BUFFALO CREEK & GAULEY RR
BUFFALO CREEK & GAULEY RR
"Keeping the Memory Alive"
The BC&G was an 18.6 mile long coal-hauling shortline that operated in central West VIrginia in its original form from 1904 through 1965. It has been reincarnated on several occassions since. It was a fascinating railroad and an ideal railroad for modeling. This website represents the compilation of all the information gathered over a period of nearly 30 years, information that was gathered to aid in the construction of an "S" gauge model railroad depicting the BC&G as it appeared in the late 1950s.
The information on this website will be of value to those with an interest in the BC&G, logging lines and Appalachian shortlines in general, but it's particularly aimed at those interested in modeling the BC&G and the logging railroad of the Elk River Coal & Lumber Company.
Over the past 30 years I have been collecting information about the BC&G and the logging line of its parent ERC&L Co. to assist me in creating a model railroad representing the lines as they appeared in the late 1950's. I have discovered that there are others, including other model railroaders, and former employees of the ERC&L Co. who are also in possession of historical information about the BC&G and who like me, are concerned that if it is not collected in one spot will soon be lost.
The purpose of this site is to create a single collection point for information about the BC&G and the ELR&C, particularly previously unpublished information. This site, in fact, contains a significant number of new photos, drawings and stories about the railroad that have not previously been in the public domain. Collectively the information presented here will allow modelers to construct and operate accurate layouts of this fascinating railroad. Some of the contributors are named below.
The site is a living document, so If you have comments, questions or information to add to this collection, please go to the CONTACT ME page. I'd love to hear from you!
Below are 4 ways that you can get involved in perpetuating the memory of the BC&G!
For information about a DVD of my "S" gauge layout of the BC&G click here
For information about how you can help create a tourist railroad on the former BC&G right-of-way, click here............................................................
If you have questions or comments about this site, or information or photos to add to it, I'd love to hear from you. Please click here..............................
CONTRIBUTORS
A very special "thank you" goes to the following individuals who have contributed historical information to this site. These folks lived the BC&G and ERC&L Co. story!
Roger Nutter - Roger is the founding President of the BC&G Co-Op and is a native of the Swandale area. He hosted the trip I took, along with several others, on the BC&G in June 2007 and many of the photos, facts and stories recorded on this site are direct result of Roger's sharing his intimate knowledge of the ERC&L with us.
Cody Burdette - Cody moved to Swandale in 1950 and worked on the ERC&L logging railroad until 1959. As a former employee, he has made innumerable contributions of information and photos about the logging activities as well as the BC&G coal-hauling operations. In addition, Cody's father, Theordore, was an engineer on Shay #19 for many years.
Patsy Spencer Baughman - Patsy lived in Swandale until age 8 when she moved to Dundon. She and her husband graduated from Clay County High School. Patsy worked in the company store at Dundon. She has provided information and photos about the Dundon and Swandale company stores as well as Starcher on the Lilly Fork.
Herald Baughman - Herald graduated from Clay County High School and in the spring of 1953 began working in the Dundon Office of the ERC&L Company as a general clerk, typing car reports, among other duties. His father, Newman Baughman was manager of the Dundon store. Herald later joined the accounting firm that audited the ERC&L Company books. As a result of the new job he and his wife, Patsy, moved to Charleston.
Hollie Workman - Hollie was born in 1924 between Robinson and Taylor Creeks. He worked in the Clay Farm Bureau Store for nearly 40 years and had many family members who worked on the railroads. Hollie has provided some interesting information about logging operations in the Robinson and Taylor Creek areas of the ERC&L property.
Kathy Gaskins - Kathy's grandparents lived in Swandale and she visited there many times. In 1998, Kathy wrote a brief history of Swandale and recorded her recollections of the town in "Reflections on Swandale".
Elvin Delnar Frame - Elvin's father started working in Swandale in 1925 and Elvin was "born and reared" there. He lived in Swandale until joining the Marine Corps. Elvin has prepared a written a history of Swandale from which some information has been taken and he has provided a number of photos which have been added to this site.
Judy Gregorich Hart - Judy was born in Swandale in 1942, the youngest of nine children. She lived next door to the community building until 1959 when she moved to Charleston where she currently lives. Judy's father imigrated from Yugoslavia when he was nine years old and spent his adult life in Swandale. He retired from the ERC&L company in 1961. Judy's four brothers all worked at the sawmill and one of her sisters worked at the Swandale store.
Jerrold Murphy - Jerrold was born in a company house in Swandale near the schoolhouse in 1938. His father was Colonel Murphy and Colonel was his real name. Colonel worked in the sawmill. The family left Swandale when Jerrold was 10 years old although he graduated from Clay County High School in 1955.
