Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad on Track for New Season

By WAYNE SHEETS, Contributing Business Writer
Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad stockholders say area railfans will have a lot to look forward to in the coming season. With the intent to attract more to ride the rails, the opening of a new restaurant and an expanded schedule of excursions has been set in motion.

According to D&GVRR President and CEO John Smith, a group of investors from Durbin and Elkins will soon be opening a new restaurant in the railyard. The Railyard Restaurant, located between the American Mountain Theater and the Elkins Depot, will supply food service to the D&GVRR as well as the local community. The two-story, 9,000-square-foot, custom-designed building will feature two kitchens, dining areas for 250 patrons, patio dining and an entertainment room.

The 100-seat family dining venue will be on the ground floor. The second level will feature a 100-seat group dining/entertainment hall, and the “Vista Dome Room” will offer an upscale dining experience. The restaurant will also provide catering for all the D&GVRR trains.

Smith said he is hoping the restaurant will be open before the July 4 weekend.

“We will have a soft opening by having a few people in to try it out, which will give us the opportunity to iron out any problems that might surface. We will then schedule a grand opening,” he said.

The rail excursions for the coming season have been expanded to provide a more varied experience in the scenic wonderland of the western Appalachian Mountains. Three trains will operate from the Elkins Depot this year. The Cheat Mountain Salamander railcar will take riders on a 128-mile wilderness journey to Spruce and beyond every Friday and Saturday. The New Tygart Flyer will continue to operate three and four days per week between Elkins and High Falls of Cheat with a new “Sunday Brunch Train” operating between Belington, Elkins and High Falls, and the Mountain Explorer Dinner Train will continue its Friday and Saturday schedule.

“Last year, The New Tygart Flyer carried over 16,000 passengers,” Smith said. “The Salamander carried more than 7,000 through the scenic beauty of the high Appalachian Mountains between the High Falls of Cheat and Old Spruce. The dinner train entertained more than 3,000 diners and sightseers. The Durbin Rocket, which only ran one month because of a retainer wall collapse along the tracks that rendered the route impassable, still carried over 4,000 riders.”

According to Smith, the outlook for the 2008 season is bright.

“Right now, we have 247 bus groups scheduled to visit Elkins — double where we were this time last year,” he said. “A surprising addition this year is the number of in-state schools that are scheduled to come visit us. These in-state schools want to give their students a look at what railroading was like when the railroad was a major carrier of people and freight and can now, for the most part, only be studied in history books.

The rail system Smith operates in Staunton, Va., also continues to expand.

“We aren’t carrying passengers, but the freight operations are doing quite well,” Smith said.

Smith said the company has purchased additional computer equipment and software that will enable customers to research schedules and services via the Internet and make reservations online.

“We have added another telephone line, which should help relieve the congestion, and we plan on having a full-time ticket agent in the Welcome Center on the days the trains are running — Wednesday through Sunday,” Smith said. “They will, of course, be able to furnish all the information people might need and sell tickets.”

According to Smith, the Salamander will operate from the Elkins Depot this year starting on May 23. The trip, which will run from Elkins to the ghost town of Spruce before returning to Elkins, includes lunch and dinner.

The New Tygart Flyer will commence operations on May 24 and operate on weekends through May and on Memorial Day.

Trains will operate for the entire month of June on Saturdays and Sundays. Starting in July and continuing through August, they will run Thursdays through Saturdays. In September, the trains will operate on Saturdays and Sundays and on Sept. 26. In October, they will operate Thursdays through Sundays for the entire month and additional days as needed.

Other new features of this year’s schedule include an “Inaugural Passenger Trip” from Elkins to Cass on May 14, and “Diesel Day” on May 16. Two days before the 2008 Cass Railfan Weekend, the D&GVRR will offer the opportunity to be a passenger on a significant and unique first-time rail excursion.

In more than 50 years as a town, there was never a passenger train to Spruce. Now, the first-ever passenger train will run from Elkins to the all-but-forgotten little town. At Spruce, riders will transfer to a Cass train and ride down the mountain to Cass for the return to Elkins via bus. Because of limited seating, only 100 tickets will be sold for this trip. Never before photo opportunities will be available at several locations along the Shavers Fork of the Cheat River. Passengers will be making history riding the first passenger train from Elkins, 63 miles one-way to the old town of Spruce. Tickets are $140, which includes a continental breakfast, all-you-can-eat buffet, sandwiches and vegetables.

The train will depart from the Elkins Depot at 7 a.m. Passengers will be returned to Elkins by 7 p.m.

To make reservations for this historical trip, call 1-877-686-7245.

May 16 is being billed as “Diesel Day.” Railfans will be able to leave the Elkins Depot photographing the “Titans of the Mountain” on their return to Spruce. As part of the annual Cass Railfan Weekend, the train will pull freight and passenger trains through the Kelly Mountain tunnel and start their way up the lower Cheat Mountain grade past Elk River Junction and cross the high trestle to Cheat River Falls. On May 17, Shays will leave Cass and ascend to Spruce where they will join with the diesels as the titans recreate historic run-bys the way it was more than 50 years ago.

On May 18, “Logging Day,” multiple steam-geared locomotives pulling log cars and mixed freight will leave Cass and climb up the mountain through two switchbacks on their way to Whittaker with multiple photo run-bys.

On July 10, steam returns to Elkins for the “Depot Centennial and Railroad Days,” which continues through July 13. This celebration features the Cass Scenic Railroad’s Big 6 Western Maryland Shay steam locomotive. Historic inaugural steam trips will be available from Cass to Elkins on July 10 and from Elkins to Cass on July 13.

On July 11 and July 12, short steam trips from Elkins to the Kelly Mountain Tunnel will be available for railfans. There will also be one daily round trip, from Elkins to Belington and back again.

For more information or to make reservations on these and other historic rail excursions, call the Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad ticket office at 1-877-686-7245.