C'/7PC~ P n^A Ql~n$2.50

Vol. XXIV, No . 5

May, 1992

Piers left standing in the New River areabout all that's left of the Glade CreekCoal & Lumber Co. Railway, and the BlueJay Junction sign reminds us that theGlade Creek & Raleigh once branched offto the left behind the photographer.The fascinating story begins on pages 3 .

Chesapeake & OhioHISTORICAL MAGAZINE

Volume XXIV, No . 5

May,1992***************************************************~F

We welcome your oontributions. Please send items of historical interest to Donald RTraser.CurrentnewitemsshouldbesenttoEverettYoung .MotivePowerorrollingstockitems should go to Carl Shaver. Modeling contributions to Gary Burdette

Back issues oftheMeoasine are available ($2.50 per copy), while supplies last. A list cvailableissuesconbeobtainedbysendingastamped,self-addressedenvelopetoStuar

Hallett. This publicationisalsoavailableinmicrofilm .Parfurtherinformetim, w .;",tUniversityMicroSlm , International;300NorthZeebRoad;AmArbor,Michigan4815( 11 LCLCopyright1992by the Chesapeake & OhioHistorical Society, Inc . Noportionofthi,putlieation may be reproduced without the written eoneentofthe editor or President of thSociety . All C&O service marks are used with the permission ofCSX Corporation .The Cheeanrake & Ohio Historical Maeezine(ISSN Number0886-6287) is the month!publication ofthe Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society, Inc . Printed and bound by thMcClain Printing Company, 212 Main Street, Parsons, West Virginia 26287 .PISCI .ARHRR POISCY-From time to time the COHS may announce the availabilityof review kite, models, books, and other products which are of general interest to theembership and are produced by other groups, individuals, or companies. Such on-

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This month on the CP-'O

100 ears

oROBERT L . HARVEY

As Reported in the Pages of the Railroad, GazetteMay, 1892

Chesapeake & Ohio . "Arrangements have been madefor the construction of a line up Gauley Riverto the mouth of Twenty Mile Creek, a distanceof 7 .3 miles . The contract for grading hasbeen awarded to Rhinehart, Carpenter & Co .,the work to be completed by Nov . 1 . Thisbranch leaves the main line at a point aboutone mile east of Gauley Station, in FayetteCounty, W. Va . There will be a short canti-lever bridge over New River with viaduct ap-proaches on either side, the whole structurebeing about 600 ft . long . The grades arelight and the curvature easy ."

C&O . "The second track between Alderson and Low-ell, W . Va ., 9 1/2 miles, which was put undercontract last December, is now in operation .The 8 1/2 miles of second track between LowMoor and Covington, Va ., which was begun atthe same time, has not yet been completed .Fourteen miles additional of second track isnow under contract as follows : From Caldwell,W. Va ., to Rockland, 9 miles, and from RushRun to Butcher's Branch, 11 miles . About 24miles of extensions are now being built onvarious divisions . These are : Rush Run toButoner's Branch, 11 miles ; from Nuttall, W .Va ., to Withrow's Mills, 5 miles ; from Gauleyto Twenty Mile Creek, 8 miles . The contrac-tors are C . D . Langhorne, Eggleston & Dennis,Montague & Tyler, of Richmond, Va . ; J . C . Car-penter, Clifton Forge, Va . ; W . A . Rhinehart,Covington, Va ., and G . G . Gooch, Staunton,Va .

Z

0 This month

Again this month we look at anera when railways were the kingof the land and virtually everyhamlet with tracks bustled withactivity. We move from the JamesRiver to the New River and acrossthe State line, but the principleis the same : changes in techno-logy, society, railroading, andindeed everything else, have leftus ghost towns, research, andspeculation . Join Gene Huddles-ton and Roy Long on their journeyto the Glade, West Virginia ofanother year .

'Editor's MiscellanyA couple if items didn't make it into "Ob-

servations," and these members would like aresponse a little sooner than the next issue .First, Francis R. Toomey would like a ride to thisyear's C&OHS Conference from the Richmond, Virgin-ia area and will share expenses . Contact him atSutton Towers #1002-C-W-H Park, Collingswood, NJ08107 .

An unnamed member is offering for sale an OGauge model of QN Tower, Quinnimont, West Virginiafor $400 .00 . Contact Margaret Berry at the Archives in Clifton Forge if you are interested . Visaand MasterCard accepted .

Art Million is searching for black & whitephotos of the following Pere Marquette freightcars : 10000 series gondolas (used in auto-frame

service)80000-80499 USRA 40-ton auto-boxcars80500-81989 USRA 40-ton boxcars83650-83799 50-ton steel boxcars

Contact him at 1205 Oakes Avenue, Grand Haven, MI49417 if you can be of help .

Howard Skidmore wrote to make a correction toa photo caption which appeared with his article inour March issue . On page 7, with the group along-side the new cars, after "Harry Henshaw, vice-pres-ident," insert "at Huntington ; seventh CharlesGeyer, later vice-president maintenance of way andconstruction," picking up with "ninth, SterlingDiddle," etc .

Howard also offered a few comments on otherarticles which have appeared in the last fewmonths . Concerning the Main Street Station fea-ture : "One of the first things I heard when Istarted on the 45th floor of the Chrysler Buildingwas that a man who worked in an office or store onMain Street was giving Robert R. Young a hard timeabout the station clock . The gentleman could see

continued on page 11CC-OHS

New River Crossing at Glade . . 3

Current News12

Basement Subdivision14

THE CHESAPEAKE & OHIO HISTORICAL SOCIETY, INC . EDITORIAL STAFF:P .O. Bax 417

Alderson, West Virginia 24910 DONALD R TEASER Editor-in-chief128 South Laurel StreetproA non- fit co eporomo tionofthes tudundert tterun ofthaStleof theCh rginia,and Richmond,Virginia23220

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ATTILA ZOMBOR ROBERTL.HARVEY AssistantEditorROBERT E. JACKSON MARK W. DELAWYER AssistantEditorlEngineeringWILLIAM SPARKMON MILTON E. LYON AssistantEditoNFeatures

New River Crossings atGlade, West Virginia

Roy Long and Gene Huddleston

It was August 10, 1935 when William Monypeny photographed the Glade depotfrom the back of a departing local train . Express packages seem to havearrived in addition to the well-dressed travelers at the right . Camp carsare on the siding, and the station agent's family are watching the activityfrom both the windows and stairs . GOBS 3039 .

Glade Creek merits attention if only for itshaving "some of the most pristine and least dis-turbed natural scenery" within the New River GorgeNational River--an appraisal from the National ParkService development plan for the Glade Creek area .The remote area also claims attention for whettingthe curiosity of travelers along the former C&Oabout the big piers in the river a short distanceabove where Glade Creek empties into the New River .When train travelers see these isolated and sub-stantial piers, they naturally ask when and whythey got there and why they have no superstructure .

A mistaken belief, apparently widespread, hasbeen that the narrow gauge Glade Creek & Raleighfirst used this bridge, or perhaps a smaller, ear-lier bridge, as a crossing . Giving credence tothis belief are three supposed authoritativesources . One is a regional railroad map in Poor'sManual for 1907 which shows the GC&R extending fromRaleigh to a connection with the C&O at Glade andincluding a crossing of the New just south ofGlade . Another is a statement on the letterhead ofthe business stationery for the GC&R to this ef-fect . 2 A third is a statement by Professor GeorgeHilton in his recent history of narrow gauge rail-roads in the United States : "The Beatty Lumber Co .undertook the Glade Creek & Raleigh in 1896 as acommon carrier from Glade on the Chesapeake & Ohiomain line southwest to the company's main instal-lation at Crow and on to Beckley, seat of Raleigh

County

No evidence presently exists that there wasever a bridge across the New at Glade prior to thebridge of 1922, the piers for which exist today .

