A visit to Dan Zugelter’s C&O Railway
and get a first-hand look at how the place worked on the railroad and fit within the area’s economy and culture. The motive power, rolling stock and mines may have changed, but you can enjoy the present yet see into the past in these mountains. Another resource was the circle of friends Dan made through his railroad interests. That included many in the Society, of course (he frequently men- tions James EuDaly, Thomas W. Dixon and John Roberts when it comes to dig- ging out details about the line), and those who were closer, like Nat Hug- gins and Dennis Really. Nat was re- sponsible for many of the structures on the layout; the hotel and Armour meat distributor in Thurmond and the row houses in Sewell are examples of his workmanship. Dennis did a lot of trackwork, along with cars, vehicles and buildings. Control wiring (walka- round DCC for the trains, local panels for turnouts) and signal wiring assis- tance came from Jack Fitzgerald. Ken Throckmorton has served as master mechanic to keep the steam locomo- tives in top shape. As mentioned, the HO scale layout represents portions of the C&O’s New River and Alleghany Subdivisions. The dividing point is Hinton, West Virginia, where all locomotives, crews and ca- booses are changed. Although coal trains and merchandise traffic are handled at Hinton, in 1938 its main purpose is to provide a base for the steam engines that head up trains to and from the west and the larger pow- er and pushers needed on the steep grades east to the summit at Al- leghany.
The around the room and peninsula
track arrangement allow trains to al- ways move in the same direction, east being to the right and west to the left as one faces the layout. The modeled lo- cations faithfully represent the track- age as of 1938, though some editing is obviously necessary for a model. Still, Dan’s goal of having the layout loca- tions look and operate like those in the historic photos and track maps has been met, and key features like the di- rection of the big horseshoe curve at Grandview are in their correct orienta- tions to the landscape. The heavily-forested
Appalachian
mountain scenery allows tracks and scenes to be stacked at different eleva- tions on three of the walls and on the peninsula, and major scenes are not above or below each other. This helps to visually separate their presumed loca- tions, and it avoids having two opera- tors trying to work right next to each other at different towns. While not neg- lected, there is not enough room for the
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Morning’s light finds one of the C&O’s smallest locomotives being turned before it moves to the station to pick up a handful of cars for a local passenger run. Even with the Depres- sion, many mines are working and the miners rely on the railroad for transportation.
coal branches and every important town or junction, so the story here is primarily about mainline trains and Hinton as a division point with the ad- dition of locals and extras keeping the dispatcher busy.
Along the way
Through trains begin and terminate in a hidden staging yard beneath Hin- ton. It is double-ended and has a unique feature, a pair of “fly over” re- versing loops which allow passenger trains to be turned for their next runs without handling the equipment. In the case of coal trains, loads and emp- ties move in both directions over the layout because there are mines east and west of Hinton and shipments may be bound for either the Midwest or tidewater. The double-ended staging facilitates this and the return of the empty hoppers. Leaving staging, westbound trains appear out of Moores Tunnel and ham- mer upgrade into Lake Tunnel. Like other tunnels on the layout, this one does double duty to hide “missing miles” and lets tracks stay hidden from other scenes. It is Lewis Tunnel at the other end and provides the mountain backdrop for Qunnimont at river level. Isolated on the mountain, much as in real life, Alleghany is the summit and pushers in both directions cut off here, turn, and go back to their respective terminals (staging or Hinton). Shortly after A Cabin (the term used on the C&O for interlocking and control point towers) the tracks duck into Alleghany Tunnel, so they are out of sight at the
Grandview scene.
White Sulphur Springs and its hand- some depot are the next stop. The rail- road developed the resort soon after its tracks were laid in the 1870’s, and the cooler summer weather attracted the rich and famous. It still does. The two pocket tracks for setting off Pullmans and private cars do not fit on the lay- out’s space, so the track behind the de- pot serves that purpose. White Sulphur Springs Tunnel flows into Mann’s Creek Tunnel (skipping Ronceverte) to bring the double track main to Alderson and its standard C&O small town depot. Continuing downgrade through Big Bend Tunnel, the line arrives at Hinton, the division point and end of the Alleghany Subdi- vision. New River Subdivision locomo- tives, cabooses and crews take over here. Through freight trains use one of the long yard tracks next to the main for this, and switchers add or remove local cars if required.
Changing locomotives on passenger trains is done differently. When a train in either direction arrives at the sta- tion the new engine is already there, waiting on a short spur between the two mains. The old locomotive cuts off and either moves ahead or backs out of the way, the new engine couples up to the train, and no time is lost. The cho- reography is precise and reflects how the C&O views the importance of its passenger and mail trains. From Hinton west the rails follow the New River. There is more than scenery here: coal is king. Quinnimont is the junction of the Laurel Creek
MAY 2012
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