Morgantown & Kingwood Railroad

The Morgantown & Kingwood Railroad extended from Morgantown, WV via Masontown, Kingwood and Rowlesburg to M. & K. Junction (opposite the river, from Rowlesburg), in Preston County, for a total distance of 47.9 miles. The road was completed from Morgantown to Bretz, in September, 1903; Bretz to Kingwood in March, 1906; and Kingwood to M. & K. Junction in July, 1907. The railroad had heavy freight traffic in coal, building stone, glass sand, and lumber. Today, some of the old M&K line makes up CSX Transportation's Kingwood Subdivision.

Brief History of the M&K

Construction of the Morgantown & Kingwood Railroad (M&K) was the work of entrepreneurs involved in the development of coal reserves in the interior section of the Fairmont Coal Field. After several abortive attempts to finance the road by public subscription, its assets were sold at auction to George C. Sluggish, who extended it eastward to the Preston Company line in 1902. In 1907 Senator Stephen B. Elkins bought the M&K and completed the line to Morgantown & Kingwood Junction on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O).

Elkins's first visit to the area was in 1890-1891, when he began buying up coal leases. His interest in linking the Morgantown & Kingwood Railroad eastward to the B&0 indicates that he evidently had some prospects for selling this coal in Baltimore, probably to the Maryland Steel Company plant at Sparrows Point. When the B&0 finally purchased the M&K outright in October 1919, it did so with the financial cooperation of the Bethlehem Steel Company. Bethlehem had acquired Maryland Steel through its purchase, prior to 1914, of the parent Pennsylvania Steel Company, and was undoubtedly anxious for secure connections with the major sources of coal and coke for the Sparrows Point furnaces.

When the Elkins interests sold the M&K to the Baltimore and Ohio, their coal mines and coke ovens were sold to the Penn-Mary Coal Company. Four years later, they were acquired by the Bethlehem Mines Corporation, a holding company of Bethlehem Steel. While the development of the Monongalia coal field was dependent on the introduction of transportation facilities, in this case the railroad, the controlling factor was the growing demand for coke in the iron and steel industry. Senator Elkins could only afford to build the M&K after he had secured a constant market for the coal and coke produced. The growth of the Bethlehem Steel Company after 1900 provided a new and increasing market for the area's coal and for metallurgical quality coke.

Stations

The following table lists the stations located on the Morgantown & Kingwood Railroad in 1913.

Distance from Morgantown in Miles	Station	County	Elevation
0.0	Morgantown	Monongalia	824.0
0.7	Siding	Monongalia	831.0
0.9	Siding	Monongalia	825.2
1.0	Valley Crossing	Monongalia	823.8
1.3	Siding (Marilla)	Monongalia	833.1
1.5	Siding, Mine No. 5	Monongalia	835.0
1.8	Siding (Shops)	Monongalia	837.5
1.9	Pool Rocks	Monongalia	838.1
2.4	Siding (Glass Plant)	Monongalia	849.5
2.5	Sabraton	Monongalia	852.7
2.5	Siding (Glass & Steel Plate)	Monongalia	853.4
3.8	Rock Forge & Siding	Monongalia	967.5
4.6	Richard	Monongalia	1044.0
5.9	Dellslow	Monongalia	1174.4
8.8	Switch, Lime & Sand Plant	Monongalia	1406.2
9.0	Sturgisson	Monongalia	1410.0
9.1	Siding (Lumber Dock)	Monongalia	1411.4
9.9	Iron Bridge	Monongalia	1450.0
10.0	Siding (Lick Run)	Monongalia	1464.5
10.5	Lick Run	Monongalia	1481.5
12.5	Cascade (and Siding)	Preston	1682.0
13.5	Masontown (and Siding)	Preston	1683.0
29.6	Kingwood	Preston	1666.0