Peter and Liesel Silitch - Liesel is the granddaughter of JG Bradley. She and Peter now live in Braxton County WV.
Nelson Spencer - Nelson was born in Swandale and lived there until 1943. He has provided some details about how the log pond was formed and operated. Nelson, by the way, is the brother of Patsy Baughman.
Loretta Johnson Samples - Loretta (through her cousin Roger Johnson who initially contacted me) has provided a large collection of photos collected by her husband Jerry, and his relatives. Loretta's father, James Dencie "Dink" Johnson started working in the Widen mines around 1930, was injured in a mine accident about 10 years later, but continued working around the mine until it closed.
Naomi Ashley - Naomi grew up in Taylor that was outside of Widen near Robinson. Carsel Hamrick was Naomi's uncle, and her grandfather was Benjamin Randolph Hamrick, a foreman on the railroad maintenance crew. Along with her cousin Ben Connor, Naomi has provided some material about the community of Taylor.
Theodore Griffith - Theodore was born in Dille, and except for the years he left to attend college, has lived there his entire life. His grandfather was one of the first two men J.G. Bradley transferred from the Dundon operation to Widen where he oversaw the completion of the Rich Run Mine. During his career, Theodore served as the principal of Dille Elementary school.
John Beam - John was born in Swandale in 1925 and lived there until late 1943. John's dad, T.I. Beam was a saw filer and relief sawyer at the mill.
Roland Coluzzi, Jr. - John's mother was born and raised in Widen and while he didn't live there, John Jr spent many summers in Widen with his cousin Michael Hammrick. His father who was from Washington, DC took a number of photos which Roland has shared.
Lois Kincaid and Ovalee Gill - Lois and her father, Ovalee Gill, were both born at Strickland. Ovalee worked for the ERC&L Company primarily as a crewman on the gob trains. He also drove a lumber truck at Swandale for the Georgia Pacific until they closed down. Lois lived in Strickland until age 10 when the family moved a few miles to Rock Camp. Lois graduated from Clay county high school.
Janey Keaton - Janey and her parents lived at Starcher's Logging camp through the 1950's. Her grandfather, father and brothers were all loggers. She has recorded her memories of life on Lilly Fork in short accounts to share with her children and has prepared a map of Starcher, both unique contributions to this website.
 | ||||||
For information about audio CD's of sounds of the BC&G click here.............
Connie Acree has identified the crewmemembers in the original photo (above left) taken on February 27,1965, the last day of operations.
L to R: Ralph Acree (Connie's dad), Jobe Young, Ab Wilson (Connie's great uncle), Carsel Hamrick, Moon Mullins and Sammy Burkhammer. The fellow on the far right is unknown.
Climax #2 Derelict At Swandale
John Phillips Photo - 1958
On November 4, 1995 an event was held at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, NC commorating the 30th anniversary of BC&G Engine #4's final run from Swandale (photo near right). Engine #4 was at the NCTM in tourist service lettered as Southern #604. For the reunion, she was restored to her BC&G livery and several hundred BC&G faithful enjoyed seeing the engine in service again. The photo on the far right was taken that weekend with members of the organizing effort poised to duplicate the famous photo on the left taken 30 years earlier. Amazingly, both photos were taken by the same photographer, Larry Fellure. In the reproduction photo, Bob Withers is second from left, Frank Criswell third from left and Brooks Stover is at the far right. It was a weekend all in attendance will long remember!
MODEL RAILROADS
PROTOTYPE INFORMATION
For the names of the many railfans who have contributed photos to the site, see the ABOUT THIS SITE page.
LISTEN to #4 at Widen in April 1962! Turn up the volume on your computer and click here!!
MODEL RAILROADS
A major purpose of this site is to share photos of my "S" gauge model railroad depicting the BC&G as it was in the late 1950s and to encourage others to model the railroad, too. A second individual, Phil Bonzon, is well along with an "HO" scale layout that includes the BC&G. Phil has made many contributions to this site and photos of Phil's fine modeling are also included.
BC&G #4 Underway At Spencer
November 1995
Brooks Stover
Brooks Stover
Brooks Stover
Phil Bonzon
Visitors
Sign and View GUEST BOOK Here !
The COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE BC&G
Compiled By Brooks Stover
| ||||||
WELCOME! I hope you'll enjoy this website dedicated to collecting, preserving and sharing information about the Buffalo Creek and Gauley RR of West Virginia and it's parent company, the Elk River Coal and Lumber Co, and model railroads depicting them (see bottom of this page)! If you're a first-time visitor, I trust you'll find the information, photos and stories here of interest and you'll want to return often!!
