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) formed the Coal & Iron Railway (C&I) in 1899 to construct a railroad between Elkins and Durbin. 1 At Durbin, the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Greenbrier Division connected to C&O mainline near Lewisburg. The C&I, which included a tunnel under Cheat Mountain and another under Shavers Mountain at Glady, opened in 1903. 2
The WVC&P was sold to the Gould family in 1902 1 which became the Western Maryland Railway (WM) Thomas Subdivision in 1905. 2 The C&I was also sold, which became the WM Durbin Subdivision. The WM became a unit of the Chessie System in 1973.
CSX, Chessie’s successor, abandoned the C&I between Greenbrier Junction and Durbin, including the Glady Tunnel, in 1985 after it shuttered the C&O Greenbrier Division. 2 The line from Elk River Junction to Durbin and from Cheat Junction to Greenbrier Junction were also dismantled.
After CSX abandoned the C&I between Greenbrier Junction and Durbin in 1985, it was converted into the Greenbrier Rail Trail by the U.S. Forest Service in 1986. 2
Information
- State: West Virginia
- Route: Coal & Iron Railway
- Type: Tunnel
- Status: Abandoned / Closed
- Total Length: 1,000 feet
- Spans:
- Navigational Clearance:
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!