Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad


On 9 March 2002 the Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad fired up recently-acquired Climax #3 for a test run down the river. The 50-ton, 2-truck engine was built for Moore-Keppel Co in Ellamore, WV, in 1910, cn 1059. It was operated along the Middle Fork of the Tygart River, possibly into the 1950s. I first saw it derelict in Ellamore in 1959. It has since been totally rebuilt and will handle tourist trains along the Greenbrier River south from Durbin, WV. This track was originally the Durbin Branch of the C&O. It was abandoned a number of years ago and much of it was washed out by the great flood of 1985. I never thought I would see trains on it again. The good folks at D&GVRR have rebuilt several washouts and now have 5 miles of track in useable condition.

When I arrived they were working on the turbogenerator, which delayed departure by a couple hours.

Soon they backed the engine and caboose to the south end of the Durbin yard and came back as a final check before going down the river.

After returning to the station we were ready to go down the river.

View from the tender over the cab as we back downstream.

We made it the whole way to the end of track without incident and started back. Some of the track is more typical of a lumber railroad, where the Climax is at home, rather than passenger track. The track actually curves around a fallen tree just behind the caboose in the center picture!

Entering the yard upon return to Durbin after a successful trip.



Three views of the right-side running gear.

Left, the back of the boiler and firebox.

Right, firing on the way back up the river.

Left, gages as seen from the fireman's seat.

Right, gages as seen from the engineer's seat.



All of the above are 5 to 7 Kb images designed for quick download. If anyone would like to have the high-resolution jpg images (most are 200 to 400 Kb) I will be glad to e-mail them or post them for download. Just tell me which ones you want. The surest way is to right-click the photo, click Properties, and give me the file name. A description will probably serve as well.

For information on trips and events, visit the web site of the D&GVRR.




John R. Sweet,   Mustoe, VA   24468