Name: The Virginian Railway
Brand: Princeton Railroad Museum
SKU: 9780738552743
Price: 18.74 USD
Availability: InStock

The Virginian Railway

9780738552743

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

The Virginian Railway existed as a separate entity for only a half century, but that period of American history witnessed two world wars and the emergence of the United States as a global superpower. Henry Huddleston Rogers, who marshaled the development of the U.S. oil industry through his leadership of Standard Oil, invested $30 million of his personal wealth into the making of the Virginian. He speculated that south-central West Virginia coal would fuel America's Industrial Revolution. Although Rogers died before his railroading dream could realize its full potential, the Virginian Railway
continued on from 1909 until its merger in 1959 with the Norfolk and Western Railway (now Norfolk Southern). During that time, the Virginian grew to a point that it was originating from 1,200 to 1,500
hundred-ton carloads of coal per day and serving 60 active coal mines. It earned a reputation for power, service, and efficiency that placed it among the great railroads of America.

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in West Virginia

9780738552835

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

In 1827, a group of Baltimore capitalists feared their city would be left out of the lucrative East Coast-to-Midwest trade that other eastern cities were developing; thus, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was chartered. Political pressure kept the B&O out of Pennsylvania at first, and so track crews
headed for what is now West Virginia, building mountainous routes with torturous grades to Wheeling and Parkersburg. Eventually the B&O financed and acquired a spiderweb of branch lines that covered much of the northern and central parts of the Mountain State. This book takes a close look at the line's locomotives, passenger and freight trains,
structures, and, most importantly, its people who endeared their company to generations of travelers, shippers, and small Appalachian communities.

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in West Virginia

Yeager Airport and Charleston Aviation

9781467125413

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The intriguing history of aviation in Charleston, West Virginia, deserves to fly out of anonymity. Wertz Field opened in Institute in 1930, allowing for the introduction of the first commercial passenger service in 1933. In 1942, the construction of a rubber plant next to the field blocked flight approaches, resulting in its closure. Recognizing the urgent need for air service to the community, industrious West Virginians literally moved mountains to build Kanawha Airport on flat land created by leveling three mountains north of the state's capital, Charleston. Opening in November 1947, Kanawha Airport offered the community convenient air service and became home to the West Virginia Air National Guard. This book covers the history of aviation in the Charleston area, from the first airplane flight in 1912 to the current Yeager Airport, which links the region to the world economy.

Cover image for Yeager Airport and Charleston Aviation, isbn: 9781467125413

Bedlam on the West Virginia Rails

9781626198937

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

In 1949, two bandits from Youngstown, Ohio, boarded a B&O passenger train from Washington, D.C., to Detroit. In the West Virginia mountains near Martinsburg, Luman Lu Ramsdell and his gang stopped the train to rob and terrorize nearly 150 people on board. They pistol-whipped several and shot at others before exiting the train to next rob a tavern and hijack getaway cars. National headlines likened the event to the exploits of Jesse James and the infamous days of the Wild West. Lu and the gang led authorities on a chase that ended with a harrowing shootout five blocks from the White House. Climb aboard with author Wilson Casey for a firsthand account from the head bandit himself in this true tale of America's last moving train robbery.

Cover image for Bedlam on the West Virginia Rails, isbn: 9781626198937

McDowell County Coal and Rail

9781467121927

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Over 200 fascinating postcard images show early coal mining in McDowell County and how it progressed throughout the years.

Coal was discovered in McDowell County, located in the Billion Dollar Coalfield of southern West Virginia, in 1748, but it was not explored or mined until the early 1800s. Mill Creek Coal & Coke Company shipped the first railroad car of coal in March 1883 via the Norfolk & Western Railway. By the early 1900s, hundreds of mining companies dotted the county's landscape. The coal from McDowell County fueled the nation's home heating and steelmaking businesses and both world wars. As the coal industry developed, the local population grew; by 1950, the county had grown from a few hundred people to more than 100,000. .

Yeager Airport and Charleston Aviation

9781467126397

$7.99 $5.99 Save 25%

Yeager airport and Charleston aviation have quite a history.