Dinky Locomotive

Dinky Locomotive. . On May 12, 1962, Beckley Street Commissioner D. E. Warden, initially in charge of setting up the City's new Exhibition Coal Mine, announced the donation of a dinky locomotive to the project. Dinkies were small locomotives used on short line railroads for shifting cars, or for limited industrial applications such as mining and timbering. , The donated locomotive was built by Vulcan Iron Works at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in July 1910, construction #1596. In 1940, it came to West Virginia as one of three coal-burning dinkies purchased by Winding Gulf Coal Company. They were used to haul coal from the mouth of a drift mine in Crab Orchard, across State Route 16 from behind what is now Webb's Florist, 7,000 feet downhill to the company's tipple on Piney Creek. Then the coal was loaded into Chesapeake and Ohio Railway coal cars and hauled to market. , The dinkies were retired ca. 1952 when Winding Gulf Coal switched to electric locomotives, which were more efficient because they could be loaded inside the mine and travel all the way to the Piney Creek tipple. Electric locomotives could also haul over 50 loads of coal, compared to a maximum of 20 for a dinky. , Winding Gulf Coal Company No.1 was given to the City in October 1962 and moved to the Raleigh County Vocation and Technical Center where it was repaired and repainted by students over the winter. Then, in June 1963, it was featured in Beckley's Centennial parade as the "Fast Flying West Virginian." , The following week, the dinky was mounted near the swimming pool in New River Park, where it remained for 53 years. Newly appointed Director of Parks and Recreation, Leslie Gray Baker, believed relocation nearer the Exhibition Coal Mine was highly desirable. On July 14, 2015, Beckley Common Council approved a bid from Beckley Crane and Construction. The company removed the locomotive in early September, restored it, and remounted it at the entrance to the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine on May 4, 2016.