We've been on the go so much I haven't had time to write a blog, but I finally have time now to do some catching up.
On Saturday we left Dayton and drove to Beckley, WV. We stayed in a campground that's located on the hill behind Beckley's Exhibition Coal Mine Museum. It's a nice little campground that only has 17 sites, and you can walk down the hill to the museum and mine. The mine hasn't been in use for decades, but they have a tour car you can ride in on, and a retired miner tells what it was like to work in a mine. They also have several restored mine-town buildings you can tour with docents who describe the living conditions of the workers and their families.
We did the mine part of the tour on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday morning we drove to the New River Bridge to see it from above and below. We also drove down to the town of Thurmond, which was a big railroad town in its day, but is now deserted. They are working to restore the few remaining buildings.
After we got back to the campground, we toured the mine-town buildings, which are beautifully restored.
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| Barge on the Ohio River |
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| Mine tour |
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Our guide, Marvin, showing the miner's lunchbox.
They carried their water below the food in the tin. |
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| Inside the mine |
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| Our Beckley campsite. |
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Looking down on the New River Bridge
They were working on the two outer lanes. |
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| Rafters on the New River |
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Scary little one-lane bridge going over to Thurmond.
The other side was for trains. |
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| The tracks are in regular use...multiple trains per day. |
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| Lots of coal! |
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Thurmond's remaining buildings.
The main street was just railroad tracks! |
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| Thurmond depot |
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| Restored mine superintendent's house in Beckley. |
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| Superintendent's living room |
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| Two-room schoolhouse |
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| Mine church |
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| Homestead buildings that were moved to Beckley. |
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