Where did B&O's coal traffic originate?

[2-8-8-0]

Hello folks. I have been a B&O fan for about 20 years, since i was a child in Phillippi, West Virginia (even though by that time the "real" B&O has dissapeared, under chessie orange, then CSX) and my eventual goal for my layout is modelling coal traffic, and the associated mining camps, structures, and countryside of rural W. Va. circa "sometime in the 1940s".

I can find loads of information on the branchlines, camps, and mines that C&O worked, primarily in the New River area....but surprisingly, very little of this type information on the B&O. They operated in northern W. Va., where C&O, N&W and Virginian operated in the south, and as i said, i can find loads of info on the mines, branches, etc.

Where did the huge volumes of coal that moved over the B&O's West End originate? I know some came off the M&K branch, but that cannot begin to account for the huge volume they moved. Any info would be really appreciated!

Tim

[Chris333]

I don't know the B&O, but they had a "lake branch" to Fairport Harbor on Lake Erie to get coal and ore and bring south.
http://content.bristol.lib.oh.us/farmington/railroad.htm

Probably not what you were looking for.

[asciibaron]

Where did the huge volumes of coal that moved over the B&O's West End originate? I know some came off the M&K branch, but that cannot begin to account for the huge volume they moved. Any info would be really appreciated!

http://www.coalcampusa.com/nowv/fairmont/fairmont.htm

-Steve

[2-8-8-0]

OK, EXTREMELY cool site. Thank you!

[Mark5]

Some came off the Buffalo Creek and Gauley:

http://buffalocreekandgauley.com

Not sure where it went on the B&O though.

[TrainCat2]

Sorry, I can no longer resist ...

Coal Mines!

[wm3798]

I would say that most of it originated, and still originates from the lines radiating from Grafton.  Depending on the era, recall that some of the more productive mines that were close to the B&O were actually served by remote lines of the WM, and carried over the B&O via trackage rights.  This was particularly true of the mines around Fairmont, WV and Somerset, PA.

The B&O also shipped a lot of coal out of West Virginia to Cherry Run, thence over the WM via Hagerstown to the Reading.  These movements continue to this day under CSX/NS tutelage.

Lee

[TrainCat2]

Here is a scanned image from Sand Patch by Charles S Roberts. Says everything.

[asciibaron]

he was looking for mines on the West End, aka the Mountain Sub - Cumberland to Grafton - the bulk of the mines were on other lines that fed the West End at Grafton or M&K.  i have the West End book, but no ability to scan it.

if you are at all interested in the B&O, i strongly suggest you pick up the 3 volumes from Mr. Roberts, Impossible Challenge II, East End, adn West End.


-Steve

[Bob Bufkin]

Join the B&O group on Yahoo.  I know you'll get dozens of answers to your question.

Here's an article on coal modern coal hauling that's B&O (CSX) related.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1215/is_2_207/ai_n26780432

[2-8-8-0]

I have West End in my B&O library, and it covers only the West End itself, i.e. the mainline from Grafton to Keyser. The scanned image above from SW Pennsylvania is incredible by the way, a wealth of info i never had! But West End covers only the construction and towns along the main, and next to nothing about the origin of the traffic (The M&K branch, which generated 350+ loads a day, is only mentioned, and there isnt any map of it). The West End is an incredible book, but not much help here.

I figured that the coal originated from the Fairmont-Phillippi field, but coal mines today in that region are fairly scarce, and information on the mines and branches themselves is likewise scarce. I believe the Pleasant Creek Trestle was built to accomidate such a branch (the bridge is still extant, and i believe SOME traffic still goes that way) but the Barbour-Taylor county area dosent seem to be anywhere near as well documented as, say, the New River region of C&O's country.

My original plan was to one day have a West End layout...but actual industry along there is very thin. It was a HEAVY traffic route, and in truth, is probably too big for my tastes (i marvel at people that model even larger roads, like PRR or UP-i dont know how you guys do that!) I want to model a mining region, complete with winding branchlines into out of the way places, mine runs to tipples, and most of all, all the coal towns that are rapidly dissapearing back into the WV wilderness. I may indeed switch to a C&O branch theme, such as the laurel branch, or maybe Piney Creek, etc, as not only is that the type of modelling i want to do, they actually used mallets for their mine runs (2-6-6-2s, which is fine. I dont like the Allegheny, i doubt i ever will!) where the B&O usually used connies or mikes (i just like mallets!)

Or, i may just concentrate on B&O...my B&O library is huge (72 volumes at last count-hate to have all that material be for naught). Either way, the map of SW PA shows the density of shippers that region once had, which helps explain some of the enourmous amount of coal that B&O moved. I am sure that the branches in the Grafton-Phillippi-Fairmont area were as productive, and that a map is available. It seems i will just need to keep looking, and thankfully i do enjoy the research!

As far as W.M., i thought that they brought coal from the Elkins region and moved it, via their own tracks, to Hagerstown or Cumberland-did WM have an interchange with B&O in Grafton?

Probably putting way more thought into all of this than is required, Tim

[asciibaron]

sounds like you want to model the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area - you couldn't throw a rock without hitting a breaker or tipple.  another area to consider is the old Montour RR - that thing damn near fell into a few of the mines.

the West End was built, as all of the B&O to move traffic off the river at Wheeling and to the port at Baltimore - specifically grain.  coal just happen to be an 'oh and" which then became the "thus why"

the bulk of the coal came from the lines west and north of Grafton - Fairmont, Parkersburg, from the Mon valley via Morgantown.

-Steve

[2-8-8-0]

I never even thought about Wilkes-Barre, i wasnt aware that loaders and breakers were that thick up there!

For my own sake, i would like to stay with a West Virginia prototype, though i am hard pressed to come up with good reasons why...MY childhood memories are of filthy Chessie SD-50s hauling filthy strings of gons full of scrap, the occasional coal train (likewise, filthy) and of a huge flood in 1985 that I was too young at the time to really understand the magnitude of. I suppose it wasnt all bad, however. I remember walking the B&Os tracks along Rt 250 with my grandfather near Berryburg Junction picking blackberries, and seeing a few older Geeps (memory fails me what models) still in B&O blue paint, and being amazed at the flood loader at the mine in Berryburg (I believe it was named Century?) loading coal into hoppers, from a huge pile on the other side of the road...and how I was amazed at how huge the wheels were on a train, the first time i got close to one. And yes, the biggest news was the flood, or the Phillippi covered bridge over the Tygart river withstanding the flood, just to burn down 4 years later.

Funny how some things are better in your memories, some are worse...maybe that is the allure of model railroading.

[AlkemScaleModels]

Here is a scanned image from Sand Patch by Charles S Roberts. Says everything.

Not quite everything. The map leaves off the lines south of Grafton towards Burnsville and Charleston, WV. Lots o mines that way too. The Burnsville line is still in service.