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Last Summer

Change Comes to West Virginia’s
Remarkable Durbin Rocket

“Afternoon Trip”
The afternoon Durbin Rocket heads up the Greenbrier.

We’re driving north from Cass, West Virginia, after another epic day aboard the train to Bald Knob. A typical late spring dew-drenched morning, State Highway 92 unspools before us, taking us into a different West Virginia, one of farms and rolling fields, a divergent kind of rugged, the Mountain State gone pastoral. Yet the highest mountains in West Virginia are close by, looming and imposing, never far away.

Our short drive takes us to the tiny town of Durbin, a one-time timber town at the confluence of the East and West Forks of the Greenbrier River, and a once busy interchange between the Chesapeake & Ohio and Western Maryland Railways. We enjoy hearty breakfasts at the firefighting-themed Station 2 Restaurant, and we’re ready for a big time on a little railroad. Little, but distinctive—there’s nothing like this anywhere.

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A Return to Durbin

Heisler #6 simmers quietly in the cool evening next to the little train shop, and the historic Durbin C&O depot.

Like so many, COVID completely upended our life. The kid’s sports, church activities, school, and work schedules were all turned upside down. We had even planned a big trip back to Chama, New Mexico, but alas, that was not to be. Instead, our family bought a small travel trailer and camped a little closer to home which allowed us to travel a little safer during the pandemic. Our longest trip took us back to the tiny town of Durbin, West Virginia, where the Durbin and Greenbriar Railroad still operates a small section of the old Chesapeake and Ohio line. We had been to Durbin before on a trip to the neighboring Cass Scenic Railroad several years ago, but this time we camped at a small family campground in Durbin itself.

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