A Short Road Trip To The Mountains And Small Towns Of West Virginia; A Post For You Railfans!

A westbound CSX train with empty hopper cars is powering its way through White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.  It is most likely returning from Newport News, Virginia where the coal was unloaded for overseas shipment.  It was raining at the time and you can see the rain if you look closely at the image.    White Sulphur Springs is the home to the famous Greenbrier Resort.  Also, the Amtrak Cardinal stops here three days per week on its way between Chicago and NYC. I’ve ridden the Cardinal and the scenery is well worth the ride. (click to enlarge)
All images made with a Fujifilm X-T5 and the 16-55mm f/2.8 lens

This is the third post highlighting my recent road trip to the mountains and small towns of West Virginia.  In the first post, found here, I wrote about the small towns and highlighted a hardware store in Ronceverte founded in 1904.  It is largely unchanged and the employees were as friendly, nice and accommodating as could be.  They allowed us free reign to photograph anywhere inside the store.

In the second post, found here, I wrote about the beauty of nature in the West Virginia mountains and specifically about two, what I call temperate rainforests, Beartown State Park and Cranberry Glades Botanical Area.  Both have a plethora of photographic opportunities for the nature photographer.  The intense greens remind me of the Pacific Northwest.

Not long after the hopper train, above, roared through a slow moving coal drag worked its way
eastbound.  The red building was the old passenger station.  Now it is a year-round Christmas shop.
 (click to enlarge)

Railroads have been the life blood for much of West Virginia.  Freight trains and passenger trains brought people, goods and services to towns and settlements along the rivers and in the valleys of the state.  In most of the towns I visited, rails were present and was a necessary piece of the landscape to ensure a town's survival.

West Virginia had and still has some very nice railroad stations.  Many are still used for passenger travel as Amtrak stops in several West Virginia cities and towns.  Some of the stations, although still well kept and restored, have been repurposed for other uses such as the Marlinton station, which now houses a co-op of artists.  In any case, I applaud the powers-that-be in the localities of West Virginia for not allowing a piece of their history to be neglected and/or razed.

Here are a few of the railroad related images I made during my short time in West Virginia.  It's been a while since I've posted any railroad related images, so this is just for you railfans.

This quaint station in Alderson, WV is primarily a visitor's center now.  However, Amtrak stops
here three times a week as well but passengers actually embark from a small building off to
the left of this image.  (click to enlarge)

A view of the Alderson station from the main street.  (click to enlarge)

In Marlinton, WV, the old railroad station now houses an artists' co-op.  However, the co-op
keeps it looking good.  I love the bent semaphore!   I think it gives it character as well as elicit questions for a good story to be told.  (click to enlarge)

Marlinton also had three old rail cars on a piece of the old abandoned track.  This wooden red caboose is becoming a real rarity.  Beyond the yellow boxcar is an old flatcar with a wooden deck.  (click to enlarge)

The brake wheel and part of the old wooden deck from the flatcar.   (click to enlarge)

Hinton, WV still has quite a railroad station.  The Amtrak Cardinal stops here three times a week
as well.   (click to enlarge)

 

The old "Waiting Room" sign is still in existence, albeit with a bit of wear.   (click to enlarge)

Ronceverte has a rather large station that is currently being used by the CSX Railroad.  I am
pleased the old canopy is still inexistence as it gives the place character.  You can see the old
concrete coaling tower in the background.  For you non-railfans, the tower stored coal and a 
steam locomotive would pull up under it and gravity would reload the tender full of fuel.
 (click to enlarge)

A closer view of the old coaling tower.  Many of these have been demolished and only a few
are left to record for historical purposes.   (click to enlarge)

The front of the Ronceverte railroad station.  Amtrak does not stop here, by the way.

And...as a bonus for you diehard steam locomotive fans, below is a 'camera scan' of a slide of the Nickel Plate #765 in Hinton, West Virginia I made in 1985.  I edited this the best I could as my exposure was a bit off, the bald white sky in the background was bright and the running gear very dark, making for a low color, high contrast slide.  Challenging.

Back in the 1980s there were many rail excursions run through the valleys and along the rivers of West Virginia.  One excursion, The New River Train, ran for a few summers from Huntington to Hinton and return.  To the best of my recollection, I made this image in Hinton in 1985.   (click to enlarge)

Just a note.  My traveling companion, good friend and fellow photographer (www.twolanetouring.com) never shot railroad photos before.  His railroad images turned out to be fine photographs.  I'll convert him to a rail photographer yet!  Lol

Join me over at my website, https://www.dennismook.com.  

Thanks for looking. Enjoy!  

Dennis A. Mook 

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