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Home \ Railroads by Region \ New River/Greenbrier Valley \ Depots

Prince Depot

Built in an Art Deco style compatible with architecture of the C&O's Cincinnati Union Terminal, the Prince Depot still serves as a Amtrak passenger stop. The elaborate station was conceived as part of a optimistic plan by the C&O's Chairman Robert Young to replace several older C&O depots with stations of a futuristic design. Plans called for the station to serve as a stop for the C&O's new ultra-modern streamlined passenger train, The Chessie. The glass vista dome cars of The Chessie would provide travelers with a lofty 360-degree view of the scenic New River Gorge during daylight hours.		Built to serve the traveling public of Beckley and surrounding area, the Prince Depot is a remarkable example of post-war architectural and optimism. View enlarged

The Prince Depot was opened with a festive and very formal dedication on June 26, 1946. A special 11-car train pulled by two 2-6-6-2 Mallets left Beckley loaded with dignitaries and numerous guests, slowing traveled the winding route through Piney Gorge, making the one-hour trip to Prince. There, C&O President Borman meet that train, and Austin Caperton presided over the ceremony designed to formally open the station and usher in a grand new age of modern travel by rail to the Beckley area. Probably no one present that day would have suspected that the Prince Depot was destined to be the only station of its type ever built. During the months following the end of World War II, the C&O and other US railroads quickly realized that the numbers of rail passengers were rapidly declining, rather than increasing. In response, the C&O quickly withdrew its plans to build additional modern stations, and the railroad's new train, The Chessie, died a silent death before she was allowed to make even a single run.		Using what architects of the day called Solar Orientation, the overhang of the roof over the depot's waiting platform was calculated with reference to the meridional position of the sun, thus capturing the direct rays of the winter sun, while shading the hot rays of summer. View enlarged

Open during the days that the Amtrak train, The Cardinal, runs, the somewhat remotely-located station is well worth the time it takes to drive down the windy, twisting road on Badoff Mountain to Prince, a small community about 10 miles from Beckley. Inside the historic depot, visitors can view the scenic New River Gorge from the station's glass-paneled walls, and inspect the photo mural of the coal mining scene on the rear wall of the depot. Set in the station's marble floor is a attractive mosaic of Chessie, the railroad's feline mascot used in advertising for many decades to promote the concept that passengers would "Sleep like a kitten" on the C&O's "named" trains, such as The George Washington, The FFV, and The Sportsman.		A large photo mural depicting a typical W.Va. mining scene occupies the rear wall of the Prince Depot. The mine is the Crab Orchard mine, that once operated near Beckley, WV. View enlarged

The outside features of the handsome red-brick depot are also impressive. The station name of "Prince", in orange-red lettering of Art Deco inspired style, graces each end of station platforms and is positioned above the station's front and is back entranceways. On the rear of the building is a rather unique C&O herald, of a more streamlined design than was normally used by the railroad. Many decades after the ill-fated train, The Chessie, was first conceived, it took some political arm-bending to convenience Amtrak that passenger trains through the New River Gorge should be run during daylight hours. Thankfully, reasonable minds prevailed, and today thousands of passengers from around the world enjoy the scenic spectacle of the New River Gorge the Amtrak train, The Cardinal.		The author's very-first train ride was made from Prince to Cotton Hill as an infant. The trip ended with him being forcibly removed from the train, kicking and screaming all the way, as it was a trip he never wanted to end. View enlarged

Directions

Yahoo map of Prince - - Driving Directions

Nearby Railroad Sites/Attractions

Alderson Depot - Located in the center of the town’s historic district, the recently restored Alderson Depot, a circa 1896 wood-frame structure, is typical of standard Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (C&O) design used by the railroad during the period from 1890 to 1915.

Hinton Railroad Museum - Opened on May 26, 1991, and contains many artifacts of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. The Museum is located in the former Cox's Department Store Building, within the heart of Hinton's National Historic District.

Hinton Railroad Days Festival, October 13-14, 20-21, 2001 - Live entertainment, food, exhibits and other festivities are a tradition during Hinton's annual celebration of its railroad heritage. The event is timed to coincide with the annual New River Train excursions (see below).

New River Train Excursions, October 13-14, 20-21, 2001 - These series of day-long, 300-mile treks via rail across West Virginia are timed to coincide with the expected peak of fall colors in the New River Gorge.

Ronceverte Depot - The Ronceverte Depot, a two-story brick structure built in 1914, is typical of Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (C&O) stations of the era. The station is still in active use by CSXT, and rumors are that the railroad is planned a major renovation of the structure soon.

Thurmond Depot - The Thurmond Depot, a two-story wood-frame structure from 1905, still serves as as "flagstop" for Amtrak trains. Just recently the old depot was painstakingly restored and now houses a visitors center and museum.

White Sulphur Springs Depot - The White Sulphur Spring Depot, a Neo-Georgian style depot built in 1929, still serves the rail-traveling public, as a scheduled stop for Amtrak's Cardinal.