Brand New - Never Before Published Historical Data!
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History of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway - 1837-1915 - Download
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This extensive history was compiled by Decatur Axtell in the early years of the 20th century while he was serving as C&O’s Senior Vice President. See the biography below:
Briefly, Axtell was the receiver of the Richmond & Alleghany Railroad when it was purchased and merged into C&O in 1890. The R&A was the line that had been built along the route of the old James River & Kanawha Canal. When the R&A was merged, Axtell became C&O vice-president and served until his death in 1918.
He took an interest in the history of the line and over several years composed a history which he wrote mainly from Annual Reports and probably other official documents available to him in the executive offices at Richmond. This manuscript became known to Miss Laura Armitage in the 1920s who was then serving as a “research assistant” in the executive office and as assistant editor of the C&O’s employee magazine. She had a great interest in history and gathered files about C&O’s past, must have found the Decatur Axtell manuscript, and decided to type it. This probably was done sometime around 1930 since she used C&O/Pere Marquette joint letterhead paper.
We have reproduced the Armitage typescript of Axtell’s compiled work.
Since Axtell died in 1918, the history ends at about that time. It is little more than compiled data taken directly from Annual Reports, but nonetheless forms an impressive amount of “raw” data on the early period of the C&O through the latter half of the 19th Century and the first years of the 20th.
The material is presented in this DS booklet without comment or editing, so that interested persons may use it as a “primary source” for information about this period of C&O history.
The material is so extensive that we can only offer it in digital format. A print copy would comprise about 500 pages, and would be very expensive to print. Any purchaser interested in a print copy should telephone the C&OHS and inquire as to the costs for a special run.
AVAILABLE AS DOWNLOAD ONLY!
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Chesapeake & Ohio Business Car Data
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This is a compendium of information about Chesapeake & Ohio’s business car fleet, compiled in the 1970s by a C&OHS member and donated to our archives. It contains information on each C&O business car including, builder, previous owners, and other historical data.
The interior accommodations in each car is described, as well as mechanical details. Dispositions as of the time of the writing are given.
This is strictly a data publication, without illustration.
Business Cars, often called Office Cars were built as “private cars” for the exclusive use of railway officials while traveling on official business. They were, in effect, a mobile office for the official, usually having accommodations for 3-5 other persons, as well as a steward and small kitchen. The cars were usually assigned specific high ranking executives and parked in the city in which they worked. These were passenger train cars and were moved in passenger trains, usually on the rear, so that the official could observe the track as the train passed over the road. Most had high-intensity lights that shown to the rear to illuminate the right-of-way at night. Their use declined when travel of officials by air became more available.
C&O typically kept a fleet of about a dozen business cars in commission during the 1920-1970 era. Today, CSX operates sizeable business car fleet, but the cars are generally used for special inspection trains, etc., in the present era.
Diagrams, photos, and other information about C&O business cars are available from the C&OHS in various books and publications as follows:
C&O Business Car Diagrams, (Cat. No. DS-7-017)
C&O Passenger Car Diagrams, 1949 (Cat. No. DS-8-081)
C&O Passenger Car Diagrams, 1965 (Cat. No. DS-7-050)
These are available for online purchase at chessieshop.com or by telephone at
540-862-2210 (weekdays 9am-4pm).
Photos are available for search by going to cohs.org. When there, click on the large rectangle in the center of the home page that says SEARCH ARCHIVES. When the next page presents, enter BUSINESS CAR in the upper left corner KEYWORDS box, then click on ALL WORDS below, and then on SEARCH above, and you should see available images of these cars. – These are low-resolution watermarked thumbnail images. You may purchase high-resolution digital downloads at $8.95 each or glossy photo prints at the same price plus shipping to get them to you. These can be ordered by telephone only at 540-862-2210 (weekdays 9am-4pm).
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This week's warehouse find - Only 28 Copies Available - Order Now!
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West Virginia Railroads- Vol. 4 -The Virginian Railway by Lloyd D. Lewis
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We found one more box of these books, first published in 2011. These 28 are now available on a first-come, first-served basis. Order quickly if you want to get one!
The book covers the operations of the Virginian Railway from the W. Va. border near Oakvale, to Princeton and into the coal fields. The territory of BIG steam and electric locomotives, mine runs, and heavy coal trains.
