Feel free to email me  RICKC300@aol.com Hello, and welcome to my site of the Buffalo Creek and Gauley Railroad and the Elk River Coal and Lumber Company, Right now all the photos of the BC&G are in the Photo album, a second page labeled as Elk River Coal and Lumber is just for the Elk River Coal and Lumber Company.

THE BUFFALO CREEK AND GAULEY RAILROAD: 

"In 1904, Joseph Garner Bradley organized the Elk River Coal and Lumber Company to develop the resources of his vast track of land. Roads, at that time were either primitive or did not exist. On April 1, 1904, he chartered the Buffalo Creek and Gauley Railroad to run from Dundon to Huttonsville. Although chartered for 104 miles the actual railroad ran only 18.6 miles to connect Widen with Dundon where the Coal and Coke Railroad (later known as the B&O) touched Mr. Bradley's holdings. The track was built by L.G. Widen and his crew from Dundon to Widen through the lumbering town of Swandale.
More than 500,000 tons of coal was moved in the next decade from the Rich Run Mine in Widen by the two newly purchased 4-6-0 and 2-8-0 engines. In 1918, Bradley began to develop his timber land, erecting a huge band mill at Swandale. Climaxes E-1 and E-2 were used to work Elk River Coal and Timber lands along the Lily Fork. The BC&G made as many as six trips a day, using wooden open ended coaches for passengers.
On December 30, 1963, the last regularly scheduled run of the BC&G  (103 cars long) was made. On February 27, 1965 the final train ran to Dundon. This was the end of a great era in Clay County, not only the end of hundreds of jobs, but the end of a way of life for so many".
I really hope you will find something of interest here, I have been adding photos and information from time to time as I get it. I have also added another page for photos of my fictional HO model railroad, the Port Walker Transportation Systems, (named after my grandfather), which has a freelanced connection to the BC&G. If you have information or photos of the BC&G or the Elk River Coal and Lumber Co. Please share them/it with me, for possible inclusion to this site. I am also interested in purchasing photos of these roads. Thanks for stopping by and please be sure to check out all of the Photo pages, I always give photo credit to the photographer when known as well as to whoever submits the photo. So please send your photos and information for inclusion to this site. I have over 200 photos in my personal collection (including many of the B&O) so if there is something you want to see listed, just ask, I may be able to post it here for you!

Thanks for stopping by, ENJOY!

Rick