Virginian Railway

The Early Years

Loup Creek Colliery

Deepwater Railway

The first Virginian Town – Page, WV

In any discussion of the early years of the development of the Virginian Railway it would be impossible to separate the above 3 entities and discuss them without discussing the other 2 in almost the same sentence.  So intertwined are they that each could not exist without the other two.  And this symbiosis was the foundation upon which the great Virginian Railway was built.  Without the first three, there would not have been a Virginian Railway.  

The Loup Creek Colliery was the industrial development that had to spring from the Loup Creek Estate; otherwise the land would have remained an agricultural backwater.  The railway had to be built in order for the colliery company to market, sell and transport its product to the outside world.  And a mine needed to be built, as well as an engine service terminal in order for the colliery and railroad companies to be able to conduct their business.  And a town was built to house the workers and provide the supplies for all these endeavors.  And that town was named after the guiding force in these enterprises: William Nelson Page.

This is the oldest known photograph of the Virginian Railway.  The photographer is on the eastern fringe of Page, WV facing north, looking down the Loup Creek valley toward Robson and Deepwater, West Virginia.  In the center we see the construction progressing to complete the foundations for the 505 Beehive coke ovens of the Loup Creek Colliery Company.  To the right will be the Power House and coal processing building.  Below, under the word "view", is the grading for the mine track which is turning toward the right and then will bend back toward the left.   The excavation on the extreme right, halfway up the photo, is the grade for the empty storage tracks and for the narrow gauge line that will haul supplies to the two coal bearing levels up the mountain.   The Virginian main line grade is visible across the valley as a white swath in the center of the photo.  The track laying crew will push the railhead into Page in about 3 weeks.  Page then will become the principal construction and supply camp for completing the Deepwater/Virginian line to Matoaka, West Virginia.  Photo is from the Wm. Page collection at UVA.

The Loup Creek Estate

In the late 1880's the monied Cooper-Hewitt interests of New York City began to invest in the West Virginia coal fields, and they elected to reinvigorate the bankrupt Hawks Nest Coal Company for production.  Teaming with a local engineer, William N. Page, they allowed Page his head and he brought the property back to prosperity as the Gauley Mountain Coal Company.  Over the years Page gained the New Yorkers confidence and they in turn allowed him to purchase the 25,000 plus or minus acres of the so-called Loup Creek Estate on the other side of the Kanawha River in 1894.  Thinking to bank the coal potential, Page began development of the Loup Creek timber interests and began to construct a sawmill at Robson.  He also began construction of a twisting railroad to link Robson with Deepwater, WV to connect with the C&O Railway in order to ship the wood products to market.  The C&O provided engine service and cars for this operation.

Robson Lumber Mill sidebar                      Loup Creek Colliery Company                      Article Index Page