4 HISTORICAL AND INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT. 



road, was completed in July, 1879, and to Buckhannon in June, 

 1883. In 1891 and 1892, the West Virginia and Pittsburgh 

 Railroad Company took possession of the line and changed it 

 to standard gauge. 



The same company extended the road as a standard gauge 

 from Weston to Flatwoods in 1890 and 1891, and to Camden- 

 on-Gauley in 1891 and 1892, and finally completed it to Rich- 

 wood in 1899. 



The road was sold to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 

 September, 1899. 



Pickens Branch, B. & O. R. R. The Pickens Branch of 

 the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, extending from Weston to 

 Pickens, Randolph County, 49.3 miles, had its beginning in a 

 narrow gauge line built from Weston to Buckhannon in 1883, 

 under the name of Weston and Buckhannon Railroad Com- 

 pany. This line was taken over by the West Virginia and 

 Pittsburgh Railroad Company and made a standard gauge in 

 1891 and 1892, and in the same years was extended to Pickens. 

 It was sold to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company in 

 September, 1899. Both the Richwood and Pickens Branches 

 are parts of the Monongah Division of the road. The branches 

 through Lewis County total 55 miles. 



Coal and Coke Railway. The Coal and Coke Railway, 

 which extends in an east and west direction from Elkins to 

 Charleston, a distance of 175 miles, and, as shown by Maps I 

 and II, passes through portions of both Lewis and Gilmer, 

 was completed in 1906. Of this road 15 miles is in Lewis but 

 only 1.5 miles is in Gilmer. 



Elk and Little Kanawha Railroad. The Elk and Little 

 Kanawha Railroad, which is of narrow gauge construction, 

 extends from Gassaway, Braxton County, to Stumptown, in 

 Gilmer, a distance of 36 miles. It carries passengers and com- 

 mercial freight as far as Shock Station on Right Fork of Steer 

 Creek, but from Shock to its terminus at Stumptown, is oper- 

 ated only as a private lumber railroad. It was completed to 

 its present terminus in 1913, and is an important feeder for 

 the Coal and Coke Railway. 



Walkersville and Ireland Railroad The Walkersville and 

 Ireland Railroad extending from Walkersville, Lewis County, 



