Beech Mountains Alco S2 #113 built as Michigan Limestone & Chemical in 1946 crosses Palace Valley Road, through the back yards of a few residents and into the woods with 25 empty coal cars in tow. With only a few more weeks of planned operation what you see is possibly the end of a railroad which has hauled lumber and coal since 1890. Operation began in 1890 when the Alexander Lumber Company constructed a narrow-gauge tramway along the Left Fork of the Buckhannon River in present-day Upshur County, West Virginia. A standard-gauge system in 1892 known as the Alexander & Rich Mountain Railroad replaced the original narrow gauge tramway. The right-of-way later purchased by E.L. Claghorn in 1953. He was a developer from Pennsylvania and looked to use the corridor for an entirely different purpose, the movement of coal taken from seams located near the small town of Helvetia. Although abundant coal reserves remain and a new loadout has been constructed at the end of the line, current EPA regulations along with a lagging economy has the mine slated to close on December 25, 2015 which will conclude the final chapter of the Beech Mountain Railroad.
From a hint of "Bee" (NKP 765), colorful "Bees" (KCS), "Bees" w/ "attitude", to "Bees" that "sting" your eyes, in their own way they have "Bee" on display! Equipment that "Buzzes" with Yellow & Black colors! ("Bees" can still "Bee" entering this "hive"!)