Please sign the Guest Book by clicking "SIGN IN" button here....
3/12 - Janey Keation has provided an updated map of Starcher with more accurate descriptions of the buildings and a some information on 'The Big Rock" (farther down the page). Eric Legg has provided the correct name of the man the Majestic crews called "Ambitious".
2/18 - Janey Keaton, a new contributor (see CONTRIBUTORS above), has provided a map of Starcher logging camp and a wonderful account of life in the world of the logging community.
2/17 - Theodore Griffith has provided three excellent photos of the area of the 'back track' at the far east end of Widen beyond the tipple. Patsy and Herald Baughman talked to Roscoe Friend to obtain some information about the size of the Dundon Shops crew in the 40s and 50s. Ovalee Gil has clarified how the folks in the area pronounced 'Avoca'.
2/12 - Phil Bonzon has prepared four beautifully detailed maps of Widen in 1925 and 1950, perhaps the most detailed reconstructions of the area ever done. He has prepared maps of the entire area around Widen as well as maps of middle Widen around the tipple. These show all the structures as well as the track arrangements. Great job, Phil! If anyone has corrections or additons, please contact me.
2/4 - Bob Slavy has provided a second photo of the Widen Fire Department taken in 1974. I've also posted a photo showing a portion of the Widen engine house (very bottom of page) and a ERC&L envelope postmarked in Swandale in 1932. Lastly, Peter Weller-Lewis has provide a couple of images of his free-lanced BC&G locomotives.
1/21 - Posted a classic early-60s photo at the B&O interchange with BC&G steam meeting B&O diesel.
1/18 - Posted two photos from the collection of Artie Barkley of the enclosed Swandale engine house. I've also made three additons to the Gob Operations page, including more information from Ovalee Gill (yellow box), a photo of #10 on the gob pile and #16 at the engine house.
1/16 - I have added a couple of photos of my recently completed model of BC&G gondola #117, inspired by the photo of the prototype #117 posted on 1/9. Some corrections were also made on the BRIDGES page as some photos attributed to being the Sand Fork Bridge were actually of the Robinson Bridge.
1/13 - Posted a photo of the Sand Fork bridge with "BC&G RR" stenciled on it.
1/12 - Posted three nice color photos of ERC&L gob engines at work at Widen.
1/9 - Posted a photo that appears to be from a fantrip with #13 at the Swandale water plug and Cody has offered several interesting observations about the photo of #117 that includes Shay #19.
1/8 - Posted the only photo I've seen confirming the existence of gondola #117 and a nice photo showing the back of the Dundon sand house and another showing the back of the engine house.
1/5 - David Wimmer has done a wonderful painting of the Dundon Company store. I've also posted a photo of the loader in the Dundon yard and a portrait of #14 coming off the interchange in 1958 (bottom of page).
1/2 - I've added a third photo to the story of the young Dundon man in search of summer love at the Company Store (on my layout) and another John Phillips photo at Widen.
1/2 - Posted two wonderful views from the train during a 1960 fan trip, another showing one of the coaches serving as caboose in 1958, one of Dundon yard with a B&O M-26 boxcar, a nicely lit side view of Motor "A", two great photos on Lilly Fork, a long string of box cars at Swandale(bottom of page), and a good image of the state of the log pond in 1963 all by John Phillips.
1/1 - New contributor Doug Wingfield of Alberta, Canada has provided a nice photo of Dining Car X-6, an overview of Dundon shops area, the interior of the Swandale engine house, a really fascinating photo of #19's number plate (center of page) to which Cody Burdette has provide some explanation, three ERC&L Mikado's together (bottom of page), two nice images of #14 working the mine, and a photo showing #4 with caboose C1.
1/1 - Posted an interesting photo of #4 entering Widen in 1962 showing an unidentified garage-like building. Tom Clay has provide photos of a BC&G lantern and switch lock in his collection.
WHAT'S NEW
Click on the highlighted phrases to connect to the pages with new information then look for the with the date corresponding to the posting.
WHAT'S NEW ? Scroll to the bottom of this page for links to the most recently added information
As you can see, we've had over 39,000 visits to the site since it opened! I'd love to know more about the kind of folks who are visiting. Please take the time to put an entry in the Guest Book (below). No need to post an email address if you don't care to, but please indicate the nature of your interest in the BC&G and let me know how you found out about the site !!
Last Updated - March 12, 2010
THANKS TO ALL WHO HAVE VISITED!!
Brooks Stover (buffalocreeksteam@comcast.net)