This is probably the best history of the Virginian operation in West Virginia ever done. The late L. D. Lewis was one of the acknowledged experts on the Virginia. -- This was his last book. He gives the user a great set of previously unpublished photos. They show all elements of the VGN operations, including the facilities at Princeton and Mullens. We see mine runs, and mainline coal trains, and great portraits of all the steam and electric power used in this region.
This book has been widely used and often praised for covering elements of the Virginian not previously treated in books. It gives the C&O fan a great appreciation for one its competitors in the West Virginia to Tidewater coal business.
112 pages, hardbound, 200 photos, and illustrations
BK-11-623 Regular Price $29.95 Sale Price $19.95
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This is an iconic C&O Structure!
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HO Laser-cut kit for QN Cabin at Quinnimont, West Virginia
This was a unique structure. It was similar to others being built at about the same time in 14 or 15 locations, mostly along the Alleghany and New River Subdivision main line. However, the one at Quinnimont was different in several ways.
Quinnimont is located at milepost 378.7 on the New River Subdivision. It is 1.3 miles from the important passenger station at Prince, where the Piney Creek Subdivision enters the main line. The Laurel Creek Subdivision ran out of Quinnimont toward the north to service mines there and the yard here was as a terminal for both the Laurel Creek and Piney Creek lines. It was constructed in a wye configuration.
The QN Cabin structure combines a C&O frame station building of the 1892 standard design with a signal tower (“cabin” in C&O terminology); the latter simply superimposed on top of the former’s roof. This served to combine two structures into one with the features of an agent and a separate operator but in the same building. It also gave the operator an extended view of the railway’s operation because of its second-story construction.
The other station/cabin combined structures used the 1880s-era octagonal cabin design, whereas the Quinnimont structure used a rectangular style when it was built in 1895, at the very same time that the octangular style was being built at other locations. Ultimately, the rectangular design cabin was adopted as a standard to replace the octagonal one for the separate cabin structures, about 1900, we think. At any rate, the Quinnimont structure seems to be unique at the time of its construction and it remained so.
The board-and-batten building had a16x16-foot waiting room and another 16x16-foot freight room. The tower (cabin) was placed exactly between these, with the agent’s office below it. A bay window was intended for use below the tower at the agent’s office (it is on the original drawing) but it was not used when built, so the structure lacked a bay window. Windows on the lower floor were double hung with eight lights. Access to the cabin was by exterior stairs. The cabin portion of the structure had long rectangular single-light windows. It also had a skirt of shingle-style cut boards and a decorative comb at the roof peak.
The structure must have been in use for only a very short time because a separate passenger station and a freight station were built not long thereafter. It was at this time that the combined station/cabin seems to have been repurposed as a yard office for the growing traffic entering and exiting the yard from the mines both on the Laurel Creek and the Piney Creek branches. The structure continued in use as a yard office even after the operator was removed from the tower portion.
In fact, the structure continued in use until the mid-1970s and was finally demolished in 1981. It was the last station/cabin combined building left at the time it was retired. Because it existed into such modern times, the railfan and modeling community adopted it as an iconic C&O building. This was especially the case since all the other combined station/tower structures had been demolished by the mid-1960s.
Because of its longevity, the modeler of almost any era can use it prototypically.
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This is a limited edition series
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HO Scale kit of the Babcock Coal & Coke Company Tipple
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HO Scale kit of the Babcock Coal & Coke Company Tipple
This tipple was built in 1926 by the Kanawha Manufacturing Company in Sewell, WV. Sewell was located on the New River, along the C&O Railway main line between Thurmond and Fayette. Sewell served as a junction point between the Manns Creek Railway, a 3’ narrow gauge railroad which brought coal down the mountain from Clifftop and lumber from Landisburg, Between the tipple and the river there were 193 coke ovens that were in operation until 1956. The town lasted about a decade and a half after the ovens shut down, and the last resident moved out in 1973.
This kit has a footprint of about 8” X 14”. This kit contains 620 laser-cut parts, 42 3D printed parts, and 240 Tichy NBWs (Nut-Bolt-Washers). This is a limited edition series. There will only be 250 of these made and each kit is numbered with a Certificate of Authenticity.
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Use the button below to view the Product of the Week
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