Buffalo Creek & Gauley Railroad: Map, Roster, Logo, Photos

Last revised: September 15, 2026

The Buffalo Creek & Gauley was eighteen and a half miles of coal railroad in Clay County, West Virginia, and one of the last all-steam common carriers in the United States. Elk River Coal & Lumber, Joseph Garner Bradley’s company, chartered it on April 1, 1904. The main ran east from a Baltimore & Ohio interchange at Dundon, up Buffalo Creek through Swandale, to the Rich Run mine at Widen. A nine-mile logging branch left at Avoca for Lilly Fork. The paper railroad was supposed to go a hundred miles to Huttonsville. It never did. What it did do was haul coal and lumber with Consolidations until February 27, 1965, when 2-8-0 #13 took the last cleanup train—99 loads and a caboose—down to Dundon. Railfans had already found it. They still talk about Dundon shops, Sand Fork trestle, and Baldwin #4, Ol’ Slobberface.

Buffalo Creek and Gauley 2-8-0 13 between excursion runs at Widen West Virginia circa 1963 Fred Byerly

Buffalo Creek & Gauley 2-8-0 #13 between excursion runs at Widen, West Virginia, circa 1963. Fred Byerly photo. American-Rails.com collection.

On this page: At a glance · Bradley, Dundon, Widen · All steam to 1965 · All-time locomotive roster · 1958–February 27, 1965 · Majestic and Elk River · What was saved · Rail Explorers

At a glance

Item	Detail
Legal name	Buffalo Creek & Gauley Railroad
Reporting mark	BCG
Headquarters	Dundon, West Virginia. Clay County, about 45 miles northeast of Charleston
Owner	Elk River Coal & Lumber Company (J. G. Bradley) until 1958
Charter	April 1, 1904
Main line	Dundon–Swandale–Widen, 18.6 miles. B&O interchange at Dundon (Coal & Coke / Elk River line)
Logging branch	Avoca–Lilly Fork, about 9 miles, Elk River Coal & Lumber
Traffic	Rich Run Mine coal at Widen (opened 1911). Swandale sawmill (1918). Company-town passengers; Mack railbus into 1959
Motive power, 1904–65	All steam. No diesel on the BC&G itself before the last train
Last regular freight	February 27, 1965. 2-8-0 #13, cleanup train, Widen to Dundon
Later operators	Majestic Mining, 1971–1985 (diesels). Elk River Railroad, 1990s to Avoca, coal gone 1999
Today	West Virginia purchased the property December 2020. Rail Explorers railbikes from Dundon, season from 2024

Mileage is the 1930 Official Guide figure used on this page’s long-standing glance. Last-train date is the Eagleson photograph of #13. Information compiled September 15, 2026.

The Buffalo Creek & Gauley Railroad logo. Author’s work.

Bradley, Dundon, Widen

Joseph Garner Bradley built a coal and lumber domain on Buffalo Creek. The railroad was the haul road. Dundon was headquarters, shops, and the B&O door. Widen, named for the company town at the head of the hollow, got the Rich Run drift mine in 1911, the year the steel reached that far. Swandale, about halfway, opened a sawmill in 1918. Cressmont had a dairy. Company stores, miners’ houses, and a daily rhythm of empties up and loads down made an 18-mile railroad look like a world.

The B&O’s Coal & Coke / Elk River line along the Elk River was the way coal left Clay County. BC&G crews took hoppers at Dundon, climbed the creek, spotted them at Rich Run, and brought them back. Lumber from Swandale went the same way in boxcars and on flats. Passenger service was never a varnish card. Coaches doubled as cabooses until steel caboose C-1 arrived in 1959. From 1941 a 1921 Mack AC railbus, Motor A, made the miner runs—two round trips a day into early 1959, among the last scheduled railbuses in the country. An earlier FWD four-wheel car was Motor B, so B came before A.

Small map of the Buffalo Creek and Gauley Railroad Dundon to Widen

A small map of the Buffalo Creek & Gauley’s route. Dundon at the B&O, Widen at Rich Run. American-Rails.com collection.

