The Elk River Railroad

The history of the Elk River Railroad first began on July 12th, 1989, when sixty one miles of out of service railroad between Gilmer and Hartland, West Virginia, was leased by a local corporation, Bright Enterprises. Originally built near the turn of the 20th century as part of the Coal and Coke Railroad between Charleston and Elkins, the line later had later came under the control of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, then its successor, CSX Transportation, before being abandoned in 1987. Since the reborn railroad followed the Elk River for much of its route south of Gassaway, West Virginia, it was not surprisingly when Bright Enterprises named its new acquisition the Elk River Railroad. Several years later the well known Buffalo Creek and Gauley Railroad line between Dundon and Widen, West Virginia, was also acquired. When operations officially began on October 28th, 1991, however, active rail service was far from actually taking place due to the poor condition of the track, stemming from a lack of maintenance during CSX ownership. It would take several years of replacing ties, rail and ballast, along with clearing the right of way, before the TERRI (The Elk River Railroad Incorporated) would meet FRA class III railroad standards. At the time, it was originally envisioned that a large amount of traffic for the railroad was to come from a new coal mine being surveyed near Duck, West Virginia.

Local coal reserves in the area were owned by Consol Energy and it was hoped that by acquiring the railroad early on, Consol's construction of a new mine would progress rapidly. Unfortunately little headway was made at the Duck site, leaving the Elk River without a source of traffic until the spring of 1996 when a small loader opened at Avoca, West Virginia, on the ex BC&G line. American Electric Power, also known as AEP, had signed a contract with Avoca's owner, Pittson Coal, for a weekly shipment of coal to its Mitchell Power Station at Cresap, West Virginia, on the Ohio River. A set of approximately ninety AEP coal cars would be interchanged to the Elk River at Gilmer, its connection with CSX's Cowen Subdivsion, then moved south for loading at Avoca before being returned north. To move the 11000 ton (when loaded) coal trains, the Elk River had acquired five elderly 4 axle locomotive numbered 1 through 5, capable of negotiating several tight 19 and 20 degree curves found on the line. A small base of operations was established at the small four track yard in Gassaway, West Virginia, where the railroad's units are currently stationed. For more than three years TERRI regularly loaded an Avoca train on a weekly basis, while planning for the eventual opening of the Consol mine at Duck. Expansion proposals called for the acquisition, approved by the ICC in May of 1992, and rebuilding of 30 miles of abandoned track and right of way south of Hartland to Falling Rock, where a connection exists with a long inactive Norfolk Southern (ex Conrail, exx B&O) line to Charleston, West Virginia. It was hoped by acquiring the two segments totalling more than sixty miles, the Elk River would gain access to a southern routing with CSX and Norfolk Southern at Charleston for coal originating online.

However, the Pittson Coal contract with AEP was slated to expire during the summer of 1999. Shortly before the expiration though, word arrived that the weekly coal shipments would continue on a new contract. Unfortunately this news was soon dashed when AEP changed its mind and cancelled the deal, reportedly due to the subgrade flint hard quality of the coal repeatedly damaging the processing equipment at the power plant. With the loss of the Avoca haul and no progress on the expected mine at Duck in over five years, the railroad soon shutdown on September 15th, 1999, laying off its employees. In October of the same year, two of its units, #1 and #2, were leased to solve a power shortage on the South Branch Valley Railroad in the eastern panhandle of the state, before returning to Gassaway in the early winter of 2000. For the next year and a half the railroad remained dormant until November of 2001, when the Elk River's parent company signed a contract to store excess rail cars on its trackage. On December 6th, the Elk River made its first revenue run freight haul since 1999 when it picked up more than 20 empty "TOFCs" (trailer on flatcars) left by CSX at the Gilmer interchange. A month later on January 11th, a second run was made to the interchange to pick up additional TOFC cars and more than a dozen coal hoppers for storage below Gassaway. Since then the Elk River has been receiving cuts of storage cars from CSX almost on a monthly basis. Although the TERRI no longer moves heavy coal trains on a regular basis, the hope still survives that a new source of coal traffic may open near the Elk River valley, keeping an interesting railroad in operation. Of interest, in September of 2002 the Elk River officially bought the line from CSX according to Surface Transportation Board documents, adding another twist to the ongoing sage of the Railroad. Ample speculation questions the motive for such a move, making observers wonder if one of two new rumored coal mines may become a reality in the new future.

Elk River Railroad Roster

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Photo by Chris Strogen. A CSX Gilmer Turn, B804-07, is swapping empty AEPX hoppers at Gilmer Station on February 7, 1998. The interchange "track" is located just east of the Gilmer wye between MP 5 and Hyers Run at MP 4.
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Photo by Chris Strogen. In the late afternoon light of March 27, 1999, the Elk River Railroad is awaiting the arrival of a CSX Turn with hoppers for loading at Avoca. Operating procedures require both CSX and Elk River to radio on CSX Road Channel 1 when they're approaching Gilmer Station for interchange.
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Photo by Chris Strogen. With the moon rising, the four Elk River units have coupled against the train at Gilmer and are ready to proceed south to Gassaway. The absent fifth locomotive will be added on the train's north end at Gassaway, for the push-pull move required to reach Avoca on the BC&G branch at Dundon.
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Photo by Chris Strogen. An empty Elk River train is heading sorth near Exchange, West Virginia, as the sunlight slowly fades in the valley. Empty trains were usually moved in one section south from Gilmer, while northbound loaded drags out of Gassaway had to triple two major hills at Pembrooke and Delta with maximum grades of 1.53% and 2.07%, respectively, to Gilmer Station.
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Photo by Chris Strogen. The loading platform at Avoca, West Virginia, MP 1.5 on the BC&G branch past Dundon.. Large endloaders were used to load the AEPX hoppers from the platform, allowing a train to be fully loaded out in approximately six hours. Coal was trucked in from Pittson's Coal Vandalia Mine near Bickmore, West Virginia.
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Photo by Randy Strogen. December 20th, 2001, finds units #4 and #5 in storage at Gassaway, while #1 is awaiting a crew to place its empty TOFC train further south.
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Photo by Randy Strogen. The Gilmer Turn power, made up of units #1, #3 and #2, is still attached to its train almost a month after picking up the twenty five or so trailer flat cars at Gilmer.
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Photo by Randy Strogen. The first train of empty trailer flats at Gassaway Yard. These flats were later moved to the south end of the main track at Gassaway, pending a more permanent storage location.

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