Rainelle, WV and the NF&G RR

Rainelle was a lumbering and coal town named for John and T.W. Raine, who established the Meadow River Lumber Company. Rainelle also housed the shops and yard for the Nicholas, Fayette and Greenbrier Railroad. The NF&G was a paper corporation created in 1928 to resolve a dispute between the New York Central and the C&O over who had the right to ship coal and lumber from this resource rich area. The NF&G served numerous coal mines in the area yet it had little of its own equipment. The NYC and the C&O provided cars and locomotives on a shared basis. They also shared maintenance and operating costs. This unusual arrangement lasted into the Conrail and CSX era.

 

C&O H-6 pushes coal hoppers to Rainelle
The C&O hauled its share of the tonnage regardless of its destination down the former Sewell Valley Railroad to Meadow Creek. This line traversed the famous Claypool loops, a set of horseshoe curves that replaced two switchbacks in 1953. The NYC used the Gauley River Valley through Nallen and Swiss to access the NF&G. Their line include a tunnel and several bridges.

Doubleheaded NYC USRA 2-8-2 Mikes get ready to leave Rainelle
 General Robert E. Lee's famed horse, Traveler, bred in Greenbrier County,was presented to Lee near Rainelle at a spot now marked by "General Lee's Tree." Traveler's preserved body may still be seen in the Lee Museum at Lexington, VA. Traveler survived all of Lee's Civil War battles, dying of loackjaw after the death of General Lee.

Meadow River Lumber Company

At one time the Meadow River Lumber Company was the largest hardwood lumber mill in the United States, its production included approximately 4 million women's wooden shoes annually. The Meadow River company used standard gauge Shays to haul lumber out of the virgin forests of West Virginia. One of these Shay locomotives is preserved at the Cass Scenic railroad.The HAER maintains a thorough documentation of the Meadow River Lumber Company,

Regional Map 
New York Central in WV
Meadow Creek