#C&O Railroad

[brandonraykirk]

Chessie System in Southern West Virginia

Chessie System in Southern #WV #Appalachia #history #CSX #C&O #railroad

This model train engine is one of many made by my great-uncle J.M. “Jim” Mullins, Jr. (born 1932) of Madison, Boone County, WV. He made this particular model for his sister, Iona Mae (Mullins) Richardson of Holden, Logan County. Jim and Mae, the children of a C&O section foreman in Ferrellsburg, Lincoln County, were employees of the C&O and Chessie.

[trainphilos]

Going stir crazy...

Going stir crazy…

So here we are about seven months into this Covid mess. There seems to be no end in sight. The whole thing is rather depressing. No eating out, no theater and no concerts at Strathmore to enjoy. All my favorite model train shows have been cancelled. My birthday trip in April to Tallinn (Estonia) was cancelled. We had also planned to go to Budapest and Krakow in October, which, of course, is not…

[merlinjr01]

I Grew Up on a Farm in Virginia

I Grew Up on a Farm in Virginia

Monday’s Rewind

Foreword – This is the first in a series of posts that I originally posted in early 2014. These are stories about my growing up in Virginia on a farm. It will cover roughly 20 years–maybe more. I originally prepared this series for my daughters Kym, Christina, and Larissa and my grandchildren, Haleigh and Owen. However, over the years, I have told many of these stories to my…

[adirondackjoe]

History Past: City of Midland #41

History Past: City of Midland #41

SS City of Midland 41 was a railroad serving the ports of Ludington, MI, Milwaukee, WI, Manitowoc, W, and Kewaunee, WI, for the Pere Marquette Railway and its successor, the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway from 1941 until 1988. The ferry was named after the city of Midland, MI. The vessel was built by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company in 1940 at a cost of $1.75 million. One of the last coal-burning car…

[smartagepl]

W połowie lat 20-tych linie kolejowe Chesapeake & Ohio Railway zaczęły wprowadzać do eksploatacji nowe parowozy w układzie 4-6-2 Pacific. Stały się one szybko podstawą floty przewoźnika. Pod koniec lat 40-tych część z nich przebudowano do wersji L-1 4-6-4 Hudson i dodatkowo obudowano opływową otuliną. Jedyną zachowaną lokomotywą tego typu jest C&O No. 490.

W 1926 roku linie Chesapeake & Ohio Railway wprowadziły do eksploatacji 5 parowozów  F-19 4-6-2 Pacific, przeznaczonych do obsługi najważniejszych tras pasażerskich.Lokomotywy miały masę całkowitą (razem z tendrem) wynoszącą 307 ton. Pod koniec lat 30-tych, kiedy do eksploatacji zaczęły wchodzić nowsze parowozy, zaczęto je jednak wycofywać na poboczne trasy. Chociaż w tych latach na torach królowały parowozy, na horyzoncie, zwłaszcza w USA pojawiła się potężna konkurencja – lokomotywy z silnikami diesla.

C&O No. 490

W drugiej połowie lat 40-tych zaczęły one stopniowo wypierać parowozy z tras. Ich największą zaletą była wysoka prędkość, łatwość obsługi i co istotne, znacznie niższe koszty eksploatacji. Dzięki temu możliwe było nawiązanie rywalizacji z coraz popularniejszym w tym czasie transportem lotniczym i samochodowym. Mimo to Chesapeake & Ohio Railway nie miało zamiaru wycofywać się z eksploatacji sprawdzonych parowozów.

Ze względu na ich dobrą i wytrzymałą konstrukcję, w 1946 roku podjęto decyzję o przebudowie 5 lokomotyw typu F-19 4-6-2 Pacific. Wydłużono je, zmieniając układ na 4-6-4 i dodatkowo obudowano opływową otuliną. Tak przebudowane parowozy miały służyć do obsługi nowego, luksusowego pociągu – Chessie, kursującego na trasach Washington – Cincinnati. Lokomotywy po przebudowie miały masę około 330 ton. Wyróżniała je nie tylko aerodynamiczna otulina, ale również srebrno-żółty kolor, nietypowy jak na parowozy.

C&O No. 490

Niestety plany uruchomienia nowego pociągu zostały zawieszone z powodu nieopłacalności przedsięwzięcia. Przebudowane parowozy wysłano więc na normalne trasy, na których kursowały do 1953 roku. Z 5 zbudowanych parowozów 4 zezłomowano. Przetrwał tylko No. 490 zbudowany w 1926 roku i przebudowany w 1947 roku. Po wycofaniu z eksploatacji do 1968 roku lokomotywa była przechowywana w Huntington Roundhouse. Następnie przeniesiono ją do Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum. Po renowacji parowóz został włączony do kolekcji muzeum, w której pozostanie do dnia dzisiejszego – kilka zdjęć lokomotywy z bliska można znaleźć na tej stronie: Hudson C&O No, 490.

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C&O No. 490 (fot. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum)

C&O No. 490 (fot. Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum)

Wyjątkowa lokomotywa C&O No. 490 W połowie lat 20-tych linie kolejowe Chesapeake & Ohio Railway zaczęły wprowadzać do eksploatacji nowe parowozy w układzie 4-6-2 Pacific.

[ijustwant2ride]

Location – Dam #5

Mile Mark – 106.6

Historical Comment – Originally constructed of timber in 1835, Dam No. 5 was an important source of hydro power for millworks on the river. As soon as the dam was built, Edward Colston paid $100 a year for water rights and began the area’s long history of milling and hydro-electricity.