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An important official C&O Railway map, now in thearchives of the Chesapeake & Ohio Historical So-ciety, shows that as of March 25, 1898, the GladeCreek & Raleigh extended from what is now GlenMorgan, near Raleigh, to an unnamed terminus--which later became Hamlet--directly on the banks ofthe New River opposite Glade station . That thisearliest of maps is reliable is indicated by itssubject : "The Location of the Proposed Piney CreekBranch and the Territory between Piney and GladeCreeks ." 4 Obviously the same C&O locating engi-neers who had picked Piney Creek as the best routeup the plateau to the Raleigh Court House (nowBeckley) would have examined and rejected--for itsexcessive gradient--the already existing route upGlade Creek . That is, they would have known allthe feasible routes of rail access to the RaleighCounty Court House . If then, the map is reliable,one can conjecture that if the tracks ended di-rectly at the river's edge there must have been aferry permitting passage of finished lumber acrossthe river to the main line of the C&O Railway . Andindeed there was a ferry across the New at Glade,but as yet there is no evidence that this ferryexisted for the passage of other than pedestriansand wagons .

In order to clarify the history of the bridgeover the New, as well as just what railroads didextend down Glade Creek, this article will be di-vided into two segments--the first a history ofthe narrow gauge Glade Creek & Raleigh (1898-1907), and the second a history of the Glade CreekCoal & Lumber and associated standard gauge loggingroads of the 1920s .

3

Even though the Glade Creek & Raleigh was notof standard gauge--but rather of 3-foot narrowgauge--it has more claims to the status of a truerailroad than many other narrow gauge lines in Ap-palachia, which served neither as coal mine tram-ways or as a temporary means of access to a lumbercompany's timber lands, starting nowhere and end-ing nowhere . The GC&R was a common carrier ; itactually hauled passengers and finished lumber . Bythe time of its abandonment in 1907, according toPoor's, the GC&R had fifteen (or possibly 20) milesof 56-pound rail (3-foot gauge) with four locomo-tives, one passenger, 33 freight, and 24 "other"types of cars . If we are to believe the company'sletterhead, it connected two clearly identifiablepoints--Beckley and Glade, on the busy main line ofthe Chesapeake & Ohio It is still a mystery,however, just exactly how the GC&R got across theNew River to Glade and when and how it built a linefrom Raleigh to Beckley .

In any event, the GC&R was doomed as a carrierof significance in Raleigh County because it de-scended from the plateau on which Beckley is lo-cated to the level of the New River via a routeplagued with steep grades in both directions . TheC&O made the same descent via Piney Creek, whichhad a mild gradient only in one direction . The C&Ohad had a line through the New River Gorge fromHinton to Gauley since 1873 but was slow to buildbranches up any of the major tributaries . Obvi-ously, Piney Creek would be one of the firststreams utilized, for its flow was greater than anyother tributary between Gauley and Hinton, andbuilding up it gave access to major coal seamsaround Beckley .

The reason that the GC&R beat the C&O intothis territory is that it was timber, not coalmining, that first caught the attention of busi-nessmen interested in exploiting the natural re-sources of the countryside not readily tapped fromthe main line of the C&O . Coal reserves along the

main line were adequate in those early years . Andthe location of a sawmill at Crow became the mainreason that a rail line was built down ruggedGlade Creek before one was built up Piney Creek,which as a tributary of the New parallels GladeCreek about seven miles to the west . Horace and J .R . Beaty, of Warren County, Virginia, came intoWest Virginia via the Giles, Fayette & KanawhaTurnpike, and in 1888 they established the BeatyLumber Co . on the plateau in central RaleighCounty, just north of the Turnpike . They placedthe mill at "a site on the Old Crow road . . . a shortdistance from where the road forks," hence the nameCrow. It is said that parts for the sawmill werepulled to Crow by teams of oxen .?

Getting the finished lumber from Crow to themain line of the C&O on the New River was the BeatyLumber Company's first order of business . The pathof least resistance was to haul it over the fairlylevel topography of the plateau to the edge of theNew River Gorge just east of Grandview . It is un-known how the lumber was transported from the millto the top of the steep incline into the gorge .There the lumber company "probably constructed adouble drum tram anchored to the cliff, just to theright of the Grandview Park main overlook" ; the twotrams were connected by a cable so that the weightof the loaded tram descending would be utilized to

Standard gauge bridge, constructed by Glade Creek Coal & Lumber Co . in 1922,is shown in 1930, after Babcock Coal & Coke took over the operation . Ham-let, a community now abandoned, is out of sight in the foreground . Glade isacross the New River, with the C&0 depot at the right . The piers stillstand, but the line was abandoned in the middle of the Great Depression .C&O removed the steel work early in World War II and salvaged most of thespans for eventual use in branch line construction . Ralph Bean photo, RonLane/Ted Schnepf collection .

draw the unloaded tram up the inclined plain again .The lumber, ferried across the river at Prince, wasput on a C&O train and carried to market . 8

This practice continued for a few years untilthe Beaty Lumber Co . constructed a narrow gaugerailroad--which could handle a greater volume oflumber than the inclined tram--to haul the lumberto the river . The company obviously had found alot of timber to cut, especially some "very tallpine that thrived at 2591 ft . altitude in very richsoil ." 9 The new route down Glade Creek could alsotake advantage of the virgin timber in this deepvalley .

What little official information still existson the GC&R tells only that it was founded at Crowin Raleigh County, July 18, 1891 . 10 By 1897 it hadbuilt from Crow down to the mouth of Glade Creek .The route down Glade Creek was downhill to the NewRiver . Getting to the Glade Creek drainage re-quired a 2% upgrade to a 60-foot tunnel just eastof Crow . By 1898 the GC&R had built westward andhad reached Beckley, the growing county seat . Be-cause the C&O's branch from the New River atPrince up Piney Creek to Raleigh was completed in1901, the GC&R apparently had only three years freeof competition from the mighty Chesapeake & Ohio .

A map of the period enables us to trace fairlywell the precise route of the GC&R . 11 The terminusof the GC&R was at river's edge a little more thanhalf a mile up the New from the mouth of GladeCreek . About 300 feet or so above the mouth ofGlade Creek the railroad crossed the creek andheaded up the west bank to Scott's Branch, where it

COHS

proceeded up its steep slope, again keeping to thewest (or north) bank . Reaching the level of theplateau, the railroad penetrated the ridge at thewatershed via the short tunnel . Heading downgradethrough Crow, the GC&R followed the banks of LittleBeaver Creek to its confluence with Beaver Creek,and finally to the junction of Piney Creek at Ra-leigh. A new sawmill was built at Beaver at theconfluence of Little Beaver and Beaver creeks .The 1898 map on which the route is traced can betrusted, despite the dearth of maps otherwise .

