The Morgantown and Kingwood

The Morgantown and Kingwood. . , After several abortive attempts to connect the "V" that the B&O cut through North Central West Virginia, the Morgantown and Kingwood Railroad (M&K) began construction in July 1899 under the direction of local resident George Sturgiss before being sold to senator Stephen B. Elkins in 1902. The line reached Masontown by 1902, Bretz by 1903, Kingwood by 1906, and purchased its way into Rowlesburg by 1907. The M&K provided passenger service between Morgantown and Rowlesburg, but primarily existed to ship the area's resources of coal, coke (an important resource in steel production), limestone, lumber, and sand to surrounding industrial centers., At local stations, passengers boarded trains to both ends of the railroad where they caught connections on the larger B&O system. From family member's comings and goings, to departing military units, these stations marked where local residents entered and exited the larger world. Meanwhile, raw materials were used locally and shipped to locations all along the B&O after being transferred at Morgantown or Rowlesberg. Deckers Creek sand fed Morgantown glass plants, quarries supplied stone for area buildings, and area sawmills processed local lumber., Coke ovens in towns like Rock Forge, Richard, and Bretz provided fuel for Baltimore steel mills and shipyards, factories like the Sterling Faucet company in Sabraton relied on rail service to get their products to market, and the Alpha Cement plant in Manheim saw its shipments being used as far away as the Panama Canal. While the M&K's most visible effect was the local industry's it helped develop and serve, it could not have existed if not for outside demand., Sold to the B&O in 1919, portions of the line survived through the creation of both the Chessie System and CSX (its two later day corporate heirs) before being abandoned. After the 1960's, the M&K diminished in importance as local industry declined and railroads focused on main line runs., By the 1970's the line was cut between Reedsville and Kingwood and the western section out of Morgantown was ripped up by the early 1990's. To the east, former M&K track still felt the rumble of passing freights until the early 2000's, when the last two coal mines on the line closed and CSX abandoned the section originating in Rowlesburg. By the time the last train arrived at Rowlesburg's M&K junction, the line had lasted from the days of the iron horse and telegraph to a new age of sleek modern diesels and telecommunications. All the while it had provided a key spark in the start of the local economy, connected the communities it served to the wider world, and had forged the memories of many individuals who worked on it and lived by it., (Captions):, Railroad executives and the crew of M&K engine # 5 pose for a picture in Morgantown. To their crews, the locomotives they ran took on their own unique personalities and became much more than a piece of machinery. Photo Credit: Augie Mastrogiuseppe Collection courtesy of Keith DeVault., At Morgantown's Union Depot, Company I of the WV National Guard can be seen shipping out for world war one in April 1917. Photo Credit: James Brown., Oak Park, near Masontown, saw trainloads of visitors brought in by the railroad until its closure at the onset of the Great Depression. Photo Credit: West Virginia and Regional History Center WVU Libraries., Loaded B&O hoppers head out of Greer towards Morgantown with the Greer Limestone facility in the background. During its existence, shipments of coal, sand, and limestone were always the rail line's lifeblood. Photo Credit Augie Mastrogiuseppe Collection courtesy of Keith DeVault., In 1988, three helpers wait for their next assignment at M&K junction where the railroad met the main line through Rowlesburg. Photo Credit: James Brown., In 1999, a CSX coal drag makes it way up the Cheat River towards Rowlesburg during the twilight of the M&K's existence. Photo Credit: Railpictures.net.