All steam to 1965

The BC&G never bought a diesel. That is the fact that made the photographs. Other short lines had Geeps. Dundon still had 2-8-0s, a Shay and a Climax out on Lilly Fork, and a Mack bus. Lucius Beebe, writing in 1957, found #3 at lunch at Widen and called it faith in valve gear. John Krause put #4 through the middle of Swandale in Rails Through Dixie. By the early 1960s the last three Consolidations—#4, #13, and #14—were the railroad. Railfans came from the East Coast for a day of run-bys. Larry Fellure’s 1964 color on this page is that season: Sand Fork trestle, Clay Junction, Dundon yard, empties and woodchip cars on a grade that was never a Water Level Route.

Buffalo Creek and Gauley 2-8-0 4 steamed up for railfan photo run-bys fall 1964 Larry Fellure

Buffalo Creek & Gauley 2-8-0 #4 steamed up for railfan photo run-bys at Dundon, West Virginia in the fall of 1964. Larry Fellure photo. American-Rails.com collection.

Only a handful of engines were purchased new. Baldwin 2-8-0 #2, works 37163, November 1911, was the first new rod engine. Baldwin #4, works 59472, September 1926, was the second—and the one that lasted. It had been ordered as Ferrocarril Mexicano 200 and diverted to Bradley. Three two-truck Climaxes, E-1 through E-3, were new for the woods; E-3, Climax 1692 of 1928, was the last Climax the factory built. Everything else was secondhand: B&O and Coal & Coke 4-4-0s and 2-8-0s, a C&O Consolidation, Kelley's Creek & Northwestern power, Mikados, Shays. The Dundon shop did the rest. Crews there rebuilt Climax #3 before it left for a tourist road.

Buffalo Creek and Gauley 2-8-0 13 at Dundon West Virginia April 1963

Buffalo Creek & Gauley 2-8-0 #13 at Dundon, West Virginia, April 1963. Alco Brooks, 1920, as Kelley's Creek & Northwestern #6; to the BC&G in 1954. American-Rails.com collection.

All-time locomotive roster

Split the list the way the property was split. The Buffalo Creek & Gauley was the common-carrier coal road. Elk River Coal & Lumber’s geared engines and the late Plymouth worked Lilly Fork. Diesels belong to Majestic Mining and the Elk River Railroad after 1965. Serials below follow Locobase, Railroad Picture Archives, HawkinsRails, and the Age of Steam / Gaithersburg notes. Where a builder’s number is not in those sources, the row says so rather than inventing one. William E. Warden’s BC&G books remain the narrative roster; this table is the card you can check.

Buffalo Creek & Gauley steam (common carrier)

No.	Type	Builder / date / serial	Notes
1	4-4-0	Secondhand, Baltimore & Ohio / Coal & Coke. Serial not in the sources above	First road engine. Two coaches came with the B&O deal, per local accounts
2	2-8-0	Baldwin, November 1911, 37163	First new rod engine. 20 × 24 in cylinders, 50-in drivers. Scrapped 1930
3	2-8-0	Secondhand, Baltimore & Ohio. Serial not locked here	Still at Widen in Beebe’s 1957 caption
4	2-8-0	Baldwin, September 1926, 59472	New. Diverted from Ferrocarril Mexicano 200. 22 × 28, 50-in drivers, 190 psi, 43,773 lbf TE, engine 194,000 lb. Last steam on the property. See preservation
5	2-8-0	Secondhand, Chesapeake & Ohio. Serial not locked here	—
6	2-8-0	Secondhand, Baltimore & Ohio. Serial not locked here	—
7	2-8-0	Secondhand, Baltimore & Ohio. Serial not locked here	—
8	0-6-0	Acquired 1945. Serial not locked here	Smallest rod engine. Retired 1950
9	2-8-2	Secondhand, Kelley's Creek & Northwestern. Serial not locked here	—
10	2-8-2	Secondhand. Serial not locked here	—
11	2-8-2	Secondhand. Serial not locked here	—
13	2-8-0	Alco Brooks, February 1920, 61579	KC&NW #6. Midwest Steel scrap line; BC&G 1954. Last train February 27, 1965. Age of Steam Roundhouse, Sugarcreek, Ohio
14	2-8-0	Alco, January 1918, 59309	Built as 0-8-0 plant switcher; rebuilt 2-8-0 as KC&NW #1. BC&G about 1950. Static, Gaithersburg Community Museum, Maryland
15–17	2-8-2	Secondhand. #17: Baldwin September 1919, 52301, ex-Savannah & Atlanta 502 / ERC&L 15, 1955–59	#17 scrapped 1970. Others not locked to a serial here

#4 specs (Locobase 15342 / Baldwin card): grate 49.5 sq ft; firebox 208 sq ft including arch tubes; 6,000 gallons, 10 tons coal; engine wheelbase 23.33 ft. Saturated boiler—the slobber on the smokebox that named her came later, in Pennsylvania excursion service, not in Clay County.

