Passenger Trains > Chasing the 50th Annual New River Train Excursion

For the first time all year, I had a full weekend off, so I spent the first couple of days relaxing and running a few errands, then spent a beautiful Sunday chasing the 50th running of the New River Train from Huntington to Hinton, WV and back.  The warm summer and early fall meant the colors are still far from peak, but I couldn't resist spending a day in the awe inspiring New River Gorge.  The photos are a mix between ground shots with a Canon EOS 6D and drone shots with the Autel X-Star Premium.

#1: The 30-car consist idles on the Huntington Yard Running Track as the last few passengers are loaded on the train & the crew make their final preparations for the 147 mile long journey to Hinton, West Virginia.  This year's train features two of Amtrak's Heritage Units, Phase III P40DC #822 and Phase I P42DC #156, as well as Phase V #174, six Amtrak Horizon coaches and 24 private coach, business, cafe, and dome cars.

#2: With an on-time departure from Huntington at 08:30, train P938-16 rolls off of the Running Track at 29th Street and crosses the Guyandotte River Bridge.  In a few seconds, the entire consist will be on the mainline & the train will begin accelerating to track speed, which averages between 50 and 79 miles per hour on the Kanawha Subdivision to Montgomery.

#3: Having crossed onto track 2 some point earlier, the New River Train slows for their station stop at St. Albans, where several coach passengers & tour groups will board with the help of volunteers as well as the St. Albans Fire Department.  A man and his children (or possibly grandchildren) wave to the engineer as the headend passes the restored St. Albans passenger depot, now owned by the City of St. Albans.

More pictures to follow..

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#4: Just a few more cars to go, and the passengers at St. Albans can board the train at the crossing at 5th Street.  Members of the National Park Service will also board here for the trip up & back.  It won't be long before the train is on the move again, and it's probably a good thing as the dispatcher has held several trains to allow the New River Train to maintain it's tight schedule.

#5: The train is on the move again & is now passing onto the New River Subdivision in the town of Montgomery.  Here, the train must maintain a 30 mile per hour speed per city ordinance.  East of town, the train will pick speed back up for the rest of the journey to Hinton.  Speeds will average between 40 and 65 miles per hour, which is perfect for the passengers to enjoy the breathtaking scenery of the Gorge, it's numerous waterfalls, artifacts of past coal & coke industries, or just to enjoy the trip east.

#6: Well, traffic on Midland Trail did not allow me to catch up with the train until it arrived at Hinton Station around 12:30PM.  (Now I see why people take the train in this part of the state..) The thousand or so passengers have deboarded & are enjoying their stay in Hinton for the annual Railroad Days, set on the weekends of the NRT Excursions.  Meanwhile, members of the Collis P. Huntington Railroad Historical Society as well as employees of CSX and Amtrak watch as the power runs around to couple to the rear car, the Georgia Railroad "Dearing" for the trip back west.

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#7/#8: With the passengers back on board, the train departs Hinton at 4PM and heads west back towards St. Albans & Huntington.  Not long after leaving, the train passes through Prince, West Virginia, home to the 1946-built Chesapeake & Ohio Prince passenger depot, an Art Deco style station serving the area surrounding nearby Beckley, West Virginia.  The depot is currently undergoing a complete restoration & modernization to comply with ADA standards & improve performance by the staff of Amtrak.  At right is the yard lead for Quinnimont Yard, which also serves as a connection to the still active Piney Creek Subdivision to serve coal mines in Eccles and Sophia, WV.

#9: The entire 30 car/3 locomotive consist is strung through downtown Montgomery once again, as the passengers in the rear of the train finish their on-board dinner as the train rolls along at a brisk 30 miles per hour.  Once the last trays are put up, the train will throttle up to track speed for the rest of the journey to St. Albans and back home to Huntington.

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#10: The last drone shot for the evening as P938-16 passes a large American flag at the west end of the town of Montgomery.  The warm glow of sunlight radiates on the hills in the background as the sun passes below the horizon, shading in the Kanawha Valley for the evening.

#11: The New River Train crawls along for their station stop at St. Albans.  A couple of former C&O cargo carts sit between the depot and museum, waiting to be restored to operating condition.

#12: I just had to include this shot, being a volunteer firefighter myself.  Members of the St. Albans Fire Department assist with deboarding the passengers getting off at St. Albans, using Truck 311, a 75' American LaFrance ladder truck, to shut down 5th Street while the passengers are deboarding, as well as using the scene lights mounted on the truck for improved visibility.

At this point, I was tired from 13 hours on the twisting roads of West Virginia, and was ready to turn in for the night.  I got back to Huntington shortly before the train arrived, met up with some friends who had volunteered on this year's train and grabbed a bite to eat, & headed home.  The train will still be there all week, as volunteers will clean the train up, re-stock the dining cars, concession cars, and perform other necessary duties before the second set of trips this coming weekend.

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Terrific shots, especially the one at Prince.  But, what about those 24 private cars on the train?  I'm sure plenty of folks besides myself would enjoy pictures of them as well.  Post em if you took em.   BSB

Took the CARDINAL  to Hinton to observe this activity. NOT disappointed. Great people, scenery, train!!  Hope the  coming  weekend has weather nearly as good. 1200 people off the train in a  town of 2900!!!

Fantastic images!

The Prince platform shot is tops!

First rate photos, from both air and ground.

Rich



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/18/16 07:40 by PasadenaSub.

Love that shot from Prince - and the aerial flag shot, also - very nice!

/Mitch

Thanks, great shots of one of my favorite railroad areas.

Great shots and chase!