The "main line" then was between Raleigh andthe banks of the New above the mouth of Glade Creekby the route just described . The C&O, in order tobuild up Piney Creek, had to construct a three-spantruss bridge over the New just west of Prince .There is no evidence that any kind of span wasbuilt by the GC&R to get across the New to Gladestation on the C&O from the settlement on the southside later known as Hamlet ; in fact, there was nosettlement on the south side during the years theGC&R was in operation . Recent research by BrianGravely, C&OHS member of Beckley, leaves some mys-tery about just how the GC&R effected a physicalconnection with the C&O . For legal records at theRaleigh County Court House disclose that the GC&Rdid purchase rail from C&O . How this rail wastransported across the river is not clarified inthe agreement :

This agreement made the seventh day ofSept . 1896, between the C&O Ry . Co . andthe Beaty Lumber Company of Quinnimont . . .and the Glade Creek and Raleigh RailroadCompany . Witnesseth : that in consider-

View of Babcock Coal & Coke Co . facilities at Hamlet, West Virginia around1930 looking west (north by compass) down the New River . The C&0 main isacross the river. The track at extreme left proceeds about a half mile downthe valley before heading up Glade Creek into timber territory . None of thestructures in this photo exist today. The land is now owned by the NationalPark Service . Two Shays are in the photo . One, with its front damaged, isin the left center of the photo . The other, barely visible, is in the right.center background . Ralph Bean photo, Ron Lane/Ted Schnepf collection .

ation of the sum of $250,000 [sic?] . . .the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company,agreed to sell Beaty Lumber Company ofQuinnimont, W . Va . about 510 tons ofsteel rail branded "B . J . Co .," origin-ally 4" in height, original weight 56pounds to the yard, part rolled in 1880and part rolled in 1881, which said railto be used upon the Glade Creek and Ra-leigh Railroad Company, which is nowgraded 11 miles in length running upGlade Creek 6 miles thence across themountain to Beaver Creek where the pre-sent terminus shall be at the inter-section of Beaver Creek in RaleighCounty, and the rail so sold is to belaid on the last 7 miles of said rail-road .

Mr . Gravely adds : "Delivery of rail to be madeat Glade, W . Va . Though the rail was delivered, itwas to remain property of the C&O Ry ., until fullpayment of $2500 [sic?] was made . . ." Was the railtransported across the river by ferry? If so, afairly substantial ferry boat would presumably beneeded . Getting 510 tons of steel across the riverwould take quite a few trips!

An equally confusing situation exists at theother end of the GC&R . According to the 1904Poor's, the GC&R had a branch from Raleigh to Beck-ley (specifically Beckley Seminary, as given in ahistory of Beckley) . 12 The main reason for abranch to Beckley would have been for passenger andfreight service to the growing town, for there wasno timber to cut in the fairly well settled twomile distance from Raleigh to Beckley . If the GC&Ractually had a line into Beckley, we know from the1898 map that it had not been constructed as ofmid-1898 . The C&O reached Raleigh in 1901 and by1902 Mabscott (location of C&O's freight house forBeckley) . Because the only feasible rail routefrom Raleigh into Beckley was via Whitestick Creek,the GC&R must have utilized it . But what did C&Outilize three years later? Probably, when C&Obuilt its line into Beckley and beyond, it paidfor trackage rights over the GC&R from Raleigh toBeckley . Because one road was standard gauge andthe other narrow gauge, a third rail had to be laidover these two miles .

This is not the place to try to trace the veryephemeral history of other possible GC&R branches,like a supposed connection with C&O's Piney CreekSubdivision at Whorley, three miles down PineyCreek from Raleigh or an extension southward alongthe upper reaches of Piney Creek over trackage thatlater became part of the Raleigh & Southwestern .

By 1906 the GC&R had 5 .3 miles of three-railtrack or 15 .5 miles of narrow gage track over-all .l~ In addition to the two miles of three-railtrack from Raleigh to Beckley, there was also 3 .3miles from Raleigh to Beaver . This dual gaugetrackage would allow C&O access to the RaleighLumber Company's mill at Beaver and to the import-ant mill nearby at Blue Jay . (Blue Jay LumberCompany, the largest operation in timber-richRaleigh County, would have 50 miles of standardgauge track stretching south toward Princeton by1917 .)

1906 was the last year for the Glade Creek &Raleigh, which was merged into the Raleigh &Southwestern, a joint operation of the Raleigh Lum-ber Company and the Blue Jay Lumber Company withtrackage mostly south of Raleigh . By a deed of1906, the GC&R conveyed to the R&SW all itsrights and the GC&R passed out existence April 30,1907 . 14 Finally, on February 28, 1910 the Raleigh& Southwestern became part of the C&O . Most of itsremaining trackage south of Raleigh then became theC&O's Raleigh & Southwestern Subdivision of theHinton Division; the six miles from Raleigh toDaniels likewise became the Glade Creek & RaleighSubdivision . The junction of the former GC&R withthe C&O at Raleigh was designated Blue Jay Junction-

6

tion, obviously in deference to the company furn-ishing most of the revenue then coming off thebranch . The narrow gauge portion of line from Crowto the New River (nine miles) had been taken out ofservice in 1906, but some trackage was, maintainedaround the mill at Crow until it closed in 1910 .All remaining trackage was removed in 1917 . 15

Thus from 1917 to 1922 there existed a rail-road grade up Glade Creek but no railroad . Butthen came the boom years of the Roaring Twenties,and an increasingly speculative investment envi-ronment prevailed . Even so, it is hard to figureout how any knowledgeable investor would want toput money into a standard gauge railroad to bebuilt parallel to C&O's Piney Creek branch, onlyseven miles down the New from Glade Creek . Al-though there was still some virgin timber near thehead of Glade Creek, much of the remaining big tim-ber in Raleigh County was being harvested by theBlue Lumber Company . And if there had been any bigtimber left along the lower six miles of GladeCreek, the Glade Creek & Raleigh would not havebeen abandoned . That left mostly coal to haul out .If there were any significant coal deposits in theimmediate vicinity of Glade Creek that had not al-ready been extracted, the C&O would have had easyaccess to these deposits via the remnant of theGlade Creek & Raleigh's original line that C&O hadnot torn up but rather converted to standard gaugein 1907 . If the promoters hoped to head far beyondthe headwaters of Glade Creek into the upper Blue-stone basin, they were a little late, for first theN&W, and then the Virginian, and finally the C&O(via the Winding Gulf) had already gained access tothe rich Pocahontas seams of the Flat Top region .

The story of how the seven big piers got intothe river at Glade involves the history of theGlade Creek Coal and Lumber Company, which operateda standard gauge timber hauler up Glade Creek from1924 until about 1936 .

It was the year 1921 when a young lady, MissGrace Elizabeth Marlowe, along with her grand-mother, visited the Clarence Holesapple family atGlade . She remembers only a few families livingthere at that time, as well as a few across theriver at a small village called Hamlet . 16 No in-dustry was in the immediate vicinity . Some livingthere were employees of the Chesapeake & Ohio Rail-way, and others were coal miners who commuted towork by C&O passenger train farther down the gorge .She also remembers there was no bridge to join thetwo communities via the C&O and mail was distribut-ed from the post office at Hamlet . 17

The post office at Hamlet originated with anapplication by Mr . A . L . Redden to the Post OfficeDepartment requesting establishment of one for thearea and suggesting the names Krise, Glade, or Ham-let . A post office was opened under the Hamletname May 7, 1914, with Mary E . Redden postmaster .Mr . M . B . Ward and Mr . F . H . Halstead were her suc-cessors . In 1916 Mr . M . B . Ward submitted a pro-posal to change the location of the post officefrom Hamlet to Glade, but nothing was done at thattime to implement the change . 18

