Thurmond, WV (THN)

Ticket Revenue

FY 2011

$17,373

Station Ridership

FY 2011

254

Note: Fiscal year is from
October through September.

Thurmond is an unstaffed flag stop on the route of the Cardinal. If there is a reservation for a passenger boarding or detraining here, the train will stop. If not, it simply continues through. Passengers may wait under the eaves of the station building and board at the adjacent grade crossing just west of the station.

The two-story wooden-framed Thurmond station, built in 1904 for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O, succeeded by CSXT), still stands in this small town and is used as a National Park Service visitor center, open during summer months, for the New River Gorge National River. The station, restored in 1995, once served both as depot and offices for the C&O., The yardmaster’s office on the west end overlooks Thurmond’s West Yard; the office has been restored with authentic furniture, fixtures, and equipment from the early 1900s. The Trainmaster’s and Ticket Master’s offices have also been restored and present museum exhibits relating to Thurmond and the railroad.

As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act work, the Thurmond station is to receive a platform display sign.

Thurmond, located in the middle of the steep New River Gorge, was long accessible only by rail. The town was named for William Dabney Thurmond, who received the 73-acre site in 1873 as payment for a surveying job, and settled there. That same year, the C&O opened its main line through the gorge to connect the Atlantic coast to the Ohio River. The rail line runs along the bank of the New River, and the town, which lacked a single street until 1921, climbs the steep mountain behind the tracks.

In 1883, the C&O built a freight station in Thurmond, and soon after, a railroad bridge was completed across the river to connect the coal mines with the main line. This first station burned in 1899, and was replaced with the current building.

Thurmond incorporated in 1903, and became a chief railroad center for the C&O, one of only two shipping points in the New River Gorge, a major coal-producing region in the 20th century. Thurmond produced more freight revenue for C&O than any of the cities of Cincinnati, Richmond or Charleston. In 1910, its heyday, about 76,000 passengers boarded trains in Thurmond and about four million tons of freight were shipped—almost one-fifth of the C&O’s revenue for that year. The town’s tiny but complete business district, with the railroad tracks as its Main Street across from the riverside depot, included two banks, two hotels, dry good and grocery stores, a drug store, a jewelry store, doctors’ offices, churches, and railroad offices. Fifteen passenger trains a day came through in those days.

In the 1950s and 1960s, much freight still passed through Thurmond. However, by the 1970s Thurmond was all but a ghost town. The Bank of Thurmond had closed in 1931 and the remaining hotel burned in 1963. In 1984, the railroad offices in the town closed. However, the entire town was included in a Historical District that year and placed on the National Register of Historical Places. (The station itself is not on the Register.) In 1978, the New River Gorge was incorporated into the National Park System, and in 1998, the New River was designated an American Heritage River, one of 14 in the United States. The 2000 Census revealed only seven residents in Thurmond, and today it is mainly an access point for the park.

The New River, which runs through 53 miles of the Gorge Park, is a rugged whitewater river. Much of the area’s attraction today is whitewater rafting during the summer months, as well as enjoyment of the natural diversity and rugged terrain throughout the park.

Amtrak does not provide ticketing or help with baggage at the Thurmond station.

Thurmond has tri-weekly train service.