Ronceverte station

Ronceverte was welcomed by railroad services on January 28, 1873, when the C&O Main Line between White Sulphur Springs and Huntington was completed. During the early 20th Century, Ronceverte became an important commercial center in the Greenbrier Valley. This led to a growth in population in the town along with businesses. The first depot was built in 1891, with 12,518 passengers being ticketed through the station along with 27,870 tons of freight being shipped through the station in the 1890s. In 1899, the C&O built a branch line from Ronceverte up to Cass and Durbin for use in the logging industry up in these towns. In 1906, the station had 42,780 passengers ticketing through the station and billed out 37,927 tons of freight.[1]

When the depot opened in 1915, there was a total of 12 trains serving the station. That being six through and local trains on the main line and four trains on the Greenbrier Branch. In the 1930s passenger trains on the Greenbrier Branch were replaced by gasoline powered Doodlebugs, which lasted until 1958. Although the George Washington did not stop at Ronceverte when it was inaugurated in 1932, it did stop at Ronceverte in its final years after the Fast Flying Virginian was discontinued in 1968.

By 1944, only ten trains were serving the station compared to 12 before 1930. This dropped to four trains by 1958, after passenger service on the Greenbrier Branch was discontinued. In 1962, two of the four trains were discontinued, leaving only the FFV serving Ronceverte until was discontinued in 1968 and the George Washington now stopping at Ronceverte. The final blow came on May 1, 1971, when Amtrak took over all passenger operations in the United States, and chose not to serve Ronceverte, despite retaining the George Washington and merging it with the James Whitcomb Riley. The George Washington itself lost its name in 1974 after merging with the James Whitcomb Riley. The Riley itself would become the Cardinal in 1977, which still uses the route to this day, although not stopping at Ronceverte. Nearest passenger stations that are being served on the C&O Main by the Cardinal include Alderson which is 13 miles away and White Sulphur Springs which is 13.5 miles away.

Currently, the depot is used by CSX as an office for its employees. CSX also has started a $500,000 project on restoring the station, which is 107 years old. The depot itself has also hosted a one-of-a-kind train show on May 7, 2022, called The Red Matheny Train show which highlights railroad history in the county and its connections to Ronceverte. The show itself is named after Jim “Red” Matheny, who was a key figure in building the C&O railroad, while he worked at the Ronceverte train station. The event itself had local vendors, model train displays and layouts, and concessions which lasted from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM for a total of 7 hours.[3]