C & O Railway Heritage Center- Clifton Forge, Virginia

       We finished our trip on Friday with a visit to the C & O Railway Heritage Center in Clifton Forge, Virginia. Our trip was an up close look at the history of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway and its history from its beginnings as a part of the James River Company to its modern day existence as part of CSX. Being that George Washington was the former President of the James River Company, C & O is considered to be George Washington's Railroad.

The newly restored JD Cabin. This is where the trains in the yard were controlled. Why would it be important to have a high vantage point?

Tom Hefner was our tour-guide for the day.

This is the 614, a 4-8-4 locomotive built by the Lima Locomotive Works.

The 614 was repainted as the Presidential Express for display at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Notice the distinctive Lima red diamond emblem on the engine.

Notice the wheels and how they are powered on the 614. How are they different than those we saw on the gear-driven Shays and Climax? Why would these be different?

This is the Gadsby's Tavern dinning car. It was a part of the famed George Washington Route that ran from Washington, D.C. to Cincinnati, Ohio. It was one of the first two trains to be air conditioned.

This is the inside of the Gadsby's Tavern dinning car. We had the privilege of eating our lunches in the dinning car!

This is a hand-powered cycle to inspect sections of the railway. We were told this particular car was ridden each day to survey an 84 mile section of railway. The operator would pump the handle back and forth to propel the cycle.

We traveled over 200 miles to find out about the founder and namesake of Huntington, West Virgina, Collis P. Huntington. Huntington was the president of the C & O Railroad when Huntington, WV was founded.