Allegany Central Railroad
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The Allegany Central Railroad was a
tourist railroad A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...
that took place in three different locations from the 1970s to the 1990s. It originally operated in
Covington, Virginia Covington is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,737, making it the second-least populous city in Virginia. It is surrounded by Alleghany County, of which it is also the county seat. ...
, before ownership disputes moved it to
Cumberland, Maryland Cumberland is a U.S. city in and the county seat of Allegany County, Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its s ...
. From there, ownership disputes moved it again to
Staunton, Virginia Staunton ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 25,750. In Virginia, independent cities a ...
. Rising insurance costs shut down the railroad altogether by the end of the 1990s.


History


Original location in Covington, Virginia

The Allegany Central Railroad was founded by Jack Showalter in Alleghany County,
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, and he acquired
Canadian Pacific The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...
4-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The locomotiv ...
steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
s Nos
1238 Year 1238 ( MCCXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Mongol Empire * January 15– 20 – Siege of Moscow: The Mongols under Batu Khan a ...
and 1286 to be used for their operations. The Allegany Central originally ran over the Chesapeake and Ohio's former Hot Springs branch between Intervale and Covington from 1975 to 1984. Although, it originally reached
Hot Springs A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...
, the Hot Springs resort no longer wanted the railroad near them when the C&O abandoned the line, so the line at Hot Springs was ripped up, and the branch was shortened to stop at Intervale. During this time, No. 1238 was featured in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
mini series ''
Nancy Astor Nancy Witcher Langhorne Astor, Viscountess Astor, (19 May 1879 – 2 May 1964) was an American-born British politician who was the first woman seated as a Member of Parliament (MP), serving from 1919 to 1945. Astor's first husband was America ...
'' chronicling the life of Nancy Astor. However, when operations stopped after 1984, the branch was ripped up.


Move to Cumberland, Maryland

The Allegany Central Railroad's equipment was moved in 1988 to
Cumberland, Maryland Cumberland is a U.S. city in and the county seat of Allegany County, Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its s ...
, where Showalter approached an agreement with the newly-formed Scenic Railroad Development Corporation (SRDC) to operate his trains over their ex-
Western Maryland upright=1.2, An enlargeable map of Maryland's 23 counties and one independent city Western Maryland, also known as the Maryland Panhandle, is the portion of the U.S. state of Maryland that typically consists of Washington, Allegany, and Garret ...
trackage between Cumberland and
Frostburg, Maryland Frostburg is a city in Allegany County, Maryland, United States, and is at the head of the Georges Creek Valley. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. Located west of Cumberland, the town is one of the first cities ...
. It became the first operator to boast excursion trains on the line, using diesel locomotive No. 40, and it continued to host trains there until 1991, when disputes with the SRDC became insurmountable.


Move to Staunton, Virginia

The Allegany Central's equipment was moved again to
Staunton, Virginia Staunton ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 25,750. In Virginia, independent cities a ...
. There, a new excursion company was formed under the name
Virginia Central Railroad The Virginia Central Railroad was an early railroad in the U.S. state of Virginia that operated between 1850 and 1868 from Richmond westward for to Covington. Chartered in 1836 as the Louisa Railroad by the Virginia General Assembly, the railr ...
, operating out of Staunton on the
CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
mainline. Increased insurance requirements led to the termination of service, and most of the equipment was stored out of service in Staunton. Jack Showalter passed away in December 2014.


Sale of locomotives

The ex- Chesapeake and Ohio
EMD GP9 The EMD GP9 is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between 1954 and 1959. The GP9 succeeded the GP7 as the second model of EMD's General Purpose (GP) line, incorporating a new sixteen-cylind ...
diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...
No. 5940 (received by the City as a donation from
CSXT CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
for use on the
Western Maryland Scenic Railroad The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad (WMSR) is a heritage railroad based in Cumberland, Maryland, that operates passenger excursion trains and occasional freight trains using both steam and diesel locomotives over ex-Western Maryland Railway (WM) ...
) was in storage on the Shenandoah Valley Railroad as Virginia Central No. 40. It was sold to the new
Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad The Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad is a heritage and freight railroad in the U.S. states of Virginia and West Virginia. It operates the West Virginia State Rail Authority-owned Durbin Railroad and West Virginia Central Railroad , as well as ...
in 2007, for use in freight service. It was reverted to its original identity as C&O No. 5940 in 2018. Nos 1238 and 1286 were stored in Staunton under tarps for several years, until they were sold to a private owner from
Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
in 2015 after Showalter's passing. Both steam locomotives arrived on the
Prairie Dog Central Railway The Prairie Dog Central Railway is a heritage railway just outside Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Regular trips are every Saturday, Sunday and Holiday Monday from May through September, and last almost four hours with one stop in the rural community ...
in
Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
,
Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...
in September of that year.


Western Maryland Scenic Railroad

The line in Maryland is still in operation as the Western Maryland Scenic, using Ex- Lake Superior and Ishpeming
2-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels. ...
"consolidation" steamer No. 34, albeit renumbered 734 and permanently masqueraded as a
Western Maryland upright=1.2, An enlargeable map of Maryland's 23 counties and one independent city Western Maryland, also known as the Maryland Panhandle, is the portion of the U.S. state of Maryland that typically consists of Washington, Allegany, and Garret ...
locomotive.Stakem, Patrick H. Railroading around Cumberland, Arcadia Press,2008, In 2016, 734 was taken out of operation as it was due for the FRA required boiler inspection. The railroad is now using former Chesapeake and Ohio
2-6-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, a is a locomotive with one pair of unpowered leading wheels, followed by two sets of three pairs of powered driving wheels and one pair of trailing wheels. ...
"
Mallet A mallet is a tool used for imparting force on another object, often made of rubber or sometimes wood, that is smaller than a maul or beetle, and usually has a relatively large head. The term is descriptive of the overall size and proport ...
" No. 1309. After considerable project delays, 1309 is in operation. In the interim, excursion trains were operated using period diesel power.


References

{{reflist Maryland railroads