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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
Louisville & Nashville diesel locomotives show a variety that was typical for the era. The railroad’s roster was largely comprised of Alco and EMD models, but the road also sampled Baldwin and GE switchers and later GE road power. In the 1960s, L&N management opted to stick with what it knew, acquiring a number of […]
VOLGA, W.Va. — Allegheny Metallurgical Coal, a new company to be served by both CSX Transportation and Appalachian & Ohio, moved its first train of high-grade metallurgical coal earlier this month. The company, located along U.S. Route 119 between Buckhannon, in Upshur County, and Philippi, in Barbour County, moved the first train Feb. 8. Its […]
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia legislature on Saturday advanced a bill that would allow the state’s Public Service Commission, its regulatory agency for utilities, to investigate and fine Class I railroads for safety and operational violations. On an 89-3 vote, the legislature’s House of Delegates passed HB 3059, sending it to the state Senate. […]
Loaded and empty East Broad Top coal trains meet at Kimmel, Pa., in March 1956, shortly before service ended on the beloved narrow-gauge line. John Krause photo […]
One of Norfolk & Western’s powerful homebuilt Y6-class 2-8-8-2 Mallets drifts downgrade along the New River with eastbound freight at Narrows, Va., in mid-1954, when the N&W was still unsullied by diesels. W. A. Akin Jr. photo […]
CASS, W.Va. —Tickets are now on sale from the Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad for its 2023 Rail Heritage Photography Weekend, a two-day event in May limited to 70 attendees. The event set for May 6-7 will celebrate the the 60th anniversary of the Cass Scenic Railroad, and will feature the railroad’s locomotives pulling vintage […]
CASS, W.Va. — Cass Scenic Railroad Shay No. 5 made the first trial steam run over the restored former C&O Greenbrier Division track between Cass and Durbin, W.Va., on Wednesday, operator Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad has announced. The 30-mile round trip was the first for a steam locomotive since the Greenbrier River destroyed much […]
