Pocahontas Branch on Pocahontas Division

[NW Mailing List]

An excerpt from by new book “The Norfolk & Western in West Virginia ~ 1881 – 1959” on the Pocahontas & Western:

 

 

The Western Branch

After the N&W acquired the Iaeger & Southern and

South West Virginia Railroad Company charters

in 1901, which gave the railroad a right-of-way

from Iaeger on the main line, up the Dry Fork

to the mouth of Jacobs Fork, and up Jacobs Fork

to Horsepen Creek, the N&W began considering

a alternative route from Iaeger to Bluefield. (See

pages 158-161)

The N&W performed surveys of the Tug Fork,

Clear Fork and Dry Fork in 1901 and 1902, and

produced six alternative routes between Iaeger

and Bluefield. Three routes went up the Dry Fork,

Jacobs Fork, Horsepen Creek through Low Gap and

Harmons Gap to Abbs Valley; one route went up

Dry Fork and Beech Creek to Indian Creek and then

down Indian Creek to Cedar Bluff and a connection

with the Clinch Valley Line.

On May 4, 1904, the Iaeger & Southern

stockholders voted to extend the railroad from Low

Gap to the West Virginia/Virginia state line near

Harmons Gap in McDowell County.

The Pocahontas & Western Railroad Company

was chartered in Virginia on May 12, 1904, by N&W

personnel. The plan was to build from the junction

of Coal Creek and Laurel Creek at Pocahontas (MP

N-375.65) along Laurel Creek to Harmons Gap and

connect with the Iaeger & Southern, a distance of 8.3

miles. Contractor Boxley, Gibson, Waugh & Company

was awarded a contract on June 21, 1905 for the

grading and masonry of the first 3.7 miles of the

Pocahontas & Western.

The N&W’s June 30, 1906 Annual Report

noted that work was underway on 3.7 miles up

Laurel Creek to the Boissevain Operation of the

Pocahontas Collieries Company. The June 30,

1907 Annual Report stated, The Pocahontas and

Western Railroad Company completed and put into

operation 2.90 miles of its railroad in May, 1907,

to the coal tipple of the Boissevain Operation of

the Pocahontas Consolidated Collieries Company,

Inc., and on June 30th, 1907, a total of 3.12 miles

of track had been laid...” Boxley, Gibson, Waugh &

Company was paid $130,157.93 for its contract work,

which included building 18 bridges from 45 feet to

125 feet long.

Boxley, Gibson & Waugh was awarded a second

contract on November 28, 1906, to extend the

Pocahontas & Western by 3.81 miles. The N&W’s

June 30, 1907 Annual Report continued, “... Grading

is in progress on 3.81 miles above the present

end of track to the Thorne Coal Operation of the

Pocahontas Consolidated Collieries Company, Inc.

The N&W’s June 30, 1908 Annual Report stated,

“At date of June 30th, 1908, the operated length of

the Pocahontas and Western Railroad was 3.29 miles

of main line and 1.13 miles of sidings. Work upon the

extension to the Thorne Operation of the Pocahontas

Consolidated Collieries Company, Inc., a distance of

3.81 miles above Boissevain, was temporarily stopped

in November, 1907, upon which date the roadbed was

about 70 per cent completed.

The work on the Pocahontas & Western was never

restarted as the coal company decided to build their

coal operation at Jenkinjones on the Tug Fork Branch,

rather than at Thorne. Its operating length remained

at 3.29 miles with 2.31 miles of sidings. Boxley,

Gibson & Waugh was paid $108, 612.20 for its work

on extending the railroad toward Thorne, Virginia.

On April 29th, 1910, the N&W purchased the

railroad, property and franchises of the Pocahontas

and Western Railroad Company and began operating

it as the Western Branch. The total cost of the

Pocahontas & Western to the N&W was $414,172.15.

The original Pocahontas Colliery was closed on

October 13, 1955, The Boissevain Colliery operated

into the 1960s.

 

Anyone interested in the 496-page book, shipping around Nov 1, contact me at aschust2 at comcast.net

 

Alex Schust

 

 

 

From: NW-Mailing-List [mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org] On Behalf Of NW Mailing List
Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2018 11:53 AM
To: NW Mailing List
Subject: Pocahontas Branch on Pocahontas Division

 

Hey Folks,

 

I am looking for some general information about the Pocahontas Branch Line that ran from near Bluestone through Pocahontas, VA and terminated just past Boissevan, VA. This is the former Pocahontas and Western RR acquired by the N&W in the 1910's. It is near Bluestone where it connected to the Pocahontas Division Main Line.

 

I have a Stations and Sidings listing from 1960 and the branch is still listed in it. However, current google maps only show remnants of the track roadbed but no visible track. Recent second hand observations indicate the track is no longer. 

 

My question ... when did the N&W abandon this line? When were the tracks pulled up? Are the old Pocahontas Coal Co. stores still standing in either town (Pocahontas and Boissevain). I assume the coal tipples are long gone.

 

Thanks!

 

Kevin Byrd

Chesterfield, VA 

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