Sewell, VA

Sewell was an important stop on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad mainline through West Virginia. The businesses there shipped coal, coke and lumber in amounts way out of proportion to the small size of the town. From 1870 through abandonment in 1956, the Royalty Smokeless Coal Company (Photo1 , Photo2 )operated 196 beehive ovens here shipping both coal and coke. C&O traffic also benefited from interchange with a narrow gauge line, the Mann's Creek Railroad.


The Mann's Creek Railroad was interesting for several reasons. First it ran steam powered Shay's until 1955. Secondly, the railroad climbed steep 4 percent grades along a precipitous ledge, switching back unto itself once, to reach coal mines and lumber mills high on the plateau at Clifftop, but had only three station stops. At the interchange with the C&O at Sewell, the Mann's Creek maintained a coal tipple, engine shed, water tower and other minor structures.


The C&O also had some interesting structures at Sewell such as a classic octagonal cabin and water tower. It was built in 1887 and remained in service until abandoned in 1963. Once the coal mines at Clifftop ran out, the C&O added a dual gauge track up to the coke oven loading level. Then they shipped in coal from other mines to fuel the Sewell ovens.


Several good references are available for the Sewell area. Model Railroader ran an article in July 1972 on the Mann's Creek Railroad including a HO design. The National Park Service published a booklet on Sewell entitled, Sewell: A New River Community", written by Ron Lane and Ted Schnepf. It costs $5, and is available at NPS outlets in the New River National Park. The COHS has numerous photos of the Sewell area These same two authors have now published a definiive book on the Manns Creek Railroad in 1999. It is available from TLC Publishing.

Sewell is located near Babcock State Park. Matt Schaefer describes his experiences in visiting there,

 

John Plant NTRAK Modules 

 

 Leonard White NTRAK Modules