During 1921 the area suddenly came alive whenit was learned that a group of "New York and WestVirginia capitalists" planned to bridge the NewRiver between Glade and Hamlet and build a standardgauge railroad up Glade Creek to the mouth of PinchCreek and up Pinch through Pluto with plans to e-ventually reach the great Flat Top region in Ra-leigh and Mercer counties . 19 The Hinton, DailyNews and Leader spread the good word : "Reports ofthe tract to be developed show that there are200,000,000 tons of New River coal and that severalseams on the property will average thicker than thesame seams now being mined at the many successfuloperations on the Chesapeake and Ohio, Norfolk andWestern, and Virginian railroads ." 20 The corpora-tion was named the Glade Creek Coal and LumberCompany, and investors included Robert Bopes of NewYork City, James T . Lightner, Lee Ott and Earnest

C4POHS

A. Simmons of Charleston, West Virginia, as well asWilliam G . Conley, a former Governor of West Vir-ginia .21

Work started in 1921 on the grading for therailroad . The American Bridge Company was con-tracted to build the 750-foot bridge across NewRiver, including seven piers and two abutments .The obtuse angle at which the bridge had to bebuilt made it "the longest of all those crossingNew River ." A single-band sawmill was constructedon the flat at Hamlet and the sound of hammers a-gainst nails could be heard as homes were hastilybuilt at both communities of Hamlet and Glade .After overcoming some unspecified "difficult en-gineering problems," the Glade bridge work wascomplete in January or February, 1923 and wasready for the laying of steel . 22

The little railroad with the big bridge neverachieved its goal "to ultimately extend through theGreat Flat Top Mountain region . . . and connect withthe Virginian and Norfolk and Western systems ." 23It did eventually extend some fifteen miles upGlade Creek and tributaries to Pluto in SummersCounty . At 8 .4 miles up Glade Creek just past themouth of Pinch Creek, a switchback took the tracksto the top of the plateau . (Unlike the earlierGC&R right-of-way, the standard gauge tracks of theGlade Creek Coal and Lumber timber hauling railroadstuck mostly to the east bank of Glade Creek in itsascent of the creek .) This seven mile extension,completed in 1930, followed Willis Branch from theswitchback to the upper reaches of Pinch Creek toget to just beyond Pluto . A two mile extensionsouth from the switchback between Pinch Creek andWillis Branch was removed in 1930 . 24 Some nativesof the area have said the end of the line extendedseveral miles beyond Pluto . Roy Jones, who cuttimber for the sawmill in 1929, stated the linewent over White Oak Mountain (near Pluto) andcrossed where State Route 3 now passes over thatmountain . This observation has been verified byJames R . Sampson of Hinton, who remembers, as alad, the family automobile being held up at thecrossing on White Oak Mountain while the log trainpulled by. Daniel R. Crawford of Fayetteville,West Virginia ,, also verified the crossing of thelogging railroad over White Oak . 25 Crawford, stillalive, should know whereof he speaks, having beenemployed by the C&O Railway as a Supervisor ofTracks .

Another native of the region, Mrs . Emmett D .Brandt, has vivid memories of the logging railroad .Miss Grace Elizabeth Marlowe, a school teacher inGreenbrier County, West Virginia, married EmmettBrandt, a C&O employee, and in November, 1924 theyestablished their home at Glade, where they livedhappily until 1944 when they moved to MeadowCreek .Z6 Mrs . Brandt remembers the great differ-ence in the area from her visit in 1921 and herreturn to live in 1924 . Among other memories are avalentine party at the Hamlet Club House when shewas the dance partner of Dr . J . W . Stokes, who inlater years was widely known through the State ofWest Virginia . 27

The Glade railroad bridge being a girderbridge with no superstructure overhead, there wasno walkway and pedestreans had to proceed verycarefully, stepping on ties as they crossed overfrom one community to the other . One day in 1925Mrs . Brandt remembers crossing the bridge to theHamlet company store to purchase a few groceries .Returning, as she was about midway of the bridge,the lumber train came into the bridge from Hamlet .Becoming frightened, she started to run to theGlade side when her beef roast slipped from hergrasp and fell into New River . She realized, afterher initial excitement, the engineer in charge ofthe train would not have struck her . In fact, thetrain always moved at a walking pace . Later thatyear the Glade Creek Coal and Lumber Companyinstalled a board walk between the rails over thebridge, eliminating a great danger . 28

The

C&OHS

pedestrain ferry at Glade had ceased operationafter construction of the railroad bridge .

Mrs . Brandt also remembers the C&O depotbuilding at Glade, but when she visited in 1921 noagent was employed there . When she returned in1924 there was an agent, but she cannot now recallhis name . The downstairs of the depot was utilizedfor C&O freight and ticket offices and a waitingroom for passenqers . The upstairs was used forliving quarters . 29

The beginning of the end of Glade Creek Coaland Lumber Company came in June, 1928 with thetragedy of murder in the company's office atHamlet . Cham Neely was an employee of Louie Mo-hair, who had a contract with Glade Creek Coal andLumber to cut a tract of timber and skid the logsto the railroad where they could be loaded onto thelog train and moved to the mill pond at Hamlet .Mr . Mohair brought out the logs within easy reachof the line and suddenly left the area withoutpaying his employees their wages due . Mr . Neelywas very much upset at not being paid and madeseveral efforts to get his pay from Mr . E . A . Simm ons, president and general manager of the com-

pany . Mr . Simmons insisted that Neely was an em-ployee of Louie Mohair, that Mohair had not com-pleted the terms of the contract, and that hisgrievance should be with Mohair . 30

On the afternoon of Wednesday, June 11, 1928Cham Neely entered the company office at Hamlet .Miss Vernette Berger, the stenographer, was takingdictation from Mr . Simmons when Neely, in a roughand commanding voice (and after ordering the sten-ographer to leave the office), demanded, "I wantthat money ." Moments later the sound of three gunshot blasts rang out . Mr . Simmons, in criticalcondition, got up from his desk, staggered a fewfeet, and fell dead . 31

A short time later, in 1929, Glade Creek Coaland Lumber Company sold its property to the BabcockCoal and Timber Company . George Beam was generalsuperintendent and Edward Jones, superintendent .Jones let a contract to his brother Joe to cut atract of timber and bring the laborers to cut thetimber and skid the logs out of the woods to therailroad . Jones in turn employed his son, Roy, andabout twenty laborers to cut the timber and skidthe logs with teams of horses to designated loca-tions for the log train . This group of men livedin a logging camp two and a half miles from Hamletup Glade Creek . The overhead skidder they used wascapable of lifting the logs from the deep hollowsup to the log dump beside the railroad track . Someof the employees of Babcock Coal and Timber Companywere Ernest Dillon, the blacksmith ; John Hopkins,the sawyer ; and Jim Osborne, the lumber grader . 32

Coal was never mined along the route of theTimber Company's railroad. There was some talkabout constructing a coal tipple at Glade, but themines never developed . And when the girder sec-tions were removed from the bridge at Glade, hopeof development was gone . 33

The village of Hamlet was no small communityin the heyday of the single band sawmill . Therewas a clubhouse of three or four stories, operatedby Marvin Lacy, where rooms were rented and mealsserved family style . There was also a boardinghouse run by Mrs . Ward Hudson . A teacher of Hamletelementary school was Haven Clay, who taught JackWard of Hinton his first year of schooling . Thelast teacher was Susie Ranson, who boarded at Gladewith Mr . and Mrs . Emmett Brandt and walked thebridge to and from the school building . The postoffice serving the communities of Hamlet and Gladewas located at Hamlet until the sawmill went out ofbusiness, and there was a doctor's office at Hamletserving the two communities . When the mill was infull operation, there were about twenty-five orthirty private homes in Hamlet . Mrs . Brandt re-calls that when she first visited Glade in 1921there were only about five homes . 34

