CSX runs office car specials

Chesapeake and Ohio Historical Magazine, May 2001 by Moore, James D

During the month of October 2000, CSXT ran two office car specials through the hills of West Virginia.

The first trip occurred on the morning of October 14th with CSXT deadheading train P416-10 from Huntington to Charleston for its 12:30 pm departure east to Thurmond.

CSXT planned the trip for a group that was concluding a conference in Charleston. Passengers were treated to dinner on the train while riding through the New River Gorge.

At Thurmond the engines were run around the train, waited a while, and then headed back to Charleston at around 5:00 pm. After the train was taken back to Huntington and serviced, it went back east to meet up with another special to transport CSX President Snow to an event.

The train consisted of CSXT locomotives Nos. 211 and 9993, with business cars Washington, Youngstown, Illinois, West Virginia, Greenbrier, Michigan, and Georgia.

On October 23, 2000, CSXT ran another special for the Engineering Department to look at the new Fork Creek mine loadout at Hollyhurst on CSXT's Big Coal Subdivision.

The railroad had already loaded a few trains at the new mine, but it was history in the making to see a passenger train cross the Big Coal River and proceed up to the mine. At 3:15 pm, CSXT No. 7700, with business cars Indiana and Massachusetts, stopped at milepost CLL 2.5 to open the switch and allow the train to enter the branch. After detraining the passengers, the train backed out on the main, reversed direction, and then went east 18 miles to Seth to turn on the wye. After returning to Hollyhurst the train backed across the bridge and up to the mine to reboard the passengers. The "Fork Creek Special" didn't depart for Huntington until about 5:30 pm because of a maintenance window that was in effect on the Coal River and Kanawha Subdivisions.

-James D. Moore