Traveling E ...

  2nd day - Brooklyn - Southside Junction Trail, West VA (6 miles long, below the Rend Trail) Not this was a super easy ride, unlike the rails to trails rides here in Virginia ...now I guess it truly depends on what you are hoping for ...I don't mind some bumps ...but these trails in West VA are nuts. So bumpy and rough. I ached for days. Look at that switch for the train ... it could be moved ... said "Bethlehem" which was a nickname I had as a kid, I didn't make it so ... others for some reason called me that? No clue why? lol!! We had never been down trails that we can recall that actually have the rails left. Now some of the railroad ties but not the melt parts and so on. SO DIFFERENT. Have you had a chance to see this in person, the railroad trails before? Thank you for stopping by. Hope you are well. Take Care. Beth ( ; 

  Rend Trail, West VA ( "Thurmond" view - 2 miles) first day of biking W.P. "Paddy" Rend, a determined coal operator, financed the construction of this to his mines at Rend (renamed Minden after 1905). Started in 1901, 4.83 miles, 5 trestles, and $350,000 later this line was completed in 1904. Soon after completion Paddy Rend sold the rail line to the C & O Railway and his coal rights to another mine operator for $1,250,000.  Construction of this line was anything but easy, Blasting rock necessary to widen the roadbase for the railroad line. Look drill marks as you cross some of the trestles. Last train in 1968 - a few years before the rocks separated from the hillside. today this trail serves in transportation corridor for determined hikers, bikers, and wildlife. Plants narrow the trail and gravity will always be in... (Please realize the sign was kind of curved so some of the words are not there, hope this make sense to you, if not maybe add a word or 2 to ma...

  Stone Cliff Trail - 2.7 miles  This was the 3rd bike trail we rode in West VA and let me tell you they are rough and make you bones and body ache!!! We did 3 different trails and 3 different days ...This was the most difficult or one which had us both going OUCH! It was fun but messed up my hubs bike ...he is working on it ... bringing it back to health asap, so we can ride again soon. Hope you are well. Take Care and enjoy the day. Beth ( ; 

  Thomas Burford Pugh Memorial Bridge Stone Cliff Bridge, route 25 Tunney Hunsaker Bridge, Fayette Station Road, New River Gorge We met the nicest couple on this Tunny bridge, from Georgia ...so friendly and we chatted for a good long while we were there. So fun. I really enjoy meeting like minded folks who just wanna see what you are up on your travels. Just a blast!! Fun times!! Hope you are enjoying these views from a trip we took in late August 2024. Thanks for stopping in ... hope you are well. Take Care. Beth ( ; 

  Sand Stone Falls "found within the nation's 63rd national park, sandstone falls is the largest waterfall in the New River Gorge National Park & Preserve. spanning over 1,500 feet wide, large series of falls is divided by a collection of small islands." Such a gorgeous area, I know when we first visited this falls, it was not apart of the newly made national park ...so that is fun to see it now that the National Park is all fancy and so on. LOL! Really was a gorgeous day when we were there, a bit of a warmer day (humid) and we did get some water to drink ...but so worth the visit. amazing. Thanks for stopping bye. Hope you are well. Chat with you again soon. Take Care. Beth ( ; 

  Prince, West VA 1870, 2 brothers, William & James Prince, purchased 300 acres of land. Brought from General Alfred Beckley would become the town of Prince. The brothers arrived in the gorge before the building of the railroad in 1873. The earliest business were the Prince Bros General Store and a ferry crossing. As the construction of the railroad began, their businesses flourished. The Stretcher's Neck tunnel construction and nearby bridge construction especially provided good business. The C & O Railroad passed through the Prince Bros.' land ... sold the right-of-way agreement to the train folks ... agreement allowed C&O to pass through their lands so long as every train stopped in Prince. Prince was never a mining town, one of the only few in the New River Gorge. No coal company ever own the town.    17 people call Prince their home today. Amtrak still uses the Prince depot as a stop three days a week with over 1,000 passengers a year. Although the Prince...

Thurmond, Fayette County, West Virginia. on the New River. During the heyday of the coal mining in the New River Gorge. Thurmond was a prosperous town with a number of businesses and facilities for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway... ... shipments of coal from the surrounding coal fields. The town of Thurmond grew as the coal and timber industries expanded in the gorge. The railroad expanded the rail yard to meet the railroad's needs.  1910, Thurmond was the chief railroad center on the C& O Railway mainline. 1910, Thurmond was the 1st in revenue receipts. It produced more freight tonnage than Cincinnati, Ohio and Richmond, VA combined. Freight was not the only key to this town's success. 7,500 passengers passed through Thurmond in 1910. Some visited as tourists, delighting in all Thurmond had to offer. Other came for business or new job opportunities. Peak of Thurmond, had 2 hotels and 2 banks. downtown area had restaurants, clothing stores, jewelry store, and dry-good stor...