West Virginia Midland Railroad Company Records
Collection
Collection Number: A&M 2434
Correspondence, business papers, engineers' ledgers, blueprints, maps, structural drawings, and photographs document the construction and operation of the West Virginia Midland Railway Company (later the West Virginia Midland Railroad) from 1906 to 1933. Much of the material is undated, though it reasonably corresponds with the operational dates of the railroad. Correspondence, 1903-1930, is housed in Box 1 and concerns bridges (locations, plans, bids, construction, materials); land (purchase of property, deeds, boundaries); routes for tracks, road construction, timber, shipments, and insurance for engineers. Specific locations mentioned several times include Webster Springs, the Holly River, and the Elk River. Business papers, 1906-1918 and undated are also housed in Box 1. These include construction contracts, descriptions of right of ways, grading sheets, and payroll sheets from 1911 to 1912.
Engineering Level Field-Books are housed in Box 2-Box 5. These offer information about levels for various sections of the railroad, including the Bergoo Extension, Cherry Falls section, Mill Run section, Elk River Bridge, Back Fork extension, Leatherwood, Palmer, and Grassy Creek sections of the rail line. Specific topics include preliminary levels for lines, final level profiles, grades, slopes, structures, siding, construction data, and back switches. Box 4 also contains masonry books. Box 5 also contains time books from 1901-1903, and 1933; a savings account book from 1890-1892; and the Pocket List of Railroad Officials from 1927 and 1930.
Also included are more than 130 oversize maps and almost 30 oversize blueprints. Maps detail extensions, rail lines, projected lines, operating and proposed lines, cut timber, and proposed tracks and junctions. Blueprints are of station houses, dwellings, and bridges along the railroad, chiefly in Bergoo, Grafton, Palmer, and Webster Springs. There are also a number of drawings of the Elk River Bridge. A more detailed listing of maps and blueprints is available in the library.
English
No special access restriction applies.
Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.
The Holly River and Addison Railway Company was incorporated on September 10, 1898, and contained both narrow gauge and standard gauge track. The railroad primarily served five lumber companies in the area, but also transported passengers to Webster Springs. It ran until 1906 when it was reorganized as the West Virginia Midland Railroad. The name changed again in 1924, when it became the West Virginia Midland Railway under the ownership of H.B. Curtin of the Pardee & Curtin Lumber Company. Most of the track ceased running in 1931.
4.2 Linear Feet (4 ft. 2 in. (5 document cases, 5 in. each); (2 flat storage boxes, 5 in. each); (5 flat boxes, 3 in. each))
Correspondence, business papers, engineers' ledgers, blueprints, maps, structural drawings, and photographs document the construction and operation of the West Virginia Midland Railway Company (later the West Virginia Midland Railroad) in Webster Springs, West Virginia, from 1906 to 1933.
West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / Fax: 304-293-3981 / URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/
Part of the West Virginia and Regional History Center Repository