REDUCED SCALE MAP

GLADE To HAWKS NEST

ABOUT 2 M . T O h-

~

'

2rise 7ceJG/ndc to P> ",cr

6'> ,H/s

\G/ode Ca Mauti sF/ y 75MeutAof Hney .' re..,,:,,,,d /z Mis.P>-1 fndsfr-.4 o., south-I'de 4,. V f to A-A, N-e

BETWEEN PINEY .•° GLADE CREEKS

SCALE : ABOUT) .. Of- TO 1INCq

Piney Creek' Zocot/O'7 /n Ye/%w

File No . 1463

AEC

After the sawmill at Hamlet ceased operationson September 1, 1936, the post office at Hamletclosed and on the same day a post office was es-tablished at Glade, Mrs . Grace Brandt being thefirst postmaster Twenty or twenty-five familieslived at Glade, some above and some below the depotlocated on the C&O main line . Warren and EstalineRedden ran a small combination convenience store ;C&O employees on trains stopping at Glade wouldfrequent the store for small purchases . When RoyLong worked at Thurmond he commuted on the localpassenger trains up and down the river, and heremembers school children getting on the train atGlade en route to Montgomery High School . Afterthe mill at Hamlet closed it was necessary forfamilies to move out for employment at other loca-tions, but a few continued to live there and atGlade .

When the Babcock Coal and Timber Company wentout of business in the Great Depression it took upmost of the steel of the railroad line, but a fewshort sections were left in the woods . GraceBrandt remembers observing a few pieces of steeland some ties as she and her husband, Emmett,hiked up Glade Creek hunting for snakes .36

Only the long bridge remained intact . Then,in 1941 or early 1942, the Chesapeake & Ohio re-ceived permission from the United States govern-ment (permission needed because of the war-inducedshortage) to remove the eight steel sections of thegirder-type bridge . One set of girders was usedfor a C&O bridge over Laurel Creek extending theeastward passing siding at Quinnimont . The othersections were sent to C&O's reclamation plant andafter the war were used on a branchline bridge overthe Guyandotte River in coal-rich Logan County andthe rest for a coal branch crossing the Levisa Forkin eastern Kentucky

Obviously . the ('Fn hart to cnnnarata ;n

Notes1 . Development Concept Plan/InterpretativeProspectus : Glade Creek New River Gorge NationalRiver, West Virqinia (U .S . Department of Interior,National Park Service, June, 1990), p . 7 .

2 . "History of Raleigh County" in Beckley, U .S .A .(1973), Vol . II, n .p .

3 . George W . Hilton, American Narrow-Gauge Rail-roads (Palo Alto, California : Stanford UniversityPress, 1990), p . 554 .

4 . "Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Co . Sketch MapShowing Location of the Piney Creek Branch," fileNo . 1463, March 25, 1898 .

101

5 . Paul D . Marshall, ed ., A Cultural ResearchProject : The New River Gorge National River, WestVirqinia (Charleston, West Virginia, 1981), II,148 . A sketch map prepared from reliable sourcesby Roy C . Long shows the ferry landing on the southside of the river in alignment with the end oftracks of the GC&R as depicted on the C&O map .File 1463, dated 3/25/98 .

6 .

Letterhead is reproduced in Beckley, U .S .A .(1973), II .

7 . "The History of the Shady Spring District ofRaleigh County," compiled and published by ShadySpring District Women's Club, 1979, p . 110 .

8 . Ibid . Ed Boss' letter to Long and Huddleston,dated December 28, 1990, clarified and correctedthe explanation of the tram in the Shady Springhistory .

9 .

Ibid .

10 . Letter to Ed Boss from Clare R . J . Rogers,August 18, 1990 .

11 . C&O Railway sketch map, file No . 1463 .

12 . "Glade Creek & Raleigh" in 1904 Poor's Manualof Railroads, p . 272, and "History of RaleighCounty" in Beckley, U .S .A . (1973), II, n .p .

13 . Letter to Ed Boss from Clare R . J . Rogers,August 18, 1990 .

14 . Corporate History of the Chesapeake and OhioRailway Company as of the Date of Valuation, June30, 1916, p . 135 .

15 . Glade Creek & Raleigh, index to C&O annualreports, Index 5, Vols . 6 and 7, 1900-1917 .

25 . Telephone interview of Roy Long with Roy E .Jones, January 25, 1990 .

26 . - 28 . Personal interviews of Roy Long with Mrs .Grace Brandt, January 29, 1991, November 5, 1990,and January 29, 1991 .

29 . Personal interview of Roy Long with Mrs . GraceBrandt, January 29, 1991 .

30 . Telephone interview of Roy Long with Roy E .Jones, January 25, 1990 .

31 . Hinton Daily News, June 12, 1928 .

32 . Telephone interview of Roy Long with Roy E .Jones, January 25, 1990 .

33 . Personal interview of Roy Long with RobertMartin, February 13, 1991 .

34 . Personal interview of Roy Long with Mrs . GraceBrandt, November 5, 1990 and January 29, 1991 .

C&OHS

structing a connection at Glade with the loggingrailroad, but the C&O did not construct the ex-

16 . and 17 . Personal interviews of Roy Long withMrs . Grace Brandt, November 5, 1990 and January 29,

pensive bridge over the New River . So neither the 1991 .C&O nor the American Bridge Company

left hold-wasing the bag . Undoubtedly, the original promoters 18 . Records of the U . S . Postal Service, Washing-of the railroad in the early 1920s had issued bonds ton, D .C . Mr . Krise was the original superinten-to build it . And because of the failure of theroad ever to reach the

200,000,000vaunted

ton coaldent of the GC&R .

reserves, the owners probably took a big loss on 19 . Hinton Daily News and Leader, February 8, 1921 .their investments .

20 . Ibid .One question remains : Did the C&O, after

removing the bridge girders, ever consider devel- 21 . Telephone interview of Roy Long with Roy E .oping coal reserves up Glade Creek?

(At eleva-tions above 2,000 feet on the

the headJones, January 25, 1990 .

plateau atof Glade Creek are mineable seams .) A large map in 22 . and 23 . Hinton Daily News and Leader, Januarythe possession of the C&O Historical Society showsthat in 1948 a 20-mile branch

from2, 1923 and February 8, 1921 .

was plannedGlade to "Flat" (Flattop?) . Some of the "contem-plated improvements for coal development" shown on

24 . "C&O Ry . Company : Map Showing GladeRailroad and Blue Jay Railway," drawing No .

Creek9555,

this official C&O map came off ; others, like theGlade Creek branch, did not .

September 15, 1930 .

35 . Records of U . S . Postal Service .

36 . Personal interview of Roy Long with Mrs . GraceBrandt, January 29, 1991 .

37 . Personal interviews of Roy Long with Daniel R .Crawford, July 24, 1990 and with Robert Martin,February 13, 1991 .

ABOVE : Accompanied by a CSXspecial agent, Roy Long photo-graphed the piers remaining inthe New River in August, 1990 .Looking down river . RIGHT :Heading for Prince and Quinni-mont, this CSX train is passingover a state highway . The bridgein the foreground is over BeaverCreek, near the point where itempties into Piney Creek . TheRaleigh yard is at the right .Gene Huddleston photo, April,1991 .

continued from page 2

the clock from his place of business and it burnedhim up that the timepiece in the landmark tower wasnot working .

