I am interested in information about be logging railroad industry in West Virginia. I am currently constructing a layout with Norfolk and Western as my prototype. It is the Pocahontas division in the fall of 1957. I am thinking of freelancing a logging railroad to connect with the Norfolk and Western. But instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, I would like some information about the prototypes that existed in that era and earlier.
Craig North Carolina
How about starting with this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Virginia-Logging-Railroads-William-Warden/dp/1883089034
Have you already entered the search phrase " logging railroads of west virginia"? That's how I found the book.
Ed
Thanks, Ed
Oh, my. There is a wealth of information available.
For video, I recommend the DVD "Shays, Lumbering And More", 77 minutes from JMJ Productions.
For books, a listing would minimally include:
Tumult On The Mountains by Roy B. Clarkson. McClain Printing, 1964
Logging Railroads of the Blue Ridge and Smokey Mountains, Vol. 1 by Thomas Fetters. There are two volumes in the series, but Vol. 2 focuses on North Cackalackie. Timber Times, 2007
West Virginia Narrow Gauge, Mann's Creek Railway by Ron Lane and Ted Schnepf. TLC Publishing, 1999
Trackside In Search of Virginia & West Virginia Steam by Wm. G. McClure, III. Morning Sun, 2012
The Elk River Coal & Lumber Co. by R. Brooks Stover. Published by author, 2010. This is the same fellow who's S-scale layout based on the Buffalo Creek & Gauley has been covered in the model RR press.
West Virginia Logging Railroads by William E. Warden. TLC Publishing, 1993
Buffalo Creek & Gauley RR In Color by Bob Withers & R. Brooks Stover. Morning Sun, 2011
And don't forget that the N&W also owned and operated its "own" 3' narrow gauge, the Big Sandy & Cumberland RR in Hurley, Virginia. Shays and Climaxes, Oh My! It could make an interesting history to project that the N&W continued narrow gauge operation for a few more years rather than widening the line...
Bill
There's still one there (sort of) http://www.cassrailroad.com don't know where you are in NC but it could be a research road trip for you.
Sean
HO Scale CSX Modeler