The former Middle Fork Railroad Company #7 steam locomotive, a Heisler geared type, which is now owned by the West Virginia Railroad Museum, arrived back in the Mountain State just recently. Originally operated on the above mentioned West Virginia shortline, this locomotive was later relocated to North Carolina, where it has remained till a couple days ago. The West Virginia Railroad Museum has, in turn, leased this locomotive to the Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad at Durbin, West Virginia, who will eventually restore this Heisler to a serviceable condition again, in its original Middle Fork Railroad appearance and lettering, where it will then operate at Durbin. The locomotive was unloaded at Durbin on Saturday, June 12th, after its delivery there via four semi-trailer trucks. This locomtove is in a complete disassembled state of several hundred various parts/pieces. Many of these parts will need repair or replacement before the final reassembley of this Heisler can be made. It is expected that the restoration work will require several years time to accomplish and its work will not begin immedately, as the Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad first plans to enlarge its Durbin enginehouse to house this locomotive and its own required repair area. Both the West Virginia Railroad Museum and the Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad is pleased to have this former West Virginia steam locomtive back "home" again, and will it will require considerable effort, both expect the locomotive to operate again, sometime in a future year.

http://www.wvrailmuseum.com
gafizer@iceweb.net

You guys aren't scared of anything.....

Best wishes - i know the parts intimately, and you will have about 80% new Heisler to build before you can turn a wheel.

Nice she is home again.

dave

irondave@bellsouth.net

Congratulations on conitued progress.

What you are doing is 500x better than that poor engine stuck in Biddeford, Mass.

amiller@rtms-movietrains.com

Anything left at the original MFRR site? When was it torn up? Did it operate with a diesel after the Heisler?

ryarger@rypn.org

> Anything left at the original MFRR site?
> When was it torn up? Did it operate with a
> diesel after the Heisler?

Nothing remains of the old Middle Fork Railroad today, it was abandoned some years ago and the trackage removed. I'm not sure of when the last of the trackage was removed, as the rail remained in place for sometime, then certain of the better rail sections were removed to be used by someone else at some other location. Then afterward of this, the remainder of the trackage was removed. If I recall correctly some of the steel was leased rail and this is what, I think, was removed first.

Before the Heisler ceased to operate, the railroad company acquired a used diesel-electric locomotive, then others after the Heisler became unserviceable as backup power for the line. These were Whitcomb centercabs and a GE unit. The line ceased to operate with the end of mining operations by the railroad's only coal shipper, but later a new strip mine operator came forward, as well as also being the new operator of the railroad, and a used Baldwin diesel-electric switcher type locomotive was acquired, which was the line's only serviceable motive power in the last years of the railroad's operation. Once the final coal supply was exhausted, the railroad was shut-down again and set idle till eventually formally abandoned, with the steel removed as mention above. The Baldwin was sold to another mine operator located outside Buckhannon, West Virginia.



gafizer@iceweb.net

Sorry for the error.

I spent a ragged 16 months or so working in Framingham; lived in Shrewsbury, not far from Worcester. There was no time for doing anything remotely resembling "railfanning," and I did not learn the geography as well as I should have. Come to think about it, railfanning opens a lot of intellectual doors -- geography; architecture; history; art (as in photography); all sorts of sciences; literature; and many more.

Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, whatever....once you're north of Hagerstown, you're "up Nawth" to us Southerners! ;-)

I have decided to never again work so far north that subs and hoagie sandwiches are called "grinders."


amiller@rtms-movietrains.com