Elk River Coal & Lumber geared engines and Lilly Fork

No.	Type	Builder / date / serial	Notes
E-1, E-2	Climax, two-truck	New. Serials not locked here	Woods engines, Dundon shop
E-3 / #3	Climax, two-truck, ~40 ton	Climax, 1928, 1692	Last Climax built. Lilly Fork Cannon Ball. Out of service about 1959–60; rebuilt at Dundon; to Roaring Camp & Big Trees (narrow gauge), stored, not serviceable
E-4	Climax, three-truck	Secondhand. Serial not locked here	—
12, 18	Shay, three-truck	Secondhand. Serials not locked here	Logging assignments
19	Shay, three-truck	Lima, 1904–05, 1568	Ex-Cherry River Boom & Lumber, 1957. Lilly Fork into 1963. Display, Harrod, Ohio, Railroad Park. Last commercial logging Shay on this property
20	Plymouth ~45-ton	Late logging power	Handled Lilly Fork after the Climax came off. Not a BC&G road diesel

Railbuses

No.	Builder / date	Notes
Motor B	FWD four-wheel railbus, first	Named for the FWD Model B. On the property before Motor A
Motor A	Mack AC, 1921. To PRR 4738 (1928), Artemus-Jellico, then BC&G 1941	Two round trips Dundon–Widen into early 1959. Chevrolet engine replaced the Mack gasoline plant about 1948–50. Among the last U.S. scheduled railbuses. Preserved: Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania

Buffalo Creek and Gauley Railroad 1940 Official Guide listing

The Buffalo Creek & Gauley in the 1940 Official Guide—a short listing for a short railroad. Author’s collection.

After February 27, 1965 (not BC&G steam-era diesels)

Operator	Power	Notes
Majestic Mining, 1971–1985	Whitcomb 65-ton #20; later Alco S-2 #2. B&O / Western Maryland Geeps and an RS-1 appear in 1970s lease notes	Reopened Dundon–Widen for a coal mine. Steam was already gone
Elk River Railroad, 1990s–2022	GP units; later stored CSX cars at Gassaway	Bought 61 miles of B&O Elk River (Gilmer–Hartland) plus the BC&G to Widen; refurbished only to Avoca. AEP dropped the coal in 1999. Operations stopped March 2022; GPs to Durbin & Greenbrier Valley. Company page: Elk River

Buffalo Creek and Gauley 2-8-0 13 pulling hoppers at Dundon West Virginia fall 1964 Larry Fellure

Buffalo Creek & Gauley 2-8-0 #13 pulls hoppers on the main at Dundon, West Virginia, fall 1964. Larry Fellure photo. American-Rails.com collection.

1958 to February 27, 1965

In 1958 Elk River Coal & Lumber sold out. Coal went to Clinchfield Coal (Pittston). The Swandale mill went to W. M. Ritter Lumber, which leased the railroad to keep the lumber moving. Rich Run shut in December 1963. Trains still used the Widen end to pull the mine apart. Regular work shrank to Swandale: empty boxcars and flats up, lumber down to the B&O. The last loads left in February 1965. Michael Eagleson photographed #13 at Widen on that cleanup—99 loads, caboose on the rear. That was the last steam freight on this railroad, and among the last on any common carrier in the East.

Buffalo Creek and Gauley 2-8-0 13 last run Widen West Virginia 99 loads caboose Michael Eagleson

Buffalo Creek & Gauley 2-8-0 #13 at Widen with the last run: a cleanup train of 99 loads and a caboose. Michael Eagleson photo.

Buffalo Creek and Gauley 2-8-0 4 empty hoppers and woodchip car west of Swandale fall 1964 Larry Fellure

Buffalo Creek & Gauley 2-8-0 #4 with empty hoppers and a woodchip car, uphill west of Swandale, fall 1964. Larry Fellure photo. American-Rails.com collection.

Majestic Mining and the Elk River Railroad

The charter did not stay buried. Majestic Mining reopened Dundon to Widen in 1971 for another coal hole. Power was a Whitcomb 65-ton, then an Alco S-2. That operation lasted until 1985. The rails sat again.