"The complainer wanted to know why a much-pub-licized railroad reformer couldn't even get a sta-tion clock fixed . Why there was a delay I don'tknow, and whether the clock advocate threatened totake his complaint to the papers or actually did soI can't recall . I do remember that Tom Deegan wasmuch concerned . At any rate, thanks to the persis-tent gentleman, executive heat was directed at theright places and the clock was put back in opera-tion .

"The article 'Pheasants, Creosote, and aFrench Chef' reminded me of Mr . Young's foreign-born chef, Emil De Zutter, a Belgian, I think . Hewas in charge of the food at the Cloud Club, anexecutives' luncheon club high in the ChryslerBuilding, also Blind Brook golf club in Westchest er, of which Mr. Young was also a member.

"At Mr . Young's suggestion, Mr . De Zutter wasretained by C&O as a consultant on the dining carservice . He made an inspection trip on a number ofdining car runs, made suggestions on kitchen and

C&OHS

AcknowledgementsThe authors dedicate this article to the late

Edward Boss, whose persistence in investigatingAppalachian narrow gauge railroads made this andmany other articles possible . Ed died suddenly athis home in Pennsylvania last January . Narrowgauge railroads are ephemeral subjects at best, butby seeking out every possible detail on its his-tory, Ed gave reality to the quaint little GladeCreek & Raleigh . One would have to see his volu-minous correspondence on the subject to judge thesolidity of his contribution. Additionally, theauthors thank Tom Dixon for supplying numerousengineering maps that contributed to the "big pic-ture," and they are indebted to Bob Harvey for hiscontributions--especially his field trip to Ra-leigh County to locate the long-collapsed tunnelof the Glade Creek & Raleigh .

Roy Long and Gene HuddlestonJanuary, 1992

table-service operations, and worked up variousmenus . One or two De Zutter aides, also trained incontinental cuisine and service, were retained toride the trains and implement his suggestions .

"My recollection is hazy on how worthwhile andlasting the De Zutter episode was . I do remembermaking a special press run to Newport News on a caron which a De Zutter assistant had prepared some-thing to go with drinks . When I exclaimed howtasty the food items were, the De Zutter man saidthey were just bread, butter, and a little salt .Maybe so, but I thought it was a demonstration ofhow European training and care in preparation canmake simple foods special .

"Reference is made to Buffalo Gap, nearStaunton in the article 'Excerpts from SouthernStates of North America' by Edward King . 'Throughit the buffaloes onces passed in their annual mi-grations .' Did you know there is a stone monumentat the Greenbrier, near the Spring House, tellingof the buffaloes' passage at that point? Amazingto me, since one thinks of buffalo hordes on thegreat plains ." [Virginia's Buffalo River takes itsname from the herds which early settlers sawgrazing in the area . Ed .]

11

SOUTHEASTERN OHIO REPORTfrom Milepost 306 (Jackson Co . Railroad Hist . Soc .), March 1992

contributed by George Arnott, Bidwell, Oh .

CSXT is moving forward with removal of the Pomeroy Subdi-vision track from Minerton (approximately MP91) to Kanauga (MP119.1) . CSXT refused to consider at least one local effort topurchase the line intact . CSXT stated it preferred to reclaimthe welded rail for relay elsewhere . However, CSXT has report-edly sold at least the final six miles of welded rail to anoutside firm .

On the remaining track from the Minerton area up to Dundaswhere the Pomeroy Subdivision once crossed the B&O's Parkers-burg Subdivision (now the Indiana & Ohio line to Red Diamond)at least a mile or so of track just east of the I&0 has beenpulled up since mid-November (last time we had a report) . Thetrack several miles to the east was still intact and apparentlyuntouched as of February 22 .

CSXT track crews have been working various projects on theKanauga-Minerton segment to prepare it for removal . On Febru-ary 24th the first empty rail train arrived at Kanauga consist-ing of CSXT GP40 6668/GP40-2 6031, a rail puller unit consist-ing of four flatcars, a green C&O toolcar, and a string of CSXT(ex-Chessie welded rail gondolas . Train BO11 arrived atKanauga at approximately 10 :30 a.m ., and after dropping thetoolcar, proceeded to the Gavin Power Plant at Cheshire. Thetrain ran around the coal unloader loop to position the pullerat the west end of the train . The rail train then began thelast trip to Minerton, passing Vinton about 1 :45 p .m. Unlikemany other lines being scrapped, the Pomeroy Subdivision hasremained basically intact with its signs and crossbucks inplace. Even the grade crossing signals at Vinton activated asExtra 6668 West approached .

The Pomeroy Subdivision was opened to service from Loganto Pomeroy in 1880 and 1881 as the Ohio & West Virginia Railwaywhich was quickly merged into the Columbus, Hocking Valley &Toledo . The line came to C&O in 1930 when the Hocking Valleywas merged into the C&O .

The Kanauga depot continues to be used by CSXT crews main-taining the Hobson-Kanauga track used by Conrail .

The majority of the Pomeroy Subdivision was targeted forabandonment in 1974 . The Hobson-Minerton segment was exten-sively upgraded in the early 1980's to handle a unit coal trainfrom Southern Ohio Coal's Mine 3 to the Gavin Power Plant andalso Conrail trains between Hobson and Kanauga . CSXT handledthe last coal train on the line in October 1989 .

In Kentucky the recently passed federal trail fundinglegislation has renewed interest in developing a hike/biketrail on portions of the abandoned C&O Lexington Subdivisionroadbed. Discussions have centered on trails in the Winchester,Mount Sterling and Morehead areas or a larger goal of a traillinking the three . There has even been discussion of a trailrunning the entire length of the route from near Ashland toWinchester .

DOW REROUTES CHEMICAL TRAIN

from News Michigan Servicecontributed by Mark Kapka, Bridgeport, Mich .

Dow Chemical is rerouting 30 chemical carrying railroadtankers, formerly part of the "Death Train," through a heavilypopulated portion of Bay County, but the tankers pose no addedhealth or safety threat, county emergency personnel say .

The flammable liquids bound for Dow Chemical began rollingthrough Bay County on December 1, 1991 because the Midland-based company switched rail carriers . The weekly shipments,which originate in Freeport, Texas, had traveled to Midland onCSX Transportation tracks through Freeland. They never enteredBay County . But a CSX rate increase caused Dow to reroute thetraffic to Central Michigan Railway, which runs through BayCity and Frankenlust, Monitor, Bangor and Williams townships .

The 30 cars represent what remains of Dow's 70-car unittrain, so-called because every car in the train carried Dowproducts, company spokesman Matt Davis said .

1 2

Send all news and related photos to :Everett N . Young105 Vera Drive

Pikeville, KY 41501

Although no fatalities were ever associated with it, theunit train was popularly dubbed the "Death Train" or "BombTrain" because of the hazardous chemicals it transported . Aslowdown at Dow's Michigan Division, which cut demand for rawmaterials, prompted Dow to stop running the unit train at leasttemporarily, Davis said .

Styrene monomer, a flammable liquid used to make plastics,will be the primary product shipped through Bay County . Othercombustible chemicals include propylene oxide and vinylidenechloride .

The Central Michigan line already transports about 75 carsof similar chemicals through Bay City each week, Davis said .The cars come through separately and at different times . Theadditional cars will be distributed among those weekly trains,he said .

NEW USE FOR GRAND HAVEN DEPOT

from the Grand Haven, Mich ., Tribune, October 9, 1991contributed by Art Million and Brad Anderson

The tracks are clear, as far as Grand Haven is concerned,for redevelopment of the old train depot off Jackson Street in-to an innovative guest lodging business using renovated passen-ger cars and cabooses. The city planning commission approveda site, plan from James and Nan Martina of Naperville, Ill ., toconvert the 1928 depot and 2 .5-acre property into a seasonalinn, "The Grand Crossing ."

