What would have to be one of the most obscure railroads you never heard about would be the Twin Mountain & Potomac, a narrow gauge line that ran between Burlington, W.Va. and Keyser, where there was an interchange with the Baltimore & Ohio.

It was an unusual narrow gauge in a variety of ways. It was only opened in 1911-1912, and as a result of that late date (only three years after Ford introduced the Model T) had a short life, being abandoned by 1919. It was owned by an orchard interests, and its prime business was to haul fruit from Burlington and Twin Mountain to the outside world. Unusual for many shortlines, in particular narrow gauge roads at this time, everything from locomotives to rails and spikes were purchased new.

The roster consisted of two Baldwin standard 4-6-0s, numbered 1 and 2. These engines were very similar to the Ten Wheelers on the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina ("Tweetsie), and in fact, No. 2 of the TM&P would eventually wind up on the Tweetsie as that road's second No. 8.

It is possible to trace parts of the right of way today. The station at Burlington survives and is used as a library.

For those who are modelers here, locomotives very close to the TM&P's 4-6-0s are available from Bachmann in On30 and No. 1 gauge.

The only two photos I could directly find on line on the TM&P are these two at Keyser, W.Va.:

http://wvhistoryonview.org/imageviewer/ ... gitalImage

http://wvhistoryonview.org/imageviewer/ ... gitalImage

Then there is this blessing, almost from Heaven, a pretty comprehensive article on the "Two Mules and a Pony," starting on page 81:

http://mrhpub.com/2016-10-oct/online/ht ... =1&noflash

The cars are perhaps even more interesting than the two Baldwins that were the motive power. Purchased new, the cars were as long or nearly so as their standard gauge brethren in 1912, and the passenger cars came from an unusual source, too--Niles Car Company, known more for interurbans than steam road stock.

This road's been gone for longer than most of us have been alive. . .but how many of us wish we could go and ride it today?

I would.

Great little road. If it had been planed just a few years later it would never have been built. Paved roads killed off a lot of small railroads.