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Shortly after the Civil War, railroads helped West Virginia grow rapidly. They boosted the coal industry and creating big industrial areas, especially in the Kanawha Valley and Northern Panhandle. They connected people to the rest of the country with faster mail, news, and travel. Railroads also made it easier and cheaper to move materials and products. And new towns sprang up seemingly overnight where the railroad line went. This was one of the most important changes for the state's economy in the late 1800s.
Thousands of railroad workers helped clear paths, build tunnels, and lay track through treacherous terrain. It was a difficult and dangerous job. Likely thousands of workers lost their lives, many recently freed enslaved men and new immigrants to ...
The Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) Railroad played a big role in creating West Virginia. The region's only major railroad before the Civil War, it helped towns grow, gave people jobs, and supported the Union during the War, which helped West Virgi...
In 1851, a new railroad called the Northwestern Virginia Railroad was approved to connect the B&O Railroad with Parkersburg. The B&O and the city of Baltimore funded most of the project. The line started near Grafton and was 104 miles long...
The Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Railway helped open southern West Virginia's coalfields by allowing operators to get to the coal and to get the coal to market. It led to the growth of towns like Huntington, Hinton, and Thurmond. Many West Virg...
The Greenbrier Division was a branch of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway that ran through Greenbrier and Pocahontas counties. Built between 1899 and 1905, it mainly hauled timber, not coal. It connected towns like Cass, Durbin, and Winterburn and...
The Norfolk & Western Railway (N&W) played a big role in opening southwestern West Virginia’s coalfields. It was formed in 1881 and soon built tracks to reach coal-rich areas, especially around Bluefield. In 1883, the first load of Pocahon...
In the early 1900s, the New York Central (NYC) was one of the biggest rail systems in the U.S. It entered West Virginia at Point Pleasant and ran through Charleston, where it had a station near today’s Capitol Market. Its main yard was in Dickinso...
The Virginian Railway, founded in 1907, quickly became a major competitor to the Chesapeake & Ohio and Norfolk & Western railroads in transporting coal from southern West Virginia. It helped develop the Winding Gulf Coalfield, known for it...
The Western Maryland Railway was chartered in 1852 and became an important railroad in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle, carrying coal, lumber, and other natural resources. It connected to towns like Hagerstown and eventually reached the Chesapea...
Short-line railroads were small railroads built to serve towns, coal mines, or industries that big railroads didn’t reach. They often felt more like part of the community than big companies. Some were built with narrow tracks to save money but wer...
The West Virginia Central & Pittsburg Railway started in 1866 and was led by U.S. Senator and businessman Henry Gassaway Davis. His goal was to connect coal and timber resources in the mountains to world markets.Construction began in 1880 from...
The Coal & Coke Railway was started in 1902 by former U.S. Senator Henry Gassaway Davis to connect Charleston with Elkins and help move coal from his land in central West Virginia. Davis bought and combined smaller railroads and built 107 new ...
The Buffalo Creek & Gauley Railroad was built in 1904 to haul coal from Widen to Dundon in Clay County, where it connected to a larger railroad. It was owned by the Elk River Coal & Lumber Company, which also ran a sawmill and logging rail...
In the late 1800s, the Fairmont, Morgantown & Pittsburgh Railroad connected Fairmont to Connellsville, Pennsylvania. Around the same time, local businessmen started the Morgantown & Kingwood (M&K) Railroad to reach coal mines, but they...
The Shay locomotive was a key engine used in West Virginia’s logging railroads. It was designed to handle steep, rough tracks in the mountains, with a special gear-driven system that made it powerful but slow. Between 1882 and 1927, about 219 Shay...