C&O Track Plans
You may make printouts/copies of these plans for your personal use. If you would like to link to these plans or use them for any other purpose, please contact the site. All plans are HO scale unless stated otherwise. Enjoy!
- Size: 28′ x 30′
- Scale: HO
- Minimum Radius: 30″
- Minimum Aisle Width: 30″
- Designed by Dan Bourque
The Chesapeake & Ohio’s New River District was enormous and encompassed numerous coal marshaling yards and dozens of branches (“subs” in C&O lingo). The C&O’s double-track mainline ran through the heart of the New River District from Deepwater, WV to Hinton, WV. The marshaling yard at Thurmond, WV sat on the mainline in the middle of the district. It served not only as a yard but also as a base for numerous nearby branches including the South Side Branch, the Loup Creek Sub, the White Oak Sub, Keeney’s Creek Sub, … Read more →
- Size: 10′ x 11′
- Scale: HO
- Minimum Radius: 30″
- Minimum Aisle Width: 60″
- Designed by Dan Bourque
The C&O’s Rend Branch was part of the maze of C&O branches that wound out from Thurmond, WV. The 4-mile long branch extended off the Loup Creek Branch and was home to a handful of coal tipples.
The Layout
This layout is designed to fit into a relatively small bedroom and focuses on the C&O’s Rend Branch, a small steam-era coal branch near Thurmond, WV. The branch exended from the Loup Creek Branch and was only about four miles long. This track plan is based on 1921 track charts … Read more →
- Size: 20′ x 22′
- Scale: HO
- Minimum Radius: 30″
- Minimum Aisle Width: 24″
- Designed by Dan Bourque
This layout is designed to fit into roughly half of a standard two-car garage. It oozes over the centerline a little, but you may still be able to squeeze your wife’s Volkswagon into her half 😉
The Layout
Let me start by saying I have never been to Quinnimont, and I have never seen track diagrams of Quinnimont. This plan is based on a few pictures and topo maps of the area. Quinnimont was an important spot on the C&O’s New River line in West Virginia. It was where … Read more →
- Size: 11′ x 18′
- Scale: HO
- Minimum Radius: 27″
- Minimum Aisle Width: 30″
- Designed by Dan Bourque
The White Oak Branch originally started as the White Oak Railway which served the mines at Lochgelly and Summerlee. The White Oak interchanged with the C&O at Carlisle, WV, and the Virginian at Oak Hill Jct., WV. The White Oak was sold to both the Virginian and C&O in 1917. Even though it was sold to both railroads, in reality the C&O would interchange cars at Carlisle, and the Virginian (later the N&W) would move them to the mines.
The Layout
This bedroom-sized layout represents the Virginian’s … Read more →
- Size: 10′ x 14′
- Scale: HO
- Minimum Radius: 30″
- Minimum Aisle Width: 46″
- Designed by Dan Bourque
This layout packs a lot of track into a relatively small bedroom. It focuses on the C&O’s Hawks Nest Branch, a small steam-era coal branch near MacDougal, WV, and a small portion of the mainline from Thurmond to Charleston, WV. The branch was only three miles long. This track plan is based on 1921 track charts and contains the three mines listed. None of the mines were listed as active by 1966.
Main Deck
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- Size: 17′ x 22′
- Scale: HO
- Minimum Radius: 30″ (28″ on wye)
- Minimum Aisle Width: 36″
- Designed by Dan Bourque
This layout is designed to fit into roughly half of a standard two-car garage. It oozes over the centerline a little, but you may still be able to squeeze your wife’s Volkswagon into her half 😉
The Layout
This layout focuses on the C&O’s Cabin Creek Branch, a coal producing branch in the Kanawha Coal Field. The branch exended from Cabin Creek Jct. on the C&O mainline just east of Charleston, WV. There are several great pictures and a description of this branch in the December 2001 Trains Magazine.
… Read more →
- Size: 19′ x 33′
- Scale: HO
- Minimum Radius: 30″
- Minimum Aisle Width: 26″
- Designed by Dan Bourque
Pemberton, WV was an important junction for both the Virginian (later the N&W) and the C&O. Pemberton lay in the middle of the Winding Gulf trackage for both railroads and was one of two interchange points in the area where both railroads crammed into the valleys (the other was Stone COal Jct. further south). Coal loaders surrounded both railroad’s lines in all directions.
The Layout
This track … Read more →
- Size: 19′ x 33′
- Scale: HO
- Minimum Radius: 30″
- Minimum Aisle Width: 30″
- Designed by Dan Bourque
Elmore was the center of Virginian Railway operations in the coal fields. Mullens, just north (railroad west) of Elmore, was home to a major engine facility and the western terminus of electrification on the Virginian. Traffic through Elmore was predominantly coal, but there was meager non-coal traffic in the form of traffic to and from the NYC and C&O at Deepwater, WV. Because of the tipples included, this trackplan best fits the timeframe between 1940 and 1970. Prior to 1962, the mainline was electrified and the Virginian … Read more →
- Size: 18′ x 18′
- Scale: HO
- Minimum Radius: 30″
- Designed by Dan Bourque
Elkhorn City was the Northernmost point on the Clinchfield RR and was an important interchange point between the CRR and C&O. Both merchandise and coal trains were exchanged daily with the majority of the coal moving south from the C&O to the CRR. In addition to a modest engine servicing facility, Elkhorn City was home to several truck-dump coal loaders located alongside the yard tracks.
The Layout
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