Thurmond station is a

train station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing suc ...

in Thurmond,

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, that is served by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

, the national railroad passenger system. The ''

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

'', which runs three times each week between

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

and

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

, passes by the station three times each week in both directions. The station is on

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

's New River Line and is located on the east bank of the New River.

Ridership

It is one of Amtrak's least-busy stations, it was the second least-busy for

fiscal year A fiscal year (also known as a financial year, or sometimes budget year) is used in government accounting, which varies between countries, and for budget purposes. It is also used for financial reporting by businesses and other organizations. La ...

2006, after

Greenfield Village The Henry Ford (also known as the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and Greenfield Village, and as the Edison Institute) is a history museum complex in Dearborn, Michigan, United States, within Metro Detroit. The museum collection conta ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, which was less traveled because it had been discontinued from the Amtrak regular schedule in April 2006 (being open only to groups after that point). Of the 509 stations served by Amtrak in fiscal year 2012, Thurmond was again the second least-used station, just ahead of Sanderson,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. In fiscal year 2023, however, Thurmond was the fourth least-used station. In 2022, the Amtrak station in Thurmond, WV saw 399 passengers served, compared to 285 in 2018. In 2023, 466 passengers were served at the Thurmond station. As of 2024, due to the low annual ridership in Thurmond, the station is unstaffed, there is no waiting room, and no in-person ticket booth or kiosk.

History

The long, narrow two-story slate-roofed wooden structure, built in 1905 by the

Chesapeake and Ohio Railway The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis Potter Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Rich ...

, also houses a

railroad museum A railway museum is a museum that explores the history of all aspects of rail related transportation, including: locomotives (steam, diesel, and electric), railway cars, trams, and railway signalling equipment. They may also operate historic e ...

and a

visitor center A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center or tourist information centre is a physical location that provides information to tourists. Types A visitor center may be a Civic c ...

for the

New River Gorge National River The New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is a United States national park and preserve designed to protect and maintain the New River Gorge in southern West Virginia in the Appalachian Mountains. Established in 1978 as a national river ...

. The depot features a projecting bay that served as a

signal tower On a rail transport system, signalling control is the process by which control is exercised over train movements by way of railway signals and block systems to ensure that trains operate safely, over the correct route and to the proper timeta ...

. The interior originally possessed three waiting rooms: one for

white men White is a racial classification of people generally used for those of predominantly European ancestry. It is also a skin color specifier, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, ethnicity and point of view. Desc ...

, one for white women, and one for

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

s. The building was renovated in 1995. It is a contributing structure in the

Thurmond Historic District Thurmond is a town in Fayette County, West Virginia, United States, on the New River. The population was recorded as 5 in the 2020 census. During the heyday of coal mining in the New River Gorge, Thurmond was a prosperous town with a number of b ...

. In 2023, a new small accessible platform was constructed to accommodate passengers with reduced mobility.

References

External links

Thurmond Amtrak Station & Museum (USA Rail Guide -- Train Web)Thurmond Depot - The Museum (WVRailroads.com)
- U.S. National Park Service, New River Gorge National River, official site * {{authority control Buildings and structures in Fayette County, West Virginia Amtrak stations in West Virginia Historic American Engineering Record in West Virginia Railroad museums in West Virginia Railway stations in the United States opened in 1905 New River Gorge National Park and Preserve Museums in Fayette County, West Virginia Former Chesapeake and Ohio Railway stations Transportation in Fayette County, West Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Fayette County, West Virginia Articles containing video clips Museums on the National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia