B&O’s depot at Pt. Pleasant in summer of 1967. The Pt. Pleasant District switcher is tucked away after finishing its work for the day. Up the bank to the left is New York Central’s Kanawha Secondary line which runs the length of the Kanawha River. Notice the train order signal is green which indicates through trains do not need to stop for orders.
Point Pleasant is located approximately 55 miles downstream from Charleston where the Kanawha River empties into the Ohio River. Also it is approximately 40 miles up the Ohio from Huntington. Railroads that served Pt. Pleasant were the Baltimore & Ohio and the New York Central. Across the Ohio in neighboring Kanauga, Ohio was a branch of the Chesapeake & Ohio that ran from Columbus to Gallipolis. Traffic on these lines was minimal since they were branches but if you were fortunate you could catch a train. which I did one day in the summer of 1967.
B&O’s line through Pt. Pleasant started out as the Ohio River Railroad around 1882 running from Wheeling to Huntington and on to Kenova with a connection to the Norfolk & Western Railway. The B&O acquired the line around 1912. In 1963 the C&O took control of the B&O. Shortly after, the C&O consolidated operations with the B&O in the Huntington area which led to removal of most of B&O’s track through the city and on to Kenova. If interested you can read the book Trackside Around West Virginia 1963-1968 by Bob Withers of this and additional pictures of around Point Pleasant.
Having crossed the bridge over the Kanawha River, the Point Pleasant District Switcher is heading a short distance north toward the depot.
After stopping at the depot, switcher is ready to shove cars to the NYC interchange track.
With caboose still attached, switcher is shoving on the NYC interchange. While many interchanges have been removed over the years this one still exists today.
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