RIGHT: In classic logging railroad fashion, Climax No. 3 has made a scheduled stop to take on water from a trackside stream just outside of Durbin. Meanwhile, the engineer takes advantage of the pause to scoop down some more coal from the top rear of No. 3’s tender. BELOW RIGHT: The Durbin Rocket rests beside the classic former Chesapeake & Ohio depot at Durbin,
W.Va. The train is a unique combination of open gondolas fitted with benches, a Railway Post Office car, and a caboose. Passengers may ride in any car de- pending on their preference.
the slow, swaying, amble into the back- woods of West Virginia. The Durbin Rocket uses an interest-
ing hodgepodge of equipment, from a gondola fitted with benches to a Rail- way Post Office car to a caboose. We chose to ride the caboose, which led the train on the long back-up maneuver from Durbin to Heavener Station. Under soft bu steady rain and at a leisurely pace, Moore-Keppel No. 3 shoved our little train, cars gently rock- ing with the jointed rails, to Heavener. Once there, we made a brief stop, with many passengers particularly interest- ed in the “Castaway Caboose” — and its occupants — stashed on a short spur for the weekend. The Castaway Ca- boose offers the strong of heart a true wilderness adventure; passengers board the caboose at Durbin and are transported to Heavener, where they and the caboose — acting as a cabin — are left overnight along the Greenbrier River in essentially the middle of nowhere. This backcountry is bear ter- ritory, but offers a no doubt incredible solace and escape from civilization. With our little layover at an end, it
was time to head back to Durbin, and for the return, No. 3 would lead. Sound- ing every bit like she was doing 100 m.p.h., the diminutive Climax in actu- ality probably never topped ten. Tri- umphant and defiant, the stack talk was amazing, and I temporarily left the caboose and moved to the front vestibule of the RPO’s open door to bet- ter take in the sound. In classic logging railroad fashion,
we stopped just short of Durbin to take on water from a trackside stream. While the fireman was busy with pumping water, the engineer took the advantage of the opportunity to shovel some coal down from the top and back of the ten- der. Meanwhile, the Rocket’s conductor fed a donkey behind a fence paralleling the tracks. Directly, after building up
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steam, we were off again, trundling back into Durbin under clearing skies. At Durbin, we visited the Rail &
Trail Store, which stocks an excellent array of D&GV and railroad-themed merchandise, and also serves up the fa- mous “Big Scoop” of hand-dipped ice cream, which is promoted as an ab- solute must-do when visiting. Sunday morning we breakfasted at Scottie’s of Elkins, a mom and pop-type establishment of the first order. We then made our way to the great red brick pile that is the Elkins depot. Con- structed in 1908 by the Western Mary- land, the Elkins depot serves not only the D&GV excursion trains, but also houses the town’s welcome center. We were early, and found ourselves
to be the only people at the depot, but not for long. Soon, we were joined by Hobo Bob, who entertains passengers with some mighty fine banjo pickin’ be- fore the train departs. Before we knew it, there was quite a crowd assembled and ready to embark upon the New Ty-
gart Flyer. This four-hour, 46-mile round trip is a rollicking romp even deeper in- to what the D&GV itself describes as the “Wild Heart of West Virginia.” The power for our train was two
EMD F-units, numbers 67 and 243. Lo- comotive 67 has worn many colors since it was built for the Clinchfield Rail- road, including Family Lines and Seaboard System gray and two CSX schemes. The 243 is an FP7A that orig- inally worked for Canadian Pacific. In a nod to the D&GV’s history, both are re- splendent in Western Maryland black and yellow with “speed lettering” and WM-appropriate numbers. The silver-liveried passenger cars
are, on the inside, charmingly “shabby chic.” Our tickets didn’t allow us into the parlor car at the end of the train, but our seats — four to a table — were more than adequate. A nice buffet lunch of sandwiches, chips, cookies and drinks is included in the ticket price and served aboard the train not long af- ter departure from Elkins. There are no
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