Communities

Train Lovers Unite

C&O Historical Society meets in Cass

CASS -- The Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society, the organization based in Clifton Forge, Virginia, that preserves and publishes the history of the C&O Railway, recently held its annual member convention in Pocahontas County, in conjunction with Cass Scenic Railroad State Park and the Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad.  

First founded in Alderson, West Virginia in 1969, the non-profit organization's tradition of holding an annual convention started in 1970, when its earliest members met for the first time in Huntington. Growing through the decades, the group would become a global network of more than 2,000 members that includes historians, authors, and modelers with a shared interest in the C&O Railway.

Following the 2023 event, C&O Historical Society President Mark Totten celebrated the completion of their latest annual conference, saying, "Our 52nd annual conference in Cass was an enormous success thanks to the hospitality of Cass Scenic Railroad, the Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad and several amazing teams of contributors who worked to make the event memorable."  

Sixty-six C&OHS members were in attendance, enjoying a full agenda of history and fellowship in Pocahontas County from Aug. 17-20.

Earlier in the year, the state of West Virginia celebrated the reconnection of the 15-mile-long section of the C&O Railway's former Greenbrier Subdivision between Cass and Durbin, following a multi-year restoration completed by the Durbin & Greenbrier Valley Railroad and the West Virginia State Rail Authority. In 1985, the former C&O rails along the Greenbrier River were ripped apart during a major flood, ending train travel to this region of the state for nearly 40 years.

The year 2023 was special for the history studied by the C&O Historical Society. In 1873, the original Chesapeake & Ohio main line was completed in the New River Gorge, linking rails in the east and west to complete a major transportation system that is still in use today by CSX Transportation, the successor company to the C&O.

The re-linking of the line between Cass and Durbin was the deciding factor in choosing Cass for the location of the C&OHS's annual conference.  

Totten explained, "One hundred and fifty years after the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway celebrated the completion of its 'Great Connection' between the Virginia shore and the Ohio River, we could not imagine a more symbolically-appropriate place to hold our 2023 convention."

The first C&O Historical Society "newsletter meeting" took place in August 1970, with nine members traveling to the former UpTowner Inn Motor Hotel in Huntington.  

According to C&OHS Founder and Chief Historian Thomas W. Dixon Jr., "The Society was just over a year old and had a total of only about 50 members at the time. It was thought by a few of those who were communicating (by letter in those days) that a get-together would be interesting."  

Reflective of these early days, the group's business meeting and convention dinner was held in the Burger Boy Food-O-Rama near the hotel.

Following the cancellation of their 2020 and 2021 gatherings as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic, which was the first interruption in the group's annual event since the tradition began in 1970, the C&O Historical Society organized the "2022 COHS Homecoming Conference" in November of that year.  

Organized around the current headquarters for the non-profit organization in Clifton Forge, Virginia, this convention resurrected the annual gathering by utilizing space at the C&O Railway Heritage Center museum and the local Mountain Gateway Community College.  The homecoming brought out more than 50 members at a time when the future of any large, public convention was in doubt.

C&O Historical Society President Mark Totten expressed thanks to many whose work contributed to the success of their 2023 Annual Conference:

"Our speakers brought a great deal of knowledge as they presented to our audience in the Cass Community Center. I want to personally recognize and thank Frank Bongiovanni, Rick Gartrell, Frank Goad, David Olesen, Dave Ostrander, Ted Pamperin and Karen Parker for their captivating and well-researched topics.

"I especially want to extend the thanks of the entire C&O Historical Society to William Price McNeel, noted Pocahontas County historian and author of The Durbin Route, who joined us as our opening presenter, answering questions and sharing his unparalleled knowledge of the Greenbrier Division, the region's early settlers and the many industries that once dotted the area."

The Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society is a non-profit corporation dedicated to interpreting the American Railway experience using C&O Railway's history through drawings, documents, and artifacts which the Society collects, preserves, and makes available to as broad an audience as possible.

The Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society was organized in January 1969 and in 1975 was incorporated as a non-profit eleemosynary organization within the meaning or subparagraph 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.