The plan calls for 23 rooms, with the long passengercoaches split into two units and two handicap accessible roomsin the depot . Another car will provide general services suchas ice and perhaps train displays and models, Martina said .

Getting the cars to the west side of the depot will re-quire that the operational line be reconnected to the depotsiding track, which will probably take a day. The active trackwill be separated from the inn by fencing for safety, a stipu-lation from property seller CSX Transportation .

The Martinas hope to have renovations to the cars and de-pot far enough along to accommodate guests sometime next year .The couple expects to operate generally from April to October,they said, as the cars won't be weatherproofed and local occu-pancy rates probably can't support the operation in the offseason .

LINER UNITED STATES MAY LEAVE NEWPORT NEWSfrom the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Feb. 12, 1992contributed by Robert Roadcap, Richmond, Va .

A federal judge yesterday returned the long-idle luxuryliner United States to its owner, who said he would raise$200,000 by Monday to move it to Baltimore .

U . S . District Judge Robert G . Doumar said he was skepti-cal that owner Richard H . Hadley, a Seattle businessman andchairman of U . S . Cruises, Inc., could get the money to payfor towing the liner from Newport News to Baltimore .

Doumar directed U . S . marshals to immediately leave theship and discdntinue maintenance and security service, but thejudge declined to dismiss a $300,000 suit by CSX TransportationInc .

U . S . Cruises filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protectionlast week to prevent the ship's court-ordered auction to satis-fy the debt to CSX . CSX filed suit in October to force theship to move and to recover about $170,000 in maintenance anddocking charges, plus about $125,000 in legal costs .

The rusting liner has been docked at CSX Pier 15 in New-port News since April 1989 . Much of the art deco interior hasbeen dismantled, and those pieces that could be removed havebeen sold to collectors .

Attorney Morton H . Clark conceded that Hadley is "tryingto buy time" to reorganize his finances .

The largest and fastest of the U . S . ocean liners, theship was built at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co .,and made its maiden voyage in 1952 .

CG-OHS

BIG MINE ON BIG SANDY

Grade and track work are nearing comple-tion on the 3 .7-mile Jones Fork Extension be-ing built to serve the new Four Mile CreekMine of Consolidation Coal Company of Ken-tucky .

The line continues off the old Jones ForkSubdivision which extended from Porter Junc-tion near Lackey to the end of track at PorterCamp, approximately 1 .8 miles . National MinesCorporation's inactive Jones Fork tipple islocated on the existing line .

The new line follows Jones Fork entirelyand crosses it once . The maximum grade is1.36 percent . There will be a three trackyard below the mine . Codell Construction Co .of Winchester, Ky., is the prime contractor .

The photos at right were taken on Marchlst . The top photo shows the only other bridgeon the extension, that one crossing Big SpringBranch . A ballast regulator works in the dis-tant background in the area where the loadedyard will begin . The center photo shows theunit train batch loader . The bottom photocovers the preparation plant, truck dump hop-pers and the stacking tubes for ground stor-age .

The mine is located on KY 550 just eastof Mousie in Knott County .

The existing track had to be extensivelyupgraded and the wood pile trestle over Bea-ver Creek at the junction rebuilt with steel .

-Everett N . Young

CG-OHS 13

cue BASEMENTSUBDIVISION,GARYJ . BURDETTE-13t. 1, Box 729-Point Pleasant, WV. 25550

USRA designed 70-ton tripple hopper in HO scale byWesterfield presents the C&O modeler with a very interestingpiece of rolling stock to add to the roster . Virtually everysub-class of this car may be built . Roy will have several of

ROLLING STOCK ROSTERDeveloped by ROY W . HURLBURT

Designing a rolling stock roster is often a hit-or-missventure . Usually, we purchase those items which strike anote of interest or nostalgia, and which, we enjoy seeingsetting on the display shelf or featured in the yard orsiding . A "collection" may be quickly amassed . While such atechnique is a pleasant diversion, it may not provide uswith the means of completing a representative sampling ofeach type of car that existed during the period we aremodeling .

Those modelers who wish to prepare a miniature fleet inprototypic fashion must establish a plan for acquiringcertain specific types and numbers of hoppers, box cars,flats, and such to accurately model their favorite line inproper proportions for the appropriate era . Several yearsago, Chicago area modeler, Roy W. Hurlburt (Roy wasresponsible for production of the dreadnaught hopper ends,cantilever signal, and panel-side hopper .) presented justsuch a method for accumulating the correct cars for arealistic C&O rolling stock roster . His research -utilizing the C&OHS book Freight Car Equipment of theChesapeake & Ohio Railway, by Carl W. Shaver - enabled himto set up a chart which lists the "type" of car, "series"numbers, "special design features," "total" built, "year"built, and cars "in use" during the time period he models .This data is accentuated by his statement of exact numbersof each style of car he plans to have and those carsactually completed from the C&O as well as other roads .Thus, one would expect to see the correct types of cars onRoy's railroad from the period he is reproducing in thecorrect ratios .

14

this class of car on his layout. Modelers in other scalesmust examine available kits or scratchbuild in order toreproduce certain cars .

Model and photo by Ted Luce .

2 BayOffset SidesNotched End52000 SeriesTrain MiniaturesRenumber

2 BayOffset SidesRadial Arch132500 SeriesAthearn kit bash

2 BayOffset SidesDreadnaught End124000 SeriesAthearn-COHS EndJohn C. Paton

2 BayOffset SidesFlat Ends56000 SeriesWalthers MetalLetter for C&O

CHESAPEAKE AND OHIO MODEL ROSTER

CG-OHS

TYPE OF CAR SPECIAL DESIGN FEATURES TOTAL BUILT YEAR BUILT CARS IN USE 1948-1949 C&O-PLAN/HAVE OTHER-PLAN/HAVE

2-Bay Offset sides, notched 4/4 2/2Hopper 52000-52999 1000 1942 997 8/8

47000-48989 1990 1946 1990

Offset, radial arch132500-135499 3000 1937 2974 12/1250000-51999 2000 1941 1997 8/2

Offset, dreadnaught119750-120249 500 1934 497 2/1124000-132499 8500 1935-36 8470 34/34

The correct ratios or proportions of cars that existedcompared to one another may be the key element to successfulmodeling . This is the ingredient which separates the"collection" from the "roster ." For example, note the factthat in 1949 the C&O had 8,470 2-bay, offset sides,dreadnaught arch end hopper cars from the 124,000 - 132,499series, while there were only 1 .483 3-bay, multi-panel,offset side hopper from the 173,000 - 176,999 series . Royhas "scaled" this ratio to 34 :6 . In so doing, the morenumerous 2-bay car will be seen most often in trainstraversing the layout, while the panel hopper will only beseen occasionally . This is (was) the way a railfantypically spots the various pieces of rolling stock on theactual railroad . Encounters with very interesting, thoughunique rail cars are countered with the endless strings of

C&OINTERCHANGE

A substantial number of the old USRA 70-ton tripple hoppers,originally built in the 1920s, were converted from the old-style clam shell type middle hopper to the more modern saw-tooth design . Also, the change of the diagonal end extensionto the radial arch, Dreadnaught end should be noted .Pictured here is an extant example of one such modification .Several ex-C&0 hoppers may still be found (as of January,1992) on the short line Winifrede Railroad located atChesapeake, West Virginia in the Handley area . Roy HUrlburt .

