Xcptshnl1
Well-Known Member
My parents and I grew up in rural West Virginia. To see a train moving coal and lumber up and down the Elk River or Buffalo Creek was an every day thing. Here are a few pictures that I have of places that I call home...
Lumber cut in the sawmill where my mother's father and several of my uncles worked during WWII traveled everyday on this train.
This is an overhead shot of the sawmill town, Swandale, where my mother was born and raised.
This is my mothers uncle who was the conductor of #4 which now serves in Cass Scenic Rail Road in Pocahantas County, WV.
This is a news photo of a lumber train accident where my Uncle, Brooks Litton was killed while loading a log train in 1955.
This is the lumber train from Swandale crossing the Elk River in the early '60s.
This is the train station in Widen, WV where my father was born in 1945. It was the coal town, still one of the largest underground mines in West Virginia.The mines at Widen were the last to be unionized in West Virginia in the 1950's. The mines are now owned by AT Massey Coal. There was a coal war there just like in Matewan in Mingo County West Virginia. The union supporters wore red bandannas around their necks. This is where the term REDNECKS came from. Just a lil trivia...
This was the train that ran twice a day to bring mail and dairy supplies to Widen and Swandale from 1910 until 1960 when a passable road was finally constructed to connect both towns to the county seat, Clay, WV. In 1960 my mother began her Sophomore year at Clay County High School and she had to ride 25 miles to get to the bus which took her the last five miles to the school every day. My Dad started riding it the very next year.
~Mary
Lumber cut in the sawmill where my mother's father and several of my uncles worked during WWII traveled everyday on this train.
This is an overhead shot of the sawmill town, Swandale, where my mother was born and raised.
This is my mothers uncle who was the conductor of #4 which now serves in Cass Scenic Rail Road in Pocahantas County, WV.
This is a news photo of a lumber train accident where my Uncle, Brooks Litton was killed while loading a log train in 1955.
This is the lumber train from Swandale crossing the Elk River in the early '60s.
This is the train station in Widen, WV where my father was born in 1945. It was the coal town, still one of the largest underground mines in West Virginia.The mines at Widen were the last to be unionized in West Virginia in the 1950's. The mines are now owned by AT Massey Coal. There was a coal war there just like in Matewan in Mingo County West Virginia. The union supporters wore red bandannas around their necks. This is where the term REDNECKS came from. Just a lil trivia...
This was the train that ran twice a day to bring mail and dairy supplies to Widen and Swandale from 1910 until 1960 when a passable road was finally constructed to connect both towns to the county seat, Clay, WV. In 1960 my mother began her Sophomore year at Clay County High School and she had to ride 25 miles to get to the bus which took her the last five miles to the school every day. My Dad started riding it the very next year.
~Mary
