Nostalgia & History > Big Steam in West Virginia

Early morning, Sunday, May 23, 1971, sees former Reading T-1 No. 2102 in the Chesapeake and Ohio main line yard in Ronceverte, W.V.  Heading a long train in the C&O's classic tri-color livery, the 2102 is being readied to head up the railroad's scenic and remote Greenbrier Subdivision on the first run of new scheduled excursion service planned for the line.

The train ran the entire length of the line that day, returning late that afternoon from its opposite terminal of Durbin, W.V., the interchange point with the Western Maryland Railway.

The ambitious excursion program only lasted a few years, and was soon relegated to C&O diesels for motive power.  Almost all of the Greenbrier line was abandoned in 1978 and much of it is today a hiking and biking trail.  

Two short segments at the north end of the line are in service and still see steam locomotives operated by the Cass Scenic Railway and the Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad.

Art House
Gettysburg, Pa.

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