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The C&O established the Thurmond yards during the 1880s to facilitate the transportation of the New River Gorge's smokeless coal to markets. As a maintenance and repair  facility the Thurmond Yards were a major regional feature along the C&O throughout the steam engine era. As a major assembling point for coal cars from different mines, the marshalling yards at Thurmond handled more coal, and thus producing more revenue, than all but a few such facilities. Finally, as a town where only trains travelled down Main Street, Thurmond gained a reputation as a regional center of commerce and recreation, legal or otherwise.
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 Digital elevation Map of the New River near Thurmond, WV
A diagram showing the track configuration at Thurmond that existed in 1963
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