If you look carefully you can still see them today.
The dozens of towns within the New River Gorge were all there to support the coal mines and coke works. The tiny town of Thurmond deep within the gorge was a huge source of traffic for the C&O Railroad. An oft-repeated bit of trivia credits Thurmond for originating more traffic than Cincinnati during coal’s heyday.
These are the remains of the enginehouse of the Mann’s Creek Railway, a narrow gauge line bringing timber and coal down into the gorge at Sewell, W.V. The railroad stopped running in 1955.
Kevin Scanlon
At the town of Sewell, in addition to a coal mine and coke ovens was an engine house for the Mann’s Creek Railway, a narrow gauge timber and coal hauling line that climbed up out of the gorge. Remains of the engine house still stand as well as foundations for many of the town’s buildings.
Beury, W.V., was named for Joseph Beury who mined the first New River coal from the Fire Creek seam. At his town the old company store stood intact long after the town was gone. An old woman lived alone in it for many years; the only access to the town site was the railroad. The train crews would throw off provisions for her until she died in the 1980s. A visit to the spot reveals odd items tied to trees around the store: shoes, cans, and bits of junk. Old Appalachian traditions suggest that these were to ward off evil, much like bottle trees.
Now when I visit the New River Gorge I still enjoy watching CSX’s trains running through the beautiful valley, but I also enjoy walking in a remote town site. I can almost hear the bustle of the small town and the clank of the coal conveyor, smell the coal smoke from the ovens, and hear the voices telling me their stories.
Beury, W.V., was named for Joseph Beury who mined the first New River coal from the Fire Creek seam. At his town the old company store stood intact long after the town was gone. An old woman lived alone in it for many years; the only access to the town site was the railroad. The train crews would throw off provisions for her until she died in the 1980s. A visit to the spot reveals odd items tied to trees around the store: shoes, cans, and bits of junk. Old Appalachian traditions suggest that these were to ward off evil, much like bottle trees.
Now when I visit the New River Gorge I still enjoy watching CSX’s trains running through the beautiful valley, but I also enjoy walking in a remote town site. I can almost hear the bustle of the small town and the clank of the coal conveyor, smell the coal smoke from the ovens, and hear the voices telling me their stories.
KEVIN SCANLON is a member of the Center for Railroad Photography & Art.