In the 1990s the Elk River Railroad bought the old B&O Elk River line, Gilmer to Hartland, about 61 miles, and the BC&G as far as Widen, but only put Avoca back in service for a mine whose coal American Electric Power rejected in 1999. After that the company lived on CSX car storage and repair at Gassaway. The Coal & Coke south of Gassaway came up in the 2010s. Elk River stopped in March 2022 and sent its Geeps to the Durbin & Greenbrier Valley. That is an Elk River story. The Buffalo Creek & Gauley is the steam railroad that ended in 1965.

Buffalo Creek and Gauley 2-8-0 4 Sand Fork Trestle photo run-by fall 1964 Larry Fellure

Buffalo Creek & Gauley 2-8-0 #4 about to cross Sand Fork Trestle on a photo run-by, fall 1964. Larry Fellure photo. American-Rails.com collection.

What was saved

#4 went to Francis Ede and the Quakertown & Eastern in 1967, then Carter Cash / Southwest Virginia Scenic, then the North Carolina Transportation Museum in 1978, lettered Southern 604 on the Spencer shop grounds until 2001. Durbin & Greenbrier Valley bought her in 2015 for Cass. A new boiler is the plan; she is not under steam. Confirm status with Cass / D&GV before you plan a trip around her.

#13 is at the Age of Steam Roundhouse, Sugarcreek, Ohio (Jerry Jacobson, 1993). #14 is on display at the Gaithersburg Community Museum, Maryland. ERC&L Climax #3 is at Roaring Camp, Felton, California, disassembled. Shay #19 is at Harrod, Ohio. Motor A is at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. Cass holds an ERC&L American log loader and a bobber logging caboose. Three Consolidations survived from a railroad that never had a diesel of its own.

Buffalo Creek and Gauley 2-8-0 4 clearing cylinder cocks Dundon yard fall 1964 Larry Fellure

Buffalo Creek & Gauley 2-8-0 #4 clears its cylinder cocks at Dundon, fall 1964. Larry Fellure photo. American-Rails.com collection.

Rail Explorers

A Buffalo Creek and Gauley Railroad Co-Operative formed in 2005 to run excursions Dundon to Widen. Volunteers cleared track, put a campground and lodge on the old Dundon yard, and got two cabooses and a GE 35-ton. The project stalled.

West Virginia bought the property in December 2020. Rail Explorers opened pedal railbikes on a stretch out of Dundon on June 8, 2024, a 12-mile round trip along the creek. The 2025 season was advertised from April 19. Confirm hours and whether the operation is running on railexplorers.net before you go. American-Rails.com does not operate the bikes. The B&O connection at Dundon is not a through freight railroad today.

Buffalo Creek and Gauley 2-8-0 4 empty hoppers from B and O interchange Clay Junction fall 1964 Larry Fellure

Buffalo Creek & Gauley 2-8-0 #4 pulls empties from the B&O interchange at Clay Junction, West Virginia, fall 1964. Larry Fellure photo. American-Rails.com collection.

The Buffalo Creek & Gauley is 18.6 miles, a mine, a mill, three Consolidations, and a February afternoon in 1965. The roster is why people still know the name.

Sources

Warden, William E., Jr. Buffalo Creek & Gauley. The standard narrative roster and Clay County operating history
Stover, Brooks. buffalocreekandgauley.com. Dundon shops, Motor A, Lilly Fork, 1958 sale, 1963–65 operations
Llanso, Steve. Locobase 13799 (#2, Baldwin 37163, November 1911) and 15342 (#4, Baldwin 59472, September 1926; FCM 200 diversion)
Railroad Picture Archives, BCG roster: #4, #13 (Brooks 61579), #14 (Alco 59309)
HawkinsRails, Buffalo Creek & Gauley: #14 to Gaithersburg; #4 to NCTM / Southern 604 / D&GV Cass
Age of Steam Roundhouse, Sugarcreek, Ohio: #13, KC&NW #6, 1954, Jacobson 1993
Krause, John. Rails Through Dixie (1965). Beebe and Clegg, The Age of Steam (1957)
Official Guide of the Railways, 1940. Listing reproduced on this page
West Virginia Department of Commerce / Wonderful West Virginia, April 2025: Rail Explorers, Dundon
American-Rails.com: Elk River Railroad; West Virginia; Cass Scenic Railroad

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