The Potomac Eagle Scenic Railroad is a

heritage 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 ...

based in Romney,

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 Bur ...

. The railroad operates excursion trains over a former

Baltimore and 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 ...

line that runs between Green Spring and Petersburg. The

West Virginia State Rail Authority The West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) is the state agency responsible for transportation in West Virginia. The Department of Transportation serves an umbrella organization for seven subsidiary agencies which are directly responsi ...

(SRA) owns the line and freight service is provided by the

South Branch Valley Railroad The South Branch Valley Railroad is a railroad in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The branch line, which parallels the South Branch Potomac River, runs north from Petersburg to Green Spring, where it connects to the national rail net ...

. The Potomac Eagle Scenic Railroad's excursion trains run from Romney to Moorefield with occasional longer trips to Petersburg. All excursions use diesel locomotives. A highlight of the trip is passage along the

South Branch Potomac River The South Branch Potomac River has its headwaters in northwestern Highland County, Virginia near Hightown along the eastern edge of the Allegheny Front. After a river distance of ,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolu ...

through "

The Trough The Trough is a 6-mile long wooded gorge carved by the South Branch Potomac River (SBPR) and situated in the Allegheny Mountains of Hampshire and Hardy Counties, West Virginia, USA. The area was the site of a 1756 skirmish of the French and Ind ...

", an area noted for

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...

sightings.

History

The PESR runs on the track of the

, which was established by the state of

in 1978 to operate a line abandoned by the B&O. Freight service on this line operates on weekdays and occasionally on weekends, so the line is free for excursions on most weekends. In 1989 efforts began to attract an excursion operator, and service began in 1991. Current Engines, The PESR operates a mixture of cars behind four early model diesels: * F7A #722 (ex- Bessemer and Lake Erie), recently repainted into a B&O livery similar to 6604. * FP9A #1755 (ex-

Algoma Central The Algoma Central Corporation is the result of a reorganization of the Algoma Central Railway in 1990. The company claims assets in excess of $400 million and revenue of $280 million. Corporate headquarters is located in St. Catharines, Ontario, C ...

). * GP9 #6604 (ex- B&O), one of the distinctive "torpedo boat" units built for passenger service and restored to its original livery * GP9 #6240 (ex C&O) in

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 und ...

livery * GP9/GP9U #8250 (ex

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 ...

) Former Engines * F3A/F3AU #8016/#116 (ex

Clinchfield Railroad The Clinchfield Railroad was an operating and holding company for the Carolina, Clinchfield and Ohio Railway . The line ran from the coalfields of Virginia and Elkhorn City, Kentucky, to the textile mills of South Carolina. The 35-mile segment ...

), was painted in the Chesapeake and Ohio Passenger paint Scheme but was Sold to CSX and now operates on CSX's Santa Train and other Northeast United States railroads across the northeast part of the country in a Clinchfield gray livery numbered 800. * FPA4 #6793 (ex

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

), was painted in Potomac Eagle Livery along with 722 and 8250. 8250 still has the livery, 722 has a B&O livery and 6793 was sold to the Grand Canyon Railway where it was painted into the Grand Canyon passenger Livery and still works today. * FP7A #118 (ex Clinchfield), kept its CSX scheme before being sold in the early 2000s to the

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 ...

, renumbered to 67, and painted in 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 ...

Scheme.

External links

Potomac Eagle Scenic Railroad
website

Pic of 6793 {{DEFAULTSORT:Potomac Eagle Scenic Railroad Heritage railroads in West Virginia Tourist attractions in Hampshire County, West Virginia Tourist attractions in Hardy County, West Virginia Tourist attractions in Grant County, West Virginia South Branch Valley Railroad Transportation in Hampshire County, West Virginia Transportation in Hardy County, West Virginia Transportation in Grant County, West Virginia

History

See also

External links