World's Smallest Railroad

World's Smallest Railroad. National Coal Heritage Area. , With the opening of the visitor information center here in 1960, the race to develop East River Mountain overlook into a major tourist attraction was on. Robert and Phyllis Conner created Skyland, Inc. in 1961, and Skyland's Museum of the Hills and the East River Mountain Craft Shop welcomed tourists for many years., Skyland's most fondly remembered tourist attraction is the Ridge Runner. A 14 scale reproduction of the C. P. Huntington locomotive, the "world's smallest interstate railroad" took riders through two states, a tunnel, and a forest. With the completion of the East River Mountain Tunnel in 1974, traffic dramatically decreased at the overlook, and the Ridge Runner needed a new home., The City of Bluefield purchased the Ridge Runner and moved it to Bluefield City Park in 1984. New generations rode the train through a new tunnel, new bridges, and tracks that circled the park. Nearly $200,000 was raised in 2009 to restore the train, construct a new passenger depot, and repair the tracks. Visitors to Bluefield can still ride the Ridge Runner at Bluefield City Park on designated days., (Caption):, Postcard featuring the Ridge Runner and train station on East River Mountain. Courtesy of the National Coal Heritage Area Authority.