Category:Scale Drawings: Thurmond

From West Virginia Railroads - Model Railroading

Thurmond's location had destined it to become a major shipping point along the C&O mainline through the New River Gorge. From the late-1800's throught the mid-1900's, an seemingly endless strings of coal trains brought millions of tons of coal off several branch lines into the Thurmond rail yards. The 15 miles of track in the yards of Thurmond were often overflowing with coal cars.

Reportedly, three times the amount of freight moved through Thurmond than was moved through the C&O Cincinnati terminal during the era. In about 1906, the C&O Railway reported that 1/3 of all the coal being oved eastward on the railroad's mainline was coming off the C&O's Loup Creek Branch. During the 1920's and '30's, 175 men worked in Thurmond's railroad shops, and 20 local crews worked out of the Thurmond enginehouse.