On the road early this morning, out across the New River the Gauley, past Morgantown and into Pennsylvania only to cross the Ohio River and a little later the Allegheny. Spring looked like it was already over and summer was here. The only sign that it isn't really here yet is that the fields are still fallow. No corn or other crops coming up yet, but many of the fields have been plowed all ready and are just waiting for the last sign of frost.

   Nice sunny morning that boasted the temperature up into the 80's until mid afternoon when the clouds rolled in and the rain started. Didn't really cool anything off for most of the afternoon either, mostly it just made it a lot more humid out there in the real world. Tonight may actually be kind of cold based on the feel of the weather out there right now. Probably won't get down to freezing, but it may be nice to have an extra blanket ready just in case.

   The important thing at the end of the day is that I'm more than halfway to my destination this evening. Not quite 400 miles today, but close enough. My butt hurts! (But my feet feel much better today, just like I said they would). Am holed up in a rest stop on I-80 just west of it's intersection with I-99. Pretty much out in the middle of nowhere here in the state of Pennsylvania. Lot's of big rigs all around me and it 'sounds' like some of them will be keeping their engines running while they're here. Need to go find my ear plugs. One good thing is that it gets me up early in the morning.

    Here are a few photo's from a road trip on Saturday. These are of the town of Thurmond, once a thriving town built on the banks of the New River just east of present day Fayetteville. It was a railroad hub with steam train service shops and buildings including water and coal towers and engine house. It also had more than 75,000 passengers pass through it in 1910. With revenue from passengers and coal shipments the town supported two hotels, two banks a jewelry store, movie theatre, several dry goods stores and many other businesses. In 1958 the last steam train operated in the New River Gorge and by 1963 most of the town was gone either having been burned down or abandoned to rot.

The train station at the town of Thurmond, WV. Built in 1904, this is the 2nd depot to be built after the 1st one burned in 1899. It was restored by the National Park Service in 1995 and you can still catch an Amtrak passenger train here if you want. (I liked the idea of this picture being a metaphor for the choices facing all of us in our daily lives. You have the mainline to take you to the big cities where all the other people are, or you have the branch line to take you off to someplace new and possibly exciting. It's your choice!)

Another view of the station. The upper floor had offices for the dispatcher, train master, conductors as well as the signal tower. The lower level housed the ticket agent, baggage room, waiting rooms and snack room.

A semaphore signal, used to signal the engineer of a train to stop or that the line is clear ahead.

A view looking at the remains of the town. On the left is what is left of the coaling tower for the steam engines. Built in 1922 it had a capacity of 500 tons. The engine house would of been just this side of it, about where the single tree is now. The grey building on the right was originally the railroad commisary but was later used as the town post office. It was closed for good in 1995. The other buildings beyond are a few of the remaining businesses buildings that are still standing.

Another view of the same scene. I liked the look of the tracks, old buildings and the foggy mountains.

The original truss bridge across the New River. This line continues up a valley on the other side and tops out on the same level as the town of Fayetteville and Beckly. I assume it serviced some of the many coal mines that were on the south side of the river.