Byesville Scenic Railway
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Byesville Scenic Railway | |
---|---|
Locale | Ohio |
Dates of operation | –present |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm) (standard gauge) |
Headquarters | Byesville, Ohio |
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Byesville Scenic Railway [1] is a tourist railroad located in Byesville, Ohio.
The railway is a non-profit group dedicated to preserving the local coal mining and railroad history in Guernsey County, Ohio. The railroad runs on track that was originally known as the Cleveland & Marietta Railroad and later became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The primary freight hauled was coal, as Guernsey County was a large producer of coal. Throughout the life of the line, it later became part of the Penn Central Railroad due to a merger of the Pennsylvania and New York Central and later Conrail.
In the early 1980s most of the C&M was removed, the remaining portion from Cambridge to C&M Junction (just south of Derwent) was sold to the Chessie System (which later became CSX Transportation). From Byesville to C&M Junction (south of Derwent)was sold to the county in the 1999 and laid dormant until 2003 when the Buckeye Central Scenic Railroad began operating a tourist train from Byesville, Ohio to Derwent. In 2006 the Byesville Scenic Railway was formed and began operations. The line is currently being rehabilitated to C&M Junction and future plans include rebuilding the old Eastern Ohio branch of the B&O to [Cumberland, Ohio].