WANTED - Photos of diesel locomotives CSX CW40-8 and Dash 8-40B from various angles for modeling purposes . Has tradedshots . Contact : Scott N . McLeod - RR#3 Embro - Ontario,Canada NOJ-lJO .

WANTED - Lettering diagrams for 70 ton hoppers, series100000-102999 and 106000-109499 built in 1951 and 1953respectively . Also, good shots of the FM Automatic CoalingTower that once stood in Elk Yard (Charleston, WestVirginia) at the underpass of the curved trestle . Contact :I . W . "Woody" Grosdoff - P .O . Box 725 - Black Mountain, NC28711 .

FOR SALE - 'C&0 poppet valve Hudson by Custom Brass($250 .00), complete first year of Mainline Modeler withphotos of C&0 steamers ($50 .00) . Walthers 12 hoppers $59 .00 .Contact : John E . Henning -24905 Sunset Oval - North Olmstead,

Ohio 44070-4648 .C&0 PRODUCTS

C&O H-8 - Overland Models may re-issue the C&O H-8 from 1991,if enough interest is shown . Crosshead Division ofRichmond, Virginia is involved in a project to make thishappen . For more information call 1-804-747-5855 .

COHS

the most common stock typically seen at trackside . It isthis aspect of ratios in our roster development which is sooften overlooked but so important in accurate reproductionfor operations .

While Roy's list is based on the late 40s, similarcharts may be prepared for your favorite time period . Forthe historian, such lists from each major era would be achallenge to develop as well as a service to modelers . Anumber of the membership are currently involved in "carspotting" and have very detailed records . With data such asthis, we are able to determine car types and ratios,understand car movements, and simulate correct prototypeoperations should we choose to apply these lessons to ourmodel railroad .

HOPPER

Chessie itemof the month

GONDOLAC-OUTSIDE BRACED 37000-37999

I I J--A__

FREIGHT CAR ROSTER

FLATWELL _HOLE 80950-80959

40 F1 FIAT

80000-8079742 11 FIAT

80505 80399

50 FT FLAT 50TON 80400-80474

50 FT FLAT " " 80475-8057454 FT FLAT " " 80575-8072456 FT FLAT 70T011 80900-809241

BOX

142 FT 2-DR-14'

6250-6399IMETAL SIDE-DREADNAUGHT-ENDS42 FT 2-DR-14 AUTO 6400-6499METAL SIDE-DREADNAUGHT-ENDS42 FT 2-DR-12 AUTO 6500-6549METAL SIDE-DREADNAUGHT-ENDS42 FT 2 DR-12 AUTO 6600-6699METAL-SIDE DREADNAUGHT-ENDS52 FT 2-DR-12 AUTO 6700-4799METAL-SIDE DREADNAUGHT-ENDS52 FT 2-DR-12 AUTO 6800-6899METAL-SIDE DREADNAUGHT-ENDS42 FT 2-DR-12 AUTO 9500-9999METAL-SIDE DREADNAUGHT-ENDS42 FT 2-[)R=101 AUTO ' 12000-MET-SIDE DREADNAUGHT

1216842-FT 2-PR-10_AUTO .

.1,3558-MET-SIDE DREADNAUGHY _ "'138'2842 FT 2-DR-10 AUTO

82000-WOOD-SIDE MET-DREADNHT 83999

38 FT i-DR-5'6

86500-WOOD-SIDE MET-DREADNHT 8699942 FT 1-DR-6

87000-WOOS-SIDE MET-DREADNHT 87499

L-T-L BOX CAR 42FT

12392 STE_E_L-SHEATHED BLUE-YELLOW

42 FT I-DR-CRECO-6'5400-5499 METAL-SIDE DECO-END DI_AMOND-

42 FT I-DR-CAMEL 4000-5399METAL-.SIDE DREADNAUGHT-ENDS

GUARD RAILS

Winding, country roads in C&O country are edged by guardrails . In the steam era they were built of wooden posts andwire cable . Later, stamped metal rail came into use .

Both square and round wood or plastic stock may be usedas posts . Cut an angle at the top and drill two holes witha #76 bit . Insert small gauge wire or string to simulatecable .

Plastruct I-beam and HO race car guard rail or 1/24scale vac-u-formed rail for 0 scale may be used for the moremodern applications .

Old barriers were white poles with black preservative atthe base . Cables are a rust brown . Modern paint is silver,white, oxide, or light green .

15

OFFSET SIDES NOTCHED END .52000-52999, 47000-48989OFFSET SIDES 132500-135499RADIAL ARCH 50000-51999OFFSET SIDES 119750-120249DREADNAUGHT-ARCH 124000-

132499OFFSET SIDES 120250-123999PEAKED ANGULAR118000-119749OFFSET SIDES .FLAT ENDS

49000-4999956000-59999

COMPOSITE WOOD 53000-55999OUTSIDE BRACED 19000-19299OUTSIDE BRACED 62000-63999OUTSIDE BRACED 64000-65508OUTSIDE BRACED 110000-115499OUTSIDE BRACED 20975-20999OUTSIDE BRACED 22000-22999OUTSIDE BRACEDANGULAR PEAKED

19400-19403

MULTI-PANELOFFSET SIDES

173000-17699S"

OLD 3- BAYOUTSIDE BRACED

73000-78982

OFFS

SIDES ." . .11 .6000-117 .99100-11

NEW 3-BAYSIDES ANGLED IN

91000-9799999000-99499

NEW 3 -BAY 98000-95.999_OUTSIDES BRACED 100000-10299

OFFSET SIDES 68000-69576PEAK_CD_ANGULAR_ 71500-77999OLD 5-BAY 70000-71999

100"TON GONDOLAI00000-100999COAL OUTSIDE BRC 29000-29299FLAI-DREADNAUGHT

_C-OUTSIDE BRACED 33000-35999PEAKED ANGULAR-HORIZONTALBAPC-OUTSIDE BRACED 38000 39508FIAT IIORI7ON"iAL OAR RFINFORC

FLAT-HORIZONTAL BAR REINFORCt 42 FT 1-DR-6 800-1505C-OUTSIDE BRACED 40000-439991

WOOD_"DES C ENDS-OUTSIDE BR

PEAKED ANGULAR-DREADNAUGHTC-OUTSIDE BRACED 44000-44999RADIAL ARCH-DREADNAUGHT

42 FT 1--DR-6 2000-2799

C-OUTSIDE BRACED 45500-45505 44 FT 1-DR-6 2900-2909PEAKED ANGULAR-DREADNAUGHT ALUMINUM CONST .C-OUTSIDE BRACED 36000-36999NOTCHED ARCH-

42 FT 1-DR-6 3000-3899

C-OUTSIDE BRACED 17650-18399 42 FT 1-DR-6 7000-7649FLAT- DREADNAUGHT PERE-M.11RQ_ METAL-SIDE DREADNAUGHT-ENDSIMiLL-GONDOLA

30000-30095 42 FT 1-DR-6 -CRECO 8000-9499LOW SIDE-DROP ENDS-DREADNAUG' METAL SIDE DREADNAUGHT-ENDSMILL-GONDOLA

31000-31149 42 FT 1-DR-6

10000-11999LOW SIDE-DROP ENDS-DREADNAUG METAL SIDEMILL-GONDOLA

31150-31549 42 FT 1-DR-6'6,

12392-13135LOW SIDE-DROP ENDS-DREADNAUG METAL SIDE DREADNAUGHT-ENDS