Railway Society Saves 88 Year-Old Steam Locomotive Turntable from Scrapper’s Torch   Clifton Forge, VA (May 25, 2017) - The Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society, Inc. has purchased the abandoned 88 year-old steam locomotive turntable from the Town of Clifton Forge, Virginia. Installed in June 1929, the 115-foot, Bethlehem Steel-built, twin span turntable once served the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway’s main locomotive roundhouse in Clifton Forge. It was one of three turntables the C&O had operating in the once-bustling Clifton Forge terminal and shops complex. The turntable is still operational and continued to run until the electric wires were disconnected about two weeks ago. The turntable’s purchase was made possible, in part, by a generous grant from CSX, one of America’s premier transportation companies and the successor railroad to the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. During the Memorial Day week, the turntable will be relocated from the Shops complex in West Clifton Forge to the Society’s Henry W. Hoffman C&O Railway Heritage Center [“RHC”] approximately one and one-half miles away in East Clifton Forge. The Society has contracted with the Specialized Hauling division of the W. O. Grubb Crane Rental Company of Richmond, Virginia to undertake the primary logistics of the move. Additional transportation assistance is being provided by CSX Transportation, Inc. The current plan is to move the entire 80-ton turntable, including its two traction motors, in one piece. Only the center arch, which provides the connection for the electrical wires, will be dismantled in order to provide overhead clearance. The Buckingham Branch Railroad, headquartered in Dillwyn, Virginia, and JJ’s General Contracting Inc., of Clifton Forge, are also providing additional logistical services to assist with the relocation. The acquisition and successful relocation of the turntable completes Phase 2-A of the Society’s long-term Track Improvement Project at the RHC. Already underway, Phase 2-B of the Track Improvement Project includes the engineering and funding for construction of a new concrete pit with proper drainage. The new pit will enable the center pivot, ring rail, and steam locomotive turntable to be reinstalled for future operation, planned for completion by 2019. The turntable will be a functioning component of the Society’s railroad operations in the RHC’s Smiths Creek Yard, and available for use in STEAM [Science-Technology-Engineering-Arts-Math] education programs offered by the Society. The Society wishes to thank CSX, W. O. Grubb Crane Rental, the Buckingham Branch Railroad, JJ’s General Contracting, and Highlands Community Bank of Clifton Forge and Covington, Virginia for their invaluable assistance in the successful completion of Phase 2-A of the Society’s Track Improvement Project. The Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society, Inc. is a non-profit corporation dedicated to interpreting the American Railway experience utilizing the C&O Railway’s history through drawings, documents and artifacts that the Society collects, preserves and makes available to as broad an audience as possible. The Society was organized in 1969 with the publication of a monthly newsletter, and incorporated as an IRS designated 501 (c)(3) non-profit eleemosynary organization in 1975. Members are located world-wide. For inquiries, please call Rob Catlin, C&OHS Chairman & Project Manager, at 443.465.9643.

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