The Glady Tunnel is an abandoned 1,000-foot tunnel built for the Coal & Iron Railway under Shavers Mountain in Glady, West Virginia.
The West Virginia Central & Pittsburg Railway (WVC&P) established the Coal & Iron Railway (C&I) in 1899 to build a railroad track from Elkins to Durbin. 1 In Durbin, the track connected with the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Greenbrier Division, which led to the C&O mainline near Lewisburg. By 1903, the C&I line, which featured tunnels under both Cheat Mountain and Shavers Mountain at Glady, was operational. 2
In 1902, the WVC&P was purchased by the Gould family, 1 and by 1905, it became the Western Maryland Railway (WM) Thomas Subdivision. 2 The C&I was also acquired and renamed the WM Durbin Subdivision. By 1973, the WM was incorporated into the Chessie System.
In 1985, CSX, the successor of Chessie, closed down the C&I track between Greenbrier Junction and Durbin, which included the Glady Tunnel, following the discontinuation of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad’s Greenbrier Division. 2 Additionally, the tracks from Elk River Junction to Durbin and from Cheat Junction to Greenbrier Junction were removed.
The following year, in 1986, the stretch between Greenbrier Junction and Durbin that CSX had abandoned was transformed into the Greenbrier Rail Trail by the U.S. Forest Service. 2
Information
- State: West Virginia
- Route: Coal & Iron Railway
- Type: Tunnel
- Status: Abandoned / Closed
- Total Length: 1,000'
Your images of WM’s Glady Tunnel are fantastic.
I have been a part of the WMR Historical Society for over 25 years now. Writing an issue in their Blue Mountain Express bi-annual publication about this remote area was something I encouraged them to do, but they just didn’t have enough images to make it viable. Please keep up the good work!
Thank you Matthew!
Thank all for making this available.
Nice Pictures. I work Elkins area fairly often and have been to Glady many times but don’t recall seeing the tunnel. Where is it?