New River Train

Timed to coincide with the expected peak of fall colors in the New River Gorge, the first New River Train excursions of the 21st Century will run between Huntington and Hinton, WV during the weekends of October 13-14, October 20-21. However, the New River Train is more than just a train ride for viewing the brightly colored autumn leaves along the West Virginia hillsides. Riding the New River Train affords its passengers a unique perspective of the world renown New River Gorge available only via rail travel.

Many miles previous to Hinton, the train travels through the ruggedly remote but very beautiful sections of the New River Gorge once occupied by dozens of booming coal mining towns, born during the nation's Industrial Revolution. Even before the completion of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad through the Gorge in 1873, the building of the coal mining industry along the railroad's route begin in anticipation of the line's arrival. The railroad followed the route of the New River, the oldest river in North America, blasting out of narrow passage through a virtual wilderness where not even an animal trail had existed before. Throughout the lifetimes of the Gorge's coal towns the railroad remained the sole lifeline of the Gorge communities, with the only way in or out of virtually all of these towns being via the C&O Railway. However, with a couple of dozen passenger trains running daily during the era, the local citizens were not nearly as isolated as many people of the 21st Century might perceive them to have been.

The death of the earliest coal towns established in the Gorge began during the very early decades of the 1900's, as the supply of coal in the mines was depleted. By the end of World War II only a handful of mining communities remained in the New River Gorge. Today, all of the once busy mining towns in the Gorge have been abandoned, but their history does live on! As the New River Train passes through the Gorge, guides onboard each car provide a description of the history of the various ghost towns and point out remains of the old coal mining sites still visible along the route of the railroad through the Gorge. At Thurmond, the New River Train will stop for 50 minutes, allowing passengers the chance to tour the historic Thurmond Depot. The resorted depot still operates as an Amtrak station, but primarily serves as a museum featuring the railroad and coal mining related history of Thurmond the New River Gorge.

Preliminary information from the train's sponsor indicate that the equipment used on this year's New River Train use Amtrak (diesel) locomotives, a mixture of Amtrak and private owned Amtrak approved horizon coaches, heritage coaches, lounges, parlor cars, dome lounge, sleeper lounges, and an open platform car.

If you haven't traveled via train before, you're likely to enjoy the characteristics of this mode of travel. Most, if not all of the train's passenger cars are likely to be air-conditioned and are equipped with rest rooms. Unlike traveling via a tour bus, you will not need to stay seated on the train -- get up and move around! Walk through the train to the snack bar or the souvenir car, and still enjoy the scenic view through the huge windows as you walk through the train. Train travel offers the opportunity for travelers to talk and mingle with others on board and quite likely you'll find it easy to make many new friends during your day aboard the New River Train. Although passengers on the train include people from countries around the nation, many have families that once lived in the local area and many others still reside in West Virginia.

But make no mistake about it -- the New River Train is an all-day trek and much more than just a train ride. You'll need good walking shoes and a good night's rest the night before. The train leaves Huntington early in the morning (8:00 am) and arrives in Hinton during mid-afternoon. In Hinton the train stops long enough for passengers to spend time downtown during the Hinton Railroad Day festivities (see below) where food, arts and crafts, model railroad exhibits, and live entertainment await the New River Train passengers. Visitors to the event should be prepared to do a good bit of walking through the streets of Hinton, because there is a good deal of different things to see and do!

The New River Train is scheduled to leave Hinton and head back towards Huntington at 4:00 PM. At times the train's departure is delay, and on some occasions it has been running as musch as several hours behind schedule on its return trip. If so, this means that it will arrive in Huntington after nightfall, so plan accordingly. But since the objective of this sort of travel adventure isn't getting from Point A to Point B in the shortest possible time, the train's passengers don't seem to care of the train is running late. But regardless of whether the train depards on time or not, the return trip is yet another aspect of the overall New River Train experience to be enjoyed.

Watching the transition as daylight turns into dusk from deep within the Gorge is a remarkable sight to behold. The scene viewed from the train's while crossing over the New River at the Hawks Nest Bridge just after night fall can be wondrous, as reflection of the few artificial lights in the area and perhaps the moon dance along the top of the rushing waters of New River.

Many travelers, weary from the day's activities, find themselves being gently lulled into a brief nap by the gentle rocking of the train and the rhythmic clicking of the trains wheels across the rails during their return trip towards Huntington . Other passengers find the return trip is a convenient time to enjoy friendly conversation with their fellow passengers throughout the train. Remarkably, it is very rare to hear a young child ask, Are we home yet?, during the return trip. Most of the young travelers would seem to be very happy if the train trip would go on forever.

Ticket Information

The New River Train originates in Huntington, West Virginia, however stops will be made at St. Albans, WV, and at Montgomery, WV to pick up passengers who have purchased tickets in advance. Four round-trip trains will run, on the weekends of October 21-22, October 28-29.

If you are even remotely interested riding this year's New River Train this year, contact the C. P. Huntington Railway Historical Society immediately, as the trips often sell out in very early!

Ticket information is also available via phone at: (304) 453-1641 or Fax (304) 453-6120

Request for information or a brochure via mail should be sent to:

C.P. Huntington RRHS
P.O. Box 451
Kenova, W.Va 25530-0451

Or via the Web: C. P. Huntington Railway Historical Society

Or via the Web: NewRiverTrain.com 

Or via E-mail: Railtwo@aol.com