Unfortunately, the dam’s timber construction was no match for the many floods that swelled the Potomac River. The canal company decided a masonry dam would be stronger, but completion of the new 700-foot “high rock” dam was delayed by more floods and the Civil War. In fact, the dam was a target for destruction on several occasions but was successfully defended by local Union militia each time. [Taken from the C&O Trust website.]

Ride to the Site – Very easy. Not far off of I-70 access to Dam #5 is an easy ride.

Amenities – There is a picnic area but no rest rooms.

Road Conditions (from main road) – This lock is directly off the main road.

Railway Situation – no railroad tracks or crossing.

Parking Lot Condition – Gravel with about 10 parking spots. Pick your spot as a few have a drainage slope.

Main Attraction – The Dam, fishing and the view.

My Thoughts – As you exit the road you go down a shot but somewhat steep hill (gravel).

On the road to Dam #5

Hydro-electric plant on the other side

C&O Canal: Dam #5 Location – Dam #5 Mile Mark – 106.6 Historical Comment – Originally constructed of timber in 1835, Dam No.

[brandonraykirk]

Ethel, Logan County, WV (2020)

#Ethel #LoganCounty #WV (2020) #Appalachia #history #photos #BlairMountain #BattleofBlairMountain #coal #MineWars

In the 1890s, land speculators James L. Caldwell, a banker from Huntington, C.W. Campbell, an attorney from Huntington, and John Q. Dickinson, a banker from Charleston, acquired many acres of land on Dingess Run and Rum Creek. The trio procured some of Logan County’s finest coal lands with six accessible seams of coal. They formed the Dingess-Rum Coal Company in June of 1903 to administer their…

[brandonraykirk]

Logan Memorial Park in McConnell, WV (1928, 2020)

Logan Memorial Park in McConnell, WV (1928, 2020) #Appalachia #cemeteries #McConnell #WV #history #Appalachianhistory

Logan Memorial Park was a “perpetual care” cemetery established in the late 1920s in McConnell, Logan County, WV. The cemetery contains the final remains of many noteworthy Loganites, including Mamie Thurman, whose 1932 murder continues to tantalize regional residents. The Logan Banner reported on the cemetery’s beginnings on September 7, 1928:

Work Rapidly In Developing Burial Park

With Brush…

[brandonraykirk]

#PeachCreek #YMCA is Thriving (1928) #Appalachia #WV #LoganCounty #history #photos

[brandonraykirk]

Original map for #Ferrellsburg in #LincolnCounty #WV (1921) #Appalachia #history #GuyandotteRiver #CSX

[brandonraykirk]

Big Creek News 04.28.1922

Community news for #BigCreek in #LoganCounty #WV (1922) #Appalachia #history #genealogy

A correspondent named “Phil” from Big Creek in Logan County, West Virginia, offered the following news, which the Logan Banner printed on April 28, 1922:

Earl McComas, son of Mr. and Mrs. H.B. McComas, died last week of pneumonia.

Dr. Whitehall who has been visiting friends and relatives in South Bend, Ind., for the past week or ten days has returned.

Mr. P.M. Toney has been attending business…

[brandonraykirk]

Early Schools of Logan County, WV (1916)

Early Schools of Logan County, WV (1916) #Appalachia #history #schools #education #LoganCounty #WV #Logan

From the Logan Democrat of Logan, WV, in a story titled “Schools and School Houses of Logan” and dated September 14, 1916, comes this bit of history about early education in Logan County, courtesy of G.T. Swain:

The hardest proposition encountered by the author in the preparation of this book was securing the following information relative to the early schools of Logan. We interviewed numbers of…

[brandonraykirk]

Harts Area Deed Index (1887-1910)

Harts Area Deed Index (1887-1910) #HartsCreek #BigUglyCreek #FourteenMileCreek #LincolnCounty #WV #Appalachia #history #genealogy

The following deed index is based on Deed Book 60 at the Lincoln County Clerk’s Office in Hamlin, WV, and relates to residents of the Harts Creek community. Most notations reflect Harts Creek citizens engaged in local land transactions; some reflect Harts Creek citizens engaged in land transactions outside of the community. These notes are meant to serve as a reference to Deed Book 60.…

[brandonraykirk]

In Search of Ed Haley 296

#JohnHartford visits harmonica master #JohnLozier of #Portsmouth. #Appalachia #history #amwriting #music

A little later, I met John Lozier at Portsmouth. He was a real ball of energy. It was hard to believe that he was in his late eighties. I just sat back and listened to him talk about Ed.

“The first time I ever saw Ed Haley he was sitting on the street in a little old stool of a thing — him and his wife — had a little boy with him. They always kept a little boy with them — one of the kids that…

[brandonraykirk]

Harts News 04.03.1925

Community news for #Harts in #LincolnCounty #WV (1925) #Appalachia #history #genealogy

An unnamed correspondent from Harts in Lincoln County, West Virginia, offered the following news, which the Logan Banner printed on April 3, 1925:

Charles Brumfield of Harts has been transacting business in Ironton, Ohio, the past week.

Mrs. Toney Johnson, of Ashland, Ky., has been visiting her mother, Mrs. Chas. Brumfield Harts.

Herbert Adkins of Harts is prospecting business in Huntington.

Miss…

[brandonraykirk]

Big Creek News 08.31.1923

Community news for #BigCreek in #LoganCounty #WV (1923) #Appalachia #history #genealogy

An correspondent named “Peggy” from Big Creek in Logan County, West Virginia, offered the following items, which the Logan Banner printed on August 31, 1923:

Miss Pauline Mobley has just returned home for a short visit with her mother. She has been attending the College of Beauty Culture in Detroit. She will return to take up her studies sometime this month. She was a guest of her sister in Logan…