C&O Historical Society Clifton Forge, VA Visit (and 2-month closure, Jan & Feb, 2017)

Model Railroader Prototype information for the modeler
1

My wife and I headed to Virginia to visit with her kin over the Christmas holiday and just happened upon the neat facility that the C&O Historical Society maintains at their Heritage Center in Clifton Forge, VA. We didn’t have time to linger as we had already spent the morning touring the Cold War-era former Congressional bunker at the Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs, right on the WV/VA border, but did have time to survey the gift shop.

We were welcomed graciously and found a well-stocked shop full of C&O and other lines items, plus a considerable amount of model railroad rolling stock, structures, and other supplies. I thanked them for their quick service in getting a recent holiday gift to me for overseas shipment. Maiko found several items needed for stocking stuffers for her nieces.

It’s right off I-64 in downtown Clifton Forge, so makes a great rest stop…except for the next two months when they will be closed for a winter break. I suspect normal mail order ops will continue (but neglected to ask to confirm), unless you see a notice on their order webpage. Here’s a link to their website, with many C&O resources: http://cohs.org/heritage/features/

Here’s a long view of the museum and some of its outdoor exhibits.

The former station, now HQ/store/etc

There’s usually plenty of action on the adjacent CSX tracks, but seemed to be in some sort of maintenance lull as we only caught this Hyrailer during our 20-minute visit.

The ubiquitous GP7

I hope to find time the next time through to see the bulk of the exhibits

2

Mike:

Thanks for the heads up, and glad you had a good time. I’m surprised you made no mention of C&O 4-8-4 Greenbrier no. 614. Was she in a position to be viewed? I hope to get down that way and see the exhibits in a couple months.

Tom

3

Tom,

Maybe. We just took a quick look at everything past the front gate from the parking lot. She’s out there somewhere, I just didn’t get that far.

4

Rode past on the Cardinal during the week before New Years. 614 is located behind (east of I guess) the tower as viewed in the first photo posted.

5

Look carefully above the red car.

6

[Y]

Tom

7

Ahh, OK.

We stopped for like 20 minutes and half that was in the HQ/gift shop, then walked around what was obviously not part of the inner perimeter where admission is charged just outside that bldg and in the parking lot. Not being C&O-knowledgable and without a program, I’m lost…[D)]

8

Thanks for posting. This is on my short list of places to visit along with Cass someday.

9

Don,

Glad to pass along the news and some pics. It was an unscheduled stop on a tightly scheduled holiday trip and the weather was less than ideal. I hope to get another chance to spend some quality time there, as they have some really nice exhibits (not even including the ones I’m unfamiliar with!). It’s also a beautiful setting and right next to active tracks. Great location!

I’ll put in a good word for Cass, also. The wife is a bit of a railfan, too, and when she’s impressed, she lets me know. Cass is cool.