Length of locomotive on turntable.

[J3a-614]

Glad everyone is getting back together again, or at least it seems that way. . .:-)

Have to admit we still have a little confusion on C&O locations, though.  The base of operations for that 50-mile pusher district was Hinton, W.Va.  As Robert noted, such a place would be a real hot spot, especially with all the engine changes that would be going on as "level land" passenger engines such as 4-6-2s and 4-6-4s were exchanged for 4-8-2s, 2-8-4s, and 4-8-4s, while freight trains that came in with a 2-8-2 or 2-8-4 (manifests) or a 2-8-8-2 or 2-6-6-6 (coal trains) went up the hill with a fresh Simon (C&O crews' nickname for the H-7 2-8-8-2, as in "Simple Simon" [simple expansion], and also a reference to Simon Peter of the Bible, whose name meant "Strength") or Allegheny (2-6-6-6, H-8) up front and a sister pushing ahead of the caboose at the rear.  Technically, that route didn't need pushers for the whole distance, but it did need them between Hinton and Big Bend Tunnel (site of John Henry's battle with the steam drill in the 1870s), and again from Ronceverte to Alleghany.  Rather than have two pusher stations on a short 80-mile division, the road just ran pushers up the whole 50-mile climb.  Normal speed was supposed to be 35 mph with a coal train, but some engineers with Alleghenys would go a good deal faster than that, particularly around Alderson, W.Va. (site of the West Virginia and Federal Women's Penitentiary, which for a while had a notable guest named Martha Stewart).  Supposedly the Allegheny crews would have their coal trains going so fast through Alderson that the cars would be rocking badly and spilling coal over the sides, some of which wound up on the main street where it crossed the railroad just east of the classic wooden station that's still there.

http://hinton.cohs.org/index.html

Handley is the next division point west of Hinton, and doesn't have its own site like Hinton does as far as I know, but it was still a hot spot in its own right as an assembly yard for several branch lines in the area  These branches were mostly served by 2-6-6-2s, which the C&O used about the way other roads used 2-8-0s.  It wasn't as wasteful as some would think, given the heavy tonnages off some of these coal branches, and given the usefulness of the C&O's smaller Mallets, which had the overall size and tractive effort of a 2-8-4, but a much shorter rigid wheelbase thanks to low drivers and articulation, an overall smaller profile, and peak power at about 25 mph, which allowed them to run and run well in places other locomotives couldn't go in their search for coal up the hollows.

Between Handley and Hinton was the upper level of the Kanawha River, and beyond Gauley Bridge, the New River Gorge, called the Grand Canyon of the East.  Between Hawks Nest and Sewell, the gorge was so narrow and its sides so steep the railroad had to split its double-tracked main line, the eastbound track going up the south bank of the river, and the westbound line coming down the north bank.  The town of Thurmond, W.Va. was another branch hub serving five lines, with an engine terminal, freight, and passenger stations all squeezed into a narrow strip between the town (which was built on the hillside above the tracks and coming right down to them) and the river; notable structures including a long, long enginehouse for more 2-6-6-2s (and at one time, at least one Shay), and a skinny, two-story station had the standard architectural details but otherwise looked like nothing else you would see on this road or any other.  Other stations or yard offices featured interlocking towers growing out of their roofs, and in pre-CTC days, there were plenty of regular interlocking towers, too.  

There were several interesting interchanges there, too.  They included the Virginia Railway at Deepwater, W.Va. (which in turn joined, of all things, the New York Central on the other side of the Kanawha River for a trackage rights operation to Charleston), a direct interchange with the NYC (former Kanawha & Michigan) at Gauley Bridge, and the narrow-gauge, Shay-powered Mann's Creek Railroad at Sewell.

There was also, on the north bank of the Kanawha at Deepwater, a private industrial railroad near the NYC-VGN interchange at a place called Alloy.  This plant refined silicon rock, purifying it with power from the hydroelectric plants at Kanawha Falls and at Hawks Nest for use in steel making.  Power for this industrial line was at least one Baldwin 0-6-0T in steam, and a red GE 70-tonner when I saw it in the 1970s.  

And if you go back far enough and go west to the Charleston area, there were interurbans running between Charleston and St. Albans until 1941, and trolleys sharing a B&O bridge across the Kanawha that ran from Charleston to South Charleston. . .fireless steam engines in the chemical plants in South Charleston, owned by the C&O and lettered for it. . .several shortlines in the area, including the Kelly's Creek & Northwestern, the Kelly's Creek Railroad, and the Winnifrede Railroad. . .

I guess it shows I'm a C&O fan, with plenty of interest in the VGN and the former K&M, later the NYC!  

[rogertra]

I am willing to forgive and forget this rather unpleasant exchange.  Hopefully we can all get along better in future and I include Donald in this statement.

[rogertra]

J3a-614.

Thanks for the great write up.

I believe Hinton has been suggested in the model press and I think I recall a track plan or a model railroad based on that location.

Handley also seems like a great base for a model railroad.  Too bad I've so much invested in my GER.

[jbrock27]

Kumbaya baby! Kumbaya!

[Bucksco]

This thread is obviously no longer about locomotives and turntables..... Let's all play nice.