The Coming of the Railroads

The Coming of the Railroads. Mt. Hope. , As Mt. Hope emerged, there occurred one of the most important events in the state's history: the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, routed through the New River Gorge, was completed in 1873. The C&O was the first railroad to enter southern West Virginia and link the coalfields to outside markets. Nearly overnight, capitalists came from the anthracite fields of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Ohio to take advantage of the outcrops of New River coal exposed along the rim of the New River Gorge. The high-quality coal seams could be accessed without elaborate shafts or slopes, and soon, miners and railroad men arrived in large numbers to find employment. Coal company towns arose, supported by the railroad facilities, hotels, and coal company offices situated at Thurmond, the gorge's service center. By 1885, eleven mining companies in the gorge were shipping coal. This prosperity undoubtedly spilled over and enlivened Mt. Hope, but the place did not become important until the construction of the Loup Creek Branch in 1894. This short-line railway, built and financed by Thomas McKell, founder of MacDonald Coal and Coke, linked Mt. Hope to the C&O mainline. In 1910, McKell's son, William, built the Kanawha, Glen Jean and Eastern Railroad (K,GJ&E) to tie Mt. Hope to the Virginian Railway. With the Virginian and C&O, Mt. Hope had good rail access to eastern and midwest markets., The Virginian Railway , Henry Huddleston Rogers (pictured to the right) financed and built the Virginian Railway. His interest in coal and railroads began rather late in life when he was in his 60s. In partnership with William Page, a mining engineer, Rogers acquired tracts of coal land in western Fayette County. In order to develop the property it was necessary to have rail service. Keeping his activities secret from competing railroads (Norfolk and Western and C&O), he had surveys completed to build a line that connected Deepwater, WV and the east coast. Originally a combination of his Deepwater and Tidewater Railways, they were consolidated as the Virginian Railway, often considered one of the best built railways as well as one of the most profitable., Since the New River is not navigable, the coal reserves of the New River coalfield would have been almost impossible to develop without the railroads. Different railroads played a key role in providing the necessary transportation from mine to market. Often these railroads were fierce rivals. In addition to hauling coal, the railroads also maintained stations for passenger service along their routes.