Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
Re Enobiko's comments on the Wheeling WV area. I grew up a few miles north of Wheeling (Follansbee) and am very familiar with the area. (My wife is from Wheeling) The W&LE entered Wheeling across a double track bridge on which only one track was laid at the north end of Wheeling (before they annexed Warwood) that was owned by Wheeling Terminal Railway. The line went through a tunnel after crossing the Ohio to feed the steel industry in Wheeling. I can remember a freight office in downtown Wheeling with a large sign reading "Norfolk and Western". Sadly all is now gone. There has not been a train over the bridge since the early sixties and the bridge was removed about 10 years ago. I have a picture in my office of the bridge being dynamited with the end of one span in the water. This is a sad commentary on an area with loads of rail history. We all learned (those of us who lived in West Virginia and took state history) about the B&O reaching Wheeling from Grafton. in the 1850's. Today all is gone. The beautiful B&O station in Wheeling has its elevated track platform removed and is now used for West Virginia Northern College. Saw many a B&O steam engine with a Vanderbilt tender stopped in the station. The reminants of the WV section of the W&LE is operated by CSX to serve the remaining steel industry. The B&O lines from Grafton, Washington PA, and Ohio points are abandoned with Wheeling' sole rail connection being a stub line up the Ohio from Parkersburg. Even the mighty PRR line from Weirton to Wheeling has been abandoned south of Wellsburg. My picture of the dynamiting of the WTRR bridge also shows the abandoned PRR right of way littered with abandoned autos.The tunnel at the end of the WTRR bridge is still intact, however a cave in has occurred. As we know the rust belt of the country is dying and along with it the rails. The PRR double track mainline from Pittsburgh to St. Lewis has been single tracked most of the way and from Mingo Junction to Columbus has been sold to short line operator Columbus & Ohio River. Guess I was born about 50 years too late.
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag