Category: Photo Section

Towards the former west end of the larger of the two Chesapeake and Ohio yards in Hinton stands this monument to the steam era, an enormous coaling tower built in the style of C&O’s “modern” installations (also in this style is the much smaller coaling tower at Thurmond, WV, built in 1922 and seen in this up-close view on the right).    Hinton was a critical facility for both classification and locomotive servicing on the main line across West Virginia.   To the west, the New River Subdivision follows the course of the New River (some of the most spectacular scenery in the eastern U.S.), resulting in a route with many curves but with grades kept to a minimum.   To the east, however, the Alleghany Subdivision, after following the course of the Greenbrier River, climbs to the summit at Alleghany, VA.   Perhaps Hinton’s most famous role, late in the steam era, was dispatching eastbound loaded coal trains with two of the most powerful steam locomotives ever built, the C&O’s H-8 2-6-6-6 “Allegheny” class.    Leaving Hinton, every coal train bound for Tidewater at Newport News was powered by an H-8 on the front, with a 2nd example of the class cut in in front of the caboose.  The helper would remain there until the train crested the grade at Alleghany, at which point it would cut off and return light to Hinton.    Photographs by Frederick J. Ripley