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The B & O Railroad, between 1890 and
1901, purchased the corridor that is now
the rail trail property. It became a
railroad to service the coal industry in
the early 1900's. Sometime in the 1980's,
CSX Railroad bought out the B & O
Railroad and became operators of the train
track. Due to a washout, there was a
terrible coal train accident that killed
one engineer in 1988. At that time, the
CSX Railroad decided to abandon the rail
line and use the other tracks available in
the area to transport coal. Shortly
thereafter, the Marion County Parks And
Recreation Commission purchased the
right-of-way from Fairmont to Shinnston
and over 1996 and 1997 developed the
current rails to trails.
These former railroad lines, converted to
trails, offer tremendous opportunities for
recreation. They are generally flat in
nature and vary from paved surfaces to
crushed limestone. Below you will find
links to the two trails that are part of
the Rail Trails of North Central
West Virginia. (See
Map) |
