The history of the West Virginia Northern can be first traced back to the last years of the 19th century when a narrow gauge short line railroad was begun in 1884 under the name of the Kingwood Railway Company. Completed by 1887, the Kingwood Railway's name was soon changed to the Tunnelton, Kingwood and Fairchance Railroad reflecting the owners' expansion plans. Despite big aspirations, the TK&P never made it past the former location of the Northern's terminal in Kingwood, although the line was converted to standard gauge by 1894. Five years later on July 5th, 1899, the company was sold to a new owner that would operate the railroad as the West Virginia Northern Railroad.
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Collection of John Garner. The rusted hulk of former WVN #8, a Baldwin Consolidation locomotive near Hyndman, PA. #9 of the same class resides nearby, although both are located on private property.
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With Preston County literally sitting atop huge reserves of coal, it was no surprise that the Northern's infrastructure soon developed for the transportation of that single commodity and any major expansion plans were soon shelved. Like many coal haulers in the early years of the 20th century, traffic was dependent solely upon the coal mines served by the railroad. As a result, traffic patterns and operations on the Northern would vary from one year to the next depending upon which mines were active and inactive. For motive power the railroad relied upon a changing roster of steam locomotives which were made up of several 2-8-0 Baldwin Consolidations. In the summer of 1946 the Northern dieselizied with the purchase of Engine 50, an NW-2 bought new from EMD. Ten months later a second NW-2 switcher was purchased by the railroad, receiving the number #51. With this new power, the steamers were sold to the nearby Preston Railroad at Hutton. In the fall of 1960 the two NW-2 switchers were supplemented by the arrival of Engine 52, an SW-1200 diesel. No. 52 was set apart from other switchers by the fact it was equipped with extended range dynamic brakes, made distinctive by its high hood directly ahead of the cab, a feature that ultimately proved its worth on the ten miles between Kingwood and Tunnelton.
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1960 era map of coal mines served by the Northern.
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Until the coal market began to falter late in the 1980s, the Northern was often a daily railroad based around the principle of switching its coal mines when they needed worked. With the decline of the coal market, the Northern was left vulnerable as the railroad had relied almost entirely upon that mineral for revenue. In 1991 the number of carloads originating on the Northern had declined to the point where it was no longer profitable to operate, resulting in the WVN officially ending operations in November of that year. Less than three years later in the spring of 1994 a new and ultimately final chapter in the railroad's history begun when the West Virginia Northern Railroad sold all of its property to a group known as the Kingwood Northern, Inc. The Kingwood Northern was formed from a collection of people interested in preserving and operating the WVN as a tourist railroad using the Northern's original equipment. Tourist operations began during July of 1994, with 3 hour roundtrips offered between the terminal at Kingwood and Tunnelton. Over the next five years passenger ridership increased far exceeding expectation in the 1999 season and the Northern's future appeared to be secure to those on the outside. What was not realized by those of outside the company however, was the increasing amount of debt that was being acquired by the company in order to maintain the railroad's track, locomotives and structures.
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Photo by Robert Shook. After leaving the Northern rails in September of 2002, Nos 50 and 52 were moved by CSX to Glenwood, PA, on the Monongahela Connecting Railroad. The switchers are now owned by RBLX and are reportedly going to be preserved.
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Added to this was a large sum of capital that had been used during a legal battle between the railroad and the City of Kingwood over a disputed section of right of way. By the summer of 1999 the debt was totaling over a million dollars and it was soon announced that fall that the WVN's 100th Anniversary year would also be its last year. After a final revenue run in November of 1999, the Northern closed its doors and slowly began to sell or return what equipment remained online. The railroad was officially abandoned on June 26, 2002, and the two remaining locomotives, #50 and #52, were removed from the property that September, bound for storage near Pittsburgh, PA. In November of 2002 rail removal began at Kingwood Junction and progressed steadily, leaving little behind to show a railroad ever existed there.
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Copyright 1998-2003 © Northern WV's Railroads
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