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 ran out of money.

Senator and businessman Stephen B. Elkins took over and finished the M&K Railroad in 1907. It served about 15 coal mines and acted as a secondary route between Morgantown and the B&O main line.

The B&O leased the M&K in 1920 and fully absorbed it in 1922. It later became known as the M&K Branch. Parts of the line were shut down in the 1970s, and the last coal shipments ended in 2000.