The North Bend Rail Trail is a
rail trail in north-central and western
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. It is operated by
West Virginia State Parks
There are 37 state parks in the U.S. state of West Virginia . The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR) West Virginia Division of Natural Resources#Parks and Recreation Section, Parks and Recreation Section is the governing body ...
and is part of the
American Discovery Trail
The American Discovery Trail is a system of recreational trails and roads that collectively form a coast-to-coast hiking and biking trail across the mid-tier of the United States. Horses can also be ridden on most of this trail. The coastal tra ...
.
[North Bend Rail Trail official website, from West Virginia State Parks]
/ref>
Running parallel to U.S. Route 50, the rail trail extends from the community of Wolf Summit west of Clarksburg at its eastern end to I-77 near Parkersburg at its western end, passing through Harrison
Harrison may refer to:
People
* Harrison (name)
* Harrison family of Virginia, United States
Places
In Australia:
* Harrison, Australian Capital Territory, suburb in the Canberra district of Gungahlin
In Canada:
* Inukjuak, Quebec, or " ...
, Doddridge, Ritchie and Wood
Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...
Counties and the towns of Salem, West Union, Pennsboro, Ellenboro and Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
, as well as North Bend State Park and numerous unincorporated communities.[ DeLorme (1997). ''West Virginia Atlas & Gazetteer''. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. .]
History
Railroad
The North Bend Rail Trail was built on one of the most distinguished railroad lines in U.S. history.[ Chartered in 1851, the Northwestern Virginia Railroad built 103 miles from the ]Baltimore & Ohio Railroad
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...
(B&O) mainline at Grafton, West Virginia
Grafton is a city in and the county seat of Taylor County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 4,729 at the 2020 census. It originally developed as a junction point for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, serving numerous branches of ...
, to the Ohio River at Parkersburg, West Virginia. The line was sold to the B&O upon completion on May 1, 1857 and became known as the B&O Parkersburg Branch.
The Parkersburg Branch was built to high engineering standards with 23 tunnels and 52 bridges to minimize curvature and offer a maximum grade of 1.5%. During its prime years, the branch hosted the ''Metropolitan'', the ''Cincinnatian
The ''Cincinnatian'' was a List of named passenger trains, named passenger train operated by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O). The B&O inaugurated service on January 19, 1947, with service between Baltimore, Maryland and Cincinnati, Ohio, ca ...
'' and ''National Limited
The ''National Limited'' was the premier train of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) on its route between Jersey City, New Jersey and St. Louis, Missouri, with major station stops in Washington, D.C., and Cincinnati, Ohio. (Buses took passen ...
'', the B&O's premiere passenger train between New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
and St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
. However, with the rise of automobile ownership, ridership declined and the B&O ceased passenger operations in 1971 with the formation of Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...
.[
After the Parkersburg Branch became part of the newly formed ]Chessie System
Chessie System, Inc. was a holding company that owned the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O), the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), the Western Maryland Railway (WM), and Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad (B&OCT). Trains operated unde ...
in 1973, the mountainous route lost favor among railroad management. Amtrak, however, resurrected passenger trains in September 1971, though bypassed many of the sparsely populated towns along the line. Amtrak established the little-used '' West Virginian'', which linked Washington, D.C. to Parkersburg, in response to pressure from U.S. Congressman Harley Orrin Staggers
Harley Orrin Staggers Sr. (August 3, 1907 – August 20, 1991) was an American politician who served 16 terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1949 to 1981, representing West Virginia's 2nd Congressional District as a Democrat ...
, who used his political status to continually push for improved transportation service throughout West Virginia. Ridership remained low and Amtrak rechristened the train the ''Potomac Special'' (derisively called the "Harley's Hornet" or "Staggers Special") before eliminating it in 1973. Beginning in October 1976, another Amtrak train, the '' Shenandoah'', began utilizing the route, only to be discontinued in the fall of 1981 due to low ridership. Amtrak also rerouted the ''Capitol Limited
The ''Capitol Limited'' is a daily Amtrak train between Washington, D.C., and Chicago, running via Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Service began in 1981 and was named after the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's ''Capitol Limited'' which ended in 197 ...
'' over a B&O routing between Pittsburgh and Washington, a train originating in Chicago and continuing service to West Virginia communities east of Clarksburg, effectively bypassing the lightly used Parkersburg Branch.[
By the time of Amtrak's retrenchment in 1981, local freight service was minimal. The Chessie System had already diverted long-distance freight trains to other routes and eliminated local service entirely by 1985. Two years later, the dormant Parkersburg Branch came under the stewardship of CSX Transportation, who abandoned the line between Walker and Wilsonburg and dismantled the tracks in September 1988.][
]
Trail
CSX Transportation initially demanded $1.5 million from prospective buyers for the railroad corridor but eventually sold it to the state of West Virginia for approximately $320,000. The state gradually developed plans to convert the line into a recreational trail and incorporate it into their state park system. Initial trail segments opened in 1991, with additional portions added over several years, encompassing some 60 miles of former railroad that included 50 bridges and 12 tunnels. In 1996, the state purchased the western portion of the abandoned corridor between Walker and Parkersburg, totaling 72 miles.[
Under the management of the state's Department of Natural Resources, the North Bend Rail Trail has become one of the most renowned recreational trails through the Appalachians. It is revered for its mountainous scenery and lengthy tunnels, including the 1,086-foot tunnel No. 2 a short distance east of Salem.][
]
See also
* Ohio River Trail
*List of rail trails
This is a list of rail trails around the world longer than 0.1 miles (160 metres). Rail trails are former railway lines that have been converted to paths designed for pedestrian, bicycle, skating, equestrian, and/or light motorized traffic. Mos ...
*List of West Virginia state parks
There are 37 state parks in the U.S. state of West Virginia . The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR) West Virginia Division of Natural Resources#Parks and Recreation Section, Parks and Recreation Section is the governing body ...
References
External links
*
West Virginia Rails-to-Trails Council website
Photo guide to the North Bend Rail Trail Tunnels
A virtual tour of the trail 10/03
{{authority control
Rail trails in West Virginia
State parks of West Virginia
Protected areas of Doddridge County, West Virginia
Protected areas of Harrison County, West Virginia
Protected areas of Ritchie County, West Virginia
Protected areas of Wood County, West Virginia
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
National Recreation Trails in West Virginia
American Discovery Trail