ONE of the USA’s major steam tourist railways reopened in May, nearly 40 years after it was closed by flooding.
The 15-mile line from Cass to Durbin in West Virginia once formed part of Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad’s Greenbriar Subdivision. Abandoned in 1979, the section between Cass and Durbin was purchased by the West Virginia State Rail Authority in 1980 but was severely damaged by flooding in 1985 with a bridge destroyed.
A steam operated shuttle service was retained at the Durbin end of the line, but until 2023 through journeys were not possible from Durbin to Cass.
Thanks to repair work funded by the state government and the railway operator, Durbin and Greenbriar Railroad, which also runs the ‘Cass Scenic’ route from Cass using several steam locos on an 11 mile former logging railway,
