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West Virginia's Rails - Prince, WV
The tiny railroad station at Prince is easy to reach from southern West
Virginia's tourism hub: Beckley. This Amtrak station along the old
C&O Railroad tracks still provides passenger train service to the area,
a few times a week.
While there are still a few people living in
Prince, chances are you'll feel all alone here. Park at the train
station and explore the tracks, but keep in mind a train could come by
at any time.
The Prince train station provides a few
great photo opportunities. I believe someone once told me this
light in the photo below is called a "door signal".
Aside from the train station, you'll find a
long-abandoned convenience store, and a couple of homes on the hillside
above the road.
Quinnimont, WV
If you continue past Prince for just a few
miles, you'll drive through Quinnimont. But you probably won't
even know it. The only reason
Quinnimont is worth a mention, is that it's easily
seen from Grandview State Park, which overlooks the New River. And
while the mostly abandoned rail town is visible from the park, driving
from Grandview to Quinnimont requires a lengthy loop around the valley,
and would easily take an hour.
 On
my most recent visit to this area in 2003, I couldn't locate the actual
town of Quinnimont, but I was able to drive down to the rails, where I
found a Caboose or two, and a couple of mobile-home type trailers that
were probably owned by the railroad. I'm not sure if you're
allowed to drive in here, so don't be surprised if someone tries to run
you off. I saw a couple of cars, but no other signs of life.
Next Stop: Thurmond, WV >>
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