THE "BEELINER" SCHOOL TRAIN

 

When I was a child, I lived on Dutch Ridge and missed riding this train by a couple of years.  Later, moving to Charleston I saw the train gliding along on the NYC Railroad right in front of my house on Smith Street.  It was parked for the longest time there in the mid to late fifties  (I've lost track of time) and then it was gone.  I heard many older people talking about riding this train for years afterwards.

When I stumbled onto this great article in the Gazette, I just had to post it even though I'd prefer better photos.  If you have any real photos of this train, I would love to have them for this page.

I rode the same rail bed in 2012 that the school children did.

Here are a few photos I took:

This photo shows the last stop of the Beeliner near Amelia WV.  It actually went just a little further if no coal cars were in the way, but this was the official last stop.  The sign says "Blakely Cemetery".  Just beyond those signs is the last railroad mile marker below.....

Much information on this page courtesy of Curtis M. Morris

Gas engine New York Central passenger train at 3 mile.  
Photo by Ora Workman courtesy of  Edith Brewer

Photo courtesy of  Edith Brewer

NYC train as it crossed Blue Creek.  
Photo by Hazel Work courtesy of Edith Brewer

This is the train I saw everyday as it parked at the end of Broad Street

Photo courtesy of  Edith Brewer

This is a brick from the property surrounding the old NYC Rail Station on Broad Street

Lee Hill was known by several generations of school children

This great article from 1950 explains the route and the brand new Diesel Engine

Postscript:  As I lived right near the tracks in Charleston, and my Uncle own a tavern on Broad Street (Bernies),  we were very well acquainted with many of the railroaders who lived and worked in this area.  One man in  particular was a huge guy that everyone called "Jellybean".  He was a Conductor on the NYC train that ran from Charleston to the Carbide Sanderson mines about every day.   John Pierson was his real name, but no one ever called him by that.  He lived a ways up Magazine Hollow., but not sure if he was born and raised there.   I knew Jellybean very well (for a kid) and saw him almost every day.   He died of a heart attack while working on the New York Central in  1966.   In those days, every train had a caboose., and there were always 3 or 4 parked right off Capitol Street waiting to  be used.  Us kids (me especially) spent hours playing in them.   They had ladders that you climbed to get to the top where you could  sit and see out .  I'll never forget the smell of them: Coal and wood.  Each caboose had a small coal stove and as I recall, a small John that simply was a hole to the tracks below. I had begged Jellybean to take me for a ride in the caboose for a long time. Finally one day he  asked me if  I'd like to go all the way to Sanderson on their next run.  (he had already cleared this with my mom) and of course I was  jumping for joy.  I was maybe  11 or 12 at the time.   The next morning I met Jellybean at the caboose, which was within sight of my house,  and after some shuffling around of empty coal cars,  off we went.  This would be the greatest adventure of my life so far.  A kid... on a freight train... riding the caboose!  Can you imagine that today?  NO! The thing I remember most about the trip was that  A... I found myself in a completely unrecognizable world only a few miles from my house, and B.... it was mostly secluded, the tracks running though wooded areas where all landmarks disappeared.   I was all over that caboose!  Up top on both sides looking out the windows.  On the front and back platforms.... everywhere I could go!   It WAS the trip of a lifetime for a kid.  The really strange thing is .... I dont remember Jellybean being in the caboose with me.   He may have ridden the engine, but that would have been unusual, but possible I suppose because the train wasnt very long.. Crossing over Blue Creek was when things really became unrecognizable.  I saw the most beautiful scenery!   We even went through a couple of small tunnels ..... and over trestles.....  Finally we arrived at  the Sanderson mines and traded empties for full cars.   We then returned home, and the trip back was just as exciting.   I knew that not too many kids had the opportunity to do what I had just done, but I didnt know that the tracks I had ridden were the same tracks as the locally famous Beeliner. As I look back on that trip, I  know that no kid will ever be able to ride a caboose on a freight train .  To begin with, there ARE no caboose's anymore.  And the  laws of the land would never in a million years allow it.   ( it wasnt allowed back then either,  but you all know how it was back then )   I didnt realize how important this experience was at the time.  But now, I know it was a one in a million opportunity, and I appreciate  the memory.... and especially Jellybean for making it happen.

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