C&O Society Restoring Business Car

Restoration of a business car to operating condition by the Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society is underway.

The group said it is restoring “Chessie 29,” which was used by the railroad executives during the mid-20th Century. 

The car is being restored in Clifton Forge, Virginia. It was donated to the society in 2019 by Al Barbour.

Built in 1950, the car was originally named New River Club. It received the Chessie 29 name in 1951 after mechanical work was done on it by C&O shops in Huntington, West Virginia.

The society said the car was used extensively by C&O President Walter Tuohy and hosted such dignitaries as President Dwight Eisenhower. 

C&O Phone Box Restored by Society

A former Chesapeake & Ohio railroad phone box has been restored by the Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society.

The artifact is on display at the C&O Railway Heritage Center in Clifton Forge, Virginia.

The historical society said at one time the railroad had hundreds of these phone boxes, which continued to be used into the 1980s. But they were replaced other forms of communication.

The restored phone box came from the former C&O mainline in Charlottesville, Virginia.

It was donated to the C&OHS by society member and former director David Powell, who had acquired it during a construction project involving Interstate 64.

Powell kept the phone box for more than four decades before donating it to the C&OHS.

Ingles Slides Donated to C&O Society

The estate of the late J. David Ingles, a former editor of Trains magazine, has donated approximately 3,000 slides to the Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society.

Trains magazine reported on its website that the C&O group will scan the slides and add them to its digital archive where they will be for sale.

Many of the images show C&O operations in Ohio and Michigan.

Ingles died Oct. 4, 2020, after spending 47 years writing for Kalmbach Media, which owns Trains. During his career, Ingles also served as a senior editor at Classic Trains magazine.

His estate has donated some of his photographs to the Center for Railroad Photography & Art, Illinois Railway Museum, Lake States Railway Historical Association, and Monticello Railway Museum.

C&O H Unit Reaches Buckingham Branch RR

An SD40 locomotive recently repainted into Chesapeake & Ohio markings and colors has arrived at the Buckingham Branch Railroad in Staunton, Virginia.

The blue and gold locomotive, carrying its original C&O roster number 7534, was repainted in the CSX locomotive shops in Huntington, West Virginia, for the C&O Historical Society.

The locomotive will be stored in Staunton for security reasons, society officials said, noting that it is on railroad property that is not accessible to the public.

Although No. 7534 might be used to pull Buckingham Branch trains, it is not currently operational because it is missing six traction motors.

The C&O group is seeking help in obtaining traction motors for the locomotive, which was CSX 4617 before being retired in 2011.