Sandy Creek Railroad Bridge

The Sandy Creek Railroad Bridge carries CSX Transportation (CSXT) across Sandy Creek in Ravenswood, West Virginia.

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The Sandy Creek Railroad Bridge carries CSX Transportation (CSXT) across Sandy Creek in Ravenswood, West Virginia. It was completed in 1885 and later rebuilt.

The Parkersburg & Charleston Railway first surveyed a line along the Ohio River in 1880. ¹ Initially intended to run from Parkersburg to Charleston through Jackson and Kanawha Counties, the route was shifted midway to pass through Ravenswood, then south along the Ohio River to Mason County before turning inland toward the Kanawha. Plans changed again when the company decided to extend the line north to Moundsville and Wheeling. Renamed the Wheeling, Parkersburg & Charleston Railway, the interior Charleston route was abandoned in favor of a continuous Ohio Valley alignment. In 1882, the line was renamed, for the final time, the Ohio River Railroad.

Construction followed, and by 1884, the line connected Benwood and Parkersburg. ¹ Extensions soon pushed westward, reaching Huntington in 1888 and Kenova by 1893. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) began operating the line in 1901 and acquired it in 1912. The Ohio River Railroad operated as a separate B&O division until 1921, when it was absorbed into the Wheeling Division. The original segment between Moundsville and Benwood became secondary and was eventually abandoned.

In 1963, the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway gained control of the B&O, which later merged into the Chessie System, becoming CSXT. Today, the line survives as the Ohio River Subdivision under CSXT.

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Details

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Sources

1. Robie, Dan. “Ohio River Railroad part i-Wheeling to Vienna.” WVNC Rails.