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The Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad, Home Of "The Durbin Rocket"

The Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad is a tourist railroad based in Durbin, West Virginia operating over five miles of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway's former Greenbrier Division, most of which today is a state-owned rail/trail (the Greenbrier River Trail). And, like the trail, the D&GV is owned by the State Rail Authority. While the railroad does not offer a long train ride like some other tourist lines, or even a nice dinner with its trip, it does allow for spectacular scenic views of West Virginia's Appalachian Mountains along the banks of the Greenbrier River. And for those interested in rail history, the Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad features an operating Climax geared steamed locomotive, originally built in 1910 for the Moore-Keppel Lumber Company in Randolph County.

The Durbin and Greenbrier Valley is actually one arm of an increasingly popular tourist line, the West Virginia Central. Both the WVC and D&GV are owned by the State Rail Authority of West Virginia. However, their operations are under contract to the owners of the D&GV. Today, along with the D&GV's popular train, The Durbin Rocket, the WVC operates climate-controlled tourist trains along parts of the old Western Maryland Railway around Elkins (complete with locomotives painted in WM livery).

The West Virginia Central, aside from the venerable Cass Scenic Railroad with its lovable Shays, is West Virginia’s best-known little railroad. Although state-owned and run in conjunction with excursion trains like the New Tygart Flyer, the WVC is also very much a short line operation serving a number of industries around Elkins and Dailey, West Virginia. The WVC’s lines date back to mostly that of the Western Maryland and its operations in and around Elkins (the railroad’s southwestern hub).

The WVC itself came to life in 1998 when the State of West Virginia won a long legal battle with CSX to keep the rails in place between Tygart Junction and Bergoo, West Virginia (some 140+ miles of railroad) with a right to purchase them, which it quickly did. After finding an operator in the way of John and Kathy Smith, owners of the nearby little Durbin & Greenbrier Valley and a real knack for running a railroad, the West Virginia Central has really taken off over the past ten years.

The railroad’s latest milestone includes moving its headquarters to the former WM two-story brick station in Elkins, once home to the “Wild Mary’s" large freight yard which served as both its western terminus as well as staging operations for the numerous coal branches that once fanned out around the Elkins area. In the early 1990s CSX, with the loss of coal mines and traffic in the region moved to close the yard, ripping up the tracks and removing the bridge that was used to access the yard.

For more information on riding the Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad, and its signature train The Durbin Rocket, please click here to visit its website for directions and scheduling information. Also, for more information about the West Virginia Central and its available passenger trains please click here.

For more information on tourist railroads like the Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad you might want to consider the book Tourist Trains Guidebook from the editors of Kalmbach Publishing's Trains magazine. Given excellent reviews by readers this guidebook covers nearly all of the tourist railroads and museums (over 400) operating in the country in fine detail with accompanying reviews about each. So, if you’re interested in locating a tourist train or railroad near you, or simply want to know more about a particular one, you will certainly not be disappointed in Trains’ guidebook to tourist railroads and museums. In any event, if you're interested in perhaps purchasing this book please visit the link below which will take you to ordering information through Amazon.com, the trusted online shopping network.

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