Following Halloween on October the 31st, 1985, remants of Hurrican Juan which had ravaged the southern coasts, crossed into the Allegheny Mountains where it lingered for several days, saturating the ground with downpour after downpour. A day later on November the Fourth, another storm front entered West Virginia which dumped upwards of 8 inches of rain in a 24 hour period, causing massive flooding through the state for the next few days. As the flood waters receded, it became apparent that whole communities had practically disappeared along with thousands of homes and personal belongings, in addition to fourty people who had lost their lives as a result of the flood waters. Some people called this the 10,000 Year Flood, while others gave it a more simple name - Hell.
The Collapse of Bridge 92 in Rowlesburg, WV
During the torrential rains on the night of Novemeber the 4th, the remaining workers at M&K Junction kept a close eye on the rising water of the nearby Cheat River as it crept upwards toward Bridge 92, the seventy year old Truss bridge spanning the river between there and Rowlesburg. A few hours later at 1:15am on November the 5th, 1985, a loud roar was heard as the center support of the bridge collapsed, dumping both spans of the bridge into the river. One span was pushed onto the Rowlesburg shore, diverting a torrent of water through the main streets demolishing homes and businesses, while the other span was pushed several hundred yards farther downriver where it destroyed Rowlesburg's only road bridge. In minutes, the M&K Tower operator was on the phone letting Grafton and Cumberland know of the situation, and annulling all through Mountain Sub trains. For the next two weeks, all through trains were re-routed north over Sand Patch and the FM&P subdivision until a new single track bridge was opened on November the 28th, 1985.
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Taken from the Rowlesburg Shore, the western span is on the right with the eastern span resting farther downstream on the left side of the photo.
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This was all which remained of a once house lined street in the center of Rowlesburg following the flood. The only surviving building in this view is the Rowlesburg School, one of the few remaining structures in this part of the town.
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Chessie System workers had one span of the new girder Bridge 92 in place less than a week after the flood waters had receded. Instead of constructing another double track bridge, Chessie System decided to just build a single track one and construct a new interlocking farther west on Cheat River grade near Carrico Road Xing.
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The Eastern span of the Cheat River bridge has come to stop at the spot where a concrete road bridge once spanned the river. The road bridge's eastern abutment can be seen behind the railroad span.
Washout on 17 Mile Grade
On the rain soaked night of November 4th, 1985, a train of empties with four units on the point was preparing to depart from Z Tower in Keyser, WV, when the Tower operator received a call from M&K Junction reporting that the flood waters of the Cheat River were just a few inches below the Bridge. Instead of taking the train onto Grafton, the crew was given orders to proceed as far as the yard at M&K where the train would be stopped until the water receeded under the bridge - no one yet knew that the Bridge was about to be taken out. After leaving West Keyser, the train procceded west up 17 mile grade, through water clogged ballast and over water swollen culverts. Just east of Hitchcock, the slow moving westbound train triggered a landslide near MP 216, sending the middle two units over the hillside and killing the fireman, Sam Ake.
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This photo shows the scene of the washout near Hitchcock. The lead unit is in the upper right of the photo, with the fourth unit on the left still coupled onto the train. One of the derailed units can be seen in the lower right of the photo, partially hidden by the trees.
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In this closeup of the washout scene, a culvert has been put in place to channel the rest of the water over the side. Notice how close the lead unit's trailing trucks are from the broken rails... too close. In the bottom center, one of the trucks from the derailed units can be seen in the debris.
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Chessie System MofW employees are surveying the scene to see what needs to be down before the mainline can be re-opened again. The two units which went over the hill were not removed, instead they were covered over with fill and still remain buried there. The path of the landslide can be traced above just to the left of the black culvert.
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