Fine day on Helmstetter’s Curve

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Western Maryland 2-10-0 1109 leads empty coal hoppers and other freight cars west at famous Helmstetter’s Curve on WM’s main line west of Cumberland, Md. Today the right of way hosts Western Maryland Scenic Railway tourist trains and a bike path. Ed Theisinger photo […]

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Greenbrier Express sets inaugural run, start of regular operations

Shay locomotive with passenger train

ELKINS, W.Va. — The inaugural run of Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad’s Greenbrier Express operation is set for Saturday, May 13, the railroad has announced. The initial run on the recently reopened, 15-mile Cass-to-Durbin remnant of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad’s Greenbrier Subdivision quickly sold out. Regular service will begin the following Saturday, May 20. […]

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C&O doodlebug at Durbin

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Shortly before departure from Durbin, W.Va., on Feb. 23, 1951, the crew of the Chesapeake & Ohio doodlebug assigned to train 143 eyes the photographer before he climbs aboard for the ride down the Greenbrier River valley to the main line at Roncerverte, W.Va. A. C. Kalmbach photo […]

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B&O F units at Terra Alta

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In a view from the first vestibule behind the power, Baltimore & Ohio F7s on a westbound troop train pass two other A-B-A sets waiting for their next helper assignment at Terra Alta, W.Va., in May 1953. Philip R. Hastings photo […]

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Norfolk Southern’s Saluda Grade

The famous Saluda grade in western North Carolina has seen its last train. Railbanked in December 2001, nature has slowly but ever so surely reclaimed the right of way. Now, in 2023, an agreement has been reached to sell the railroad to become a hiking trail. Let’s take a look back to the years when […]

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Cass Parade of Steam set for June 17

Five geared steam locomotives in operation

CASS, W.Va. — Cass Scenic Railroad operator Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad has announced that the 2023 Parade of Steam will take place June 17 at the Cass depot. In previous years, this increasingly popular event has featured five of Cass Scenic’s geared steam locomotives, in various combinations, under steam.  However, if all goes as […]

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CSX cleanup efforts continue after West Virginia derailment

SANDSTONE, W.Va. — CSX Transportation has completed removal of the 22 empty coal hoppers that derailed Wednesday when its train hit a rock slide in the New River Gorge, the railroad reports, as it continues efforts to reopen its rail line. The derailment occurred at 4:51 a.m. Wednesday when the train hit several large boulders, […]

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West Virginia rail bill advances in state Senate

Public Service Commision of West Virginia logo

CHARLESTON, W.Va — A bill allowing West Virginia’s Public Service Commission to investigate and fine railroads for safety and operational violations will advance to the full Senate after being advanced by the Senate’s judiciary committee. WCHS-TV reports a CSX Transportation representative testified earlier this month that the railroad believes federal law would prevent HB3059 from taking […]

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Tourist railroads help create commuter train for Tom Hanks film

F unit locomotive and passenger cars at station platform

Rail consulting firm FMW Solutions and several heritage railways combined to recreate a 1970s-era commuter train for the recent Tom Hanks film “A Man Called Otto,” which makes use of equipment and locations of the Potomac Eagle Scenic Railway, Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, and Washington D.C. chapter of the National Railway Historical Society. The film’s […]

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