Eastern Railroad Discussion > Winchester&Western before Omnitrax

From 2016-2018, I spent many Sundays visiting and providing a meal for sick and infirm family members in Williamsport, MD.
A few times while enroute, I encountered W&W's Sunday morning train that ran north from their small yard near Inwood, WV, to NS's Vardo Yard in Hagerstown, MD.
This was Pennsylvania RR trackage that was part of the Cumberland Valley RR that extended to Winchester, VA.
While the usual train was several GP's and about 2-3 dozen cars, on 7/10/2017, a consist of 7 engines caught my attention.
As the 3 GP38s,and 4 GP9s and GP10s rumbled by with the usual mix of covered hoppers, boxcars, and tank cars, I wondered what warranted the extra power.

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Several hours later, I was back at the same grade crossing on Sterling Road in time to catch the southbound train leaving Vardo yard with a cut of coal loads, about 30 in all along with the usual manifest mix.
Apparently the coal was headed for a large cement plant near Martinsburg, WV.
In October, 2019, Omnitrax bought the W&W, and the Sunday morning trains to Hagerstown were moved to the late afternoon/early evening hours.

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Nice pics from a railroad not often heard about. Only crossed paths once and that was back in May 1991 when I was heading home from a Southern Railway convention held that year in Alexandria Virginia. Found a couple of Alco's sitting at Gore. 

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bigsavage Wrote:
> Apparently the coal was headed for a large cement
> plant near Martinsburg, WV.

I would think so. I don't know of any other facility along the W&W that could consume 30 loads of coal. In the 1990s, it was Capitol Cement Corporation, which was owned by Riverton Corporation (of Front Royal, VA). Different owner now.
/Ted

Essroc was the name of the plant at that time, now ARGOS. That is where the coal was headed with certainty.

Mike Derrick

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