The Greenbrier, Cheat and Elk Railroad (GC&E) was a logging railroad in West Virginia operating in the early 20th century. Its main line ran from Bergoo to Cheat Junction, where it connected with the Western Maryland Railway (WM).[1]
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The railroad began c. 1901 as the Greenbrier and Elk Railroad, which ran from Cass to Spruce, WV under the ownership of the West Virginia Spruce Lumber Company. The road served a pulp mill, built in Spruce in 1904.[2] In 1909 the lumber company was acquired by the West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company (later known as Westvaco), which obtained a new charter for an expanded railroad. This new railroad was initially named the Greenbrier, Elk and Valley Railroad, and then renamed the GC&E in 1910. Spruce became the area's rail hub, as tracks were extended west through Laurel Bank (Slatyfork) and along the Elk River to Bergoo by 1914; and north along the Shavers Fork valley to Cheat Junction by 1917.[1][3]
The pulp mill in Spruce closed in 1925. Subsequently the town declined and it eventually was abandoned.[2] In 1927 the GC&E was acquired by the WM.[3]
In 1997 the West Virginia State Rail Authority purchased the GC&E line (then called the Tygart and Laurel Subdivisions) from CSX Transportation, the successor to the Western Maryland Railway. The state established the West Virginia Central Railroad, which has contracted with the Durbin and Greenbrier Valley Railroad (DVGR) to operate a heritage railway on portions of the line.[4]
The DVGR operates the Cheat Salamander, an excursion train which runs between Elkins, Cheat Bridge and Spruce.[5]