Since the beginning of the Northern's standard gauge years the railroad's main terminal was located in Kingwood Junction, where a engine maintenance and office buildings were erected. A short wye joined the main steam and two of the small branches together on the west side of the yard, while a half a mile long branch extended east into Kingwood where the Northern's depot still stands.
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A detailed topography map showing the route of the Northern, along with several abandoned branches and photo locations. Clicking the image will open map in new window.
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South of Kingwood the railroad descended a short grade into Snider, MP 8.7, located in a bowl at the bottom of the southbound grade to Borgman. At one time several small and medium sized coal tipples once existed in the valley around Snider, although most were closed during the 1950s and early 60s, save for the Mary Ruth loader at MP 8.6 that provided a large amount of tonnage for the Northern until the end of coal hauling in 1991. Snider was also the location of the northern most passing siding on the railroad, used by excursions running around their train prior to arriving at Kingwood for the next trip. During the coal years the siding was often used by mine turns to runaround their hoppers before or after working the local mines or simply for hopper storage. However, operation on the Northern varied from one week to the next depending on many different factors. During most of the 1970s until MRC began steady production, if the only other mine north of Borgman was not loading, Chapel, the Northern would often not take hoppers north of the Borgman. South of Snider the railroad began to climb out of the Church Creek Valley ascending nearly 600 feet in elevation in just two miles to the summit near Borgman.
At MP 8.1 was the medium sized Chapel Tipple that produced a fair amount of coal tonnage until its closure in the early 1980s. A unique feature of the railroad is located on this section of track near Irona, a double switchback used to shorten the grade and gain 60 ft of elevation in less than a fourth of a mile. Beyond the Irona switchbacks the railroad reached the small community of Borgman which was the site of some of the last coal loadings on the railroad. At MP 5.9 a small spur diverged from the main to serve the Borgman 10 loader, located directly alongside Rt 26, which produced just under 100,000 tons in 1976. A short distance to the south is the Zero mine siding that at one time served a small truck dump located directly in the middle of the small community, which produced over 8,000 tons of coal in 1982. Just past the main road crossing at Borgman is the summit of the hill from Snider where the Northern begins a five mile long descent towards Tunnelton.
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N1 - Photo by Matt Reese.
In this view from 1985, the three diesel switchers are sitting on the wye preparing to depart the small terminal. #50 and #52 remained with the Northern through the end, while #51 was sold off in the early 90s to Patriot Coal for tipple switching at near Caddell.
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N2 - Photo by Matt Adams. In the winter of 1997 the West Virginia Northern hosted an excursion charted by the Western Maryland Railway Historical Society's annual convention. The Northern provided Engines 52 and 50 with two coaches and caboose for the trip. The excursion is seen here backing up the spur from the enginehouse.
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N3 - Photo by Matt Adams. The ancient water tank at Kingwood constructed in 1926 still stands having last been used by the Northern's steam locomotives in the 1940s. The structure is reportedly on a list of historic structures to be preserved.
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N4 - Photo by Matt Reese.
West Virginia Northern equipment as it appeared stored in Kingwood during 1985. The caboose would later be moved to the Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad where it would be restored and returned to operation.
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N5 - Photo by Rich Borkowski. #50 reposes inside the engine house at Kingwood.
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N6 - Photo by Jerry Doyle. Another view of Eng 50 inside the two stall engine house at Kingwood. To the right the Northern's small 0-4-0 steam locomotive can be seen.
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N7 - Photo from the collection of John Garner. #52 is ready to roll on an afternoon excursion from Kingwood as the train waits at the loading platform.
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N8 - Photo by Kevin Scanlon. Outside of Kingwood a southbound excursion is passing along the hillside above Route 26 amid mountains ablaze with fall color during November of 1999.
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N9 - Photo by Matt Adams. During the WMRHS Convention excursion the Northern allowed convention goers to climb off the train for photo runbys at several different locations, such as this location at Snider. The Mary Ruth coal loader was located in a hollow directly to the left of the train with the siding's switch just behind the excursion's caboose.
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N10 - Photo from the collection of John Garner. #50 and #52 lead a southbound excursion across Morgan Run at Snider as the morning fog begins to lift from the valley.
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N11 - Photo by Matt Adams. In a photo taken from the gob pile near Irona, the WMRHS excursion is wide open as it begins to ascend the steepest section of the mountain. Before reclamation the Chapel tipple stood near here which provided coal off and on for many years.
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N12 - Photo by Matt Reese. A southbound excursion is climbing uphill over the Lower Irona crossing. The Northern's south or upper switchback is located on the hillside directly behind the train, albeit at a high elevation.
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N13 - Photo by Chris Strogen. In an opposite view at the same road crossing, a northbound excursion is heading downgrade to Kingwood. The railroad's northern switchback is located just behind the trees to the right.
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N14 - Photo by James Gunning. The three Northern units are leading a cut of empty hoppers downgrade at the north switchback in July of 1984.
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N15 - Photo by Chris Strogen. As seen from the cab of a northbound excursion, the train is backing down the connector between the two switchbacks. The line on the right leads to the south switchback and Tunnelton, while the line on the left leads to Kingwood.
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N16 - Photo by Matt Reese. Backing upgrade, another day's train is approaching the southern switchback switch. The grade disparity between the two sections is evident in this photo.
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N17 - Photo by Chris Strogen. #52 has stopped its train to allow the brakeman to throw the southern switchback before backing down the switchbacks and continuing on to Kingwood.
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N18 - Photo by Matt Reese. On a different day, the switch has already been thrown at the second switchback and #52 with West Virginia flags flapping in the breeze is resuming it's southward journey to Tunnelton.
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N19 - Photo by James Gunning. Engines Nos. 52 and 51 are preparing to pull loads from the Borgman 10 loader in June of 1974. Although on most runs three switchers would be used on the railroad, two could suffice if one was experiencing mechanical difficulties by doubling the grades if necessary.
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N20 - Photo by Matt Reese. A southbound excursion is rolling through the green pastures of northern West Virginia at Borgman near the top of the grade from Snider. Borgman came about as a mining town and many of the houses still standing are identical to one another as was often the case with company housing.
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Copyright 1998-2003 © Northern WV's Railroads
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