Hello,
I’ll be within a couple of hours of the C&O Railway Heritage Center and the Virginia Museum of Transportation while on vacation. To those of you who have visited either of these attractions, would you consider them worth the 2 hour drive?
Thanks
Pierce Dickens
Finding out the history of railroading, the machines and the men who got us to today, I think is a very important part of the hobby and pursuit…I was the the B&O Museum as a kid…but reccommend either and all railroad musuems…take a quick jaunt north to Strasburg, PA too, and drive west to Altoona for that matter, or down south the North Carolina’s Spencer Shops…I don’t care which one you choose, but they are all worth the ride!!! And the price of admission, too!
Thanks! It’s always good to hear another person’s opinion about these things. Actually, before we visit Virginia we will be in Altoona and Strasburg (for the 2nd time) and I have visited Spencer Shops and the B&O Museum before as well. I’m blessed with a wife who indulges my intense interest in all things related to trains - both real and model.
PD
Pierce,
Not sure of how much time you’ll have but if in the Va. and West Va. area there are several Tourist Railroads that surely would be worth the time and travel yo enjoy.
Here’s a link to get yu started:
http://seniortravel.about.com/od/ustrave1/a/WVTrainTrips.htm
Hope you’ll post the results of your trip here!
You may not find any tour guides per se around the C&O Heritage Center in Clifton Forge (it’s being operated by volunteers of the C&O Historical Society), but you will be able to see what’s out on the grounds. That includes a C&O GP7 and (for now, anyway) C&O 4-8-4 614. There are a number of passenger cars, freight cars, cabeese, and a relocated control cabin (don’t call 'em towers on the old C&O!) and a currently-abuilding replica of a C&O standard depot which may, someday, serve as the local station for Amtrak’s Cardinal. I’m not sure that there’s even an admission. But even if nobody’s around, you’re close enough to see some pretty hefty mainline (coal) action.
The Virginia Museum of Transportation still houses N&W 611 (4-8-4) and 1218 (2-6-6-4), and has quite a number of indoor exhibits, including a good-sized model railroad. I would assume that it’s also run by volunteers, but they’re a bit more established than the folks at Clifton Forge. The O. Winston Link Museum, in the old N&W depot, is not far away…neither is the N&W main line for train observation. I’d say they’re both worthwhile.
As a member of the C&O Heritage Center I can assure you that there is usually a guide there from 10am to 4pm everyday, especially in the warm months as mentioned above there is quite a bit to see, the admission is $6.00. If you come on a Sat we usually try and have the H-8 (7.5" guage live steam) steamed up for rides, The GP-7 is in use daily giving rides. Hope this helps
Very sorry to have gotten it wrong…I just walked in the April day I was there; people were working on the depot. My business was in the C&OHS office downtown (the upstairs archive and boiler room), and we didn’t have time to get back there afterwards. I’d still say it’s worth going to!