Baltimore & Ohio Railroad crews began boring the original Kingwood Tunnel near present-day Tunnelton late in 1849 and completed the 4,137-foot bore late in 1852. Excavation advanced from both portals and six additional headings reached through three shafts. It was the longest tunnel in the country when completed, though more work was needed before track could be laid.
Research status: Verified to source
Citation / research lead
Historic American Engineering Record, Baltimore & Ohio Railroad: Kingwood Tunnel, HAER WV-16, pp. 1–3
The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad built a Fink truss bridge across the Cheat River at Rowlesburg in 1851, according to the Historic American Engineering Record. HAER identifies it as the first of three successive bridges at this crossing. The Smithsonian’s B&O Railroad Records preserve an undated view specifically identified as the Fink bridge, along with another undated view of the Cheat River bridge near Rowlesburg. Together, the engineering record and archival images document the earliest bridge generation in this crossing’s history.
Research status: Verified to source
Citation / research lead
Historic American Engineering Record, HAER WV-13, B&O Railroad, Rowlesburg Bridge, written historical and descriptive data (transmitted 1984)
The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad constructed the original Tray Run Viaduct on the Cheat River Grade near Rowlesburg in 1851–1852. Designed by Albert Fink, the 445-foot structure combined a massive stone base with a cast-iron trestle. Its pioneering design became an important step in the development of iron railroad bridges and later metal-frame construction.
Research status: Verified to source
Citation / research lead
Historic American Engineering Record, B & O Railroad, Tray Run Viaduct, HAER WV-18, pp. 1–6
The Rowlesburg B&O crossing entered its Bollman-truss generation in 1870, following the earlier Fink bridge, according to HAER. A Smithsonian archival image dated circa 1870 records two adjacent bridges over the Cheat River, each carrying one track across two spans, with water spouts beside the tracks. The image provides a view of the crossing between its Fink and Warren generations; its later repair and replacement history still requires investigation.
Research status: Under Review
Citation / research lead
Historic American Engineering Record, HAER WV-13, B&O Railroad, Rowlesburg Bridge, written historical and descriptive data (transmitted 1984)
The Elkins Coal & Coke Company's Bretz plant entered full production in 1907. The Morgantown & Kingwood Railroad connected the operation with its principal customer, the Maryland Steel Company plant and shipyard at Sparrows Point near Baltimore.
Research status: Verified to source
Additional source
Library of Congress, Historic American Engineering Record — Elkins Coal & Coke Company, Bretz Ovens (HAER WV-7), photograph 3, “Watering the ovens”
Around 1910, a riveted Warren truss bridge carried the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad across the Cheat River at Rowlesburg. HAER describes it as the third bridge at this site, following the Fink bridge of 1851 and the Bollman bridge of 1870. Its surviving documentation includes four photographs and a short written history, preserving a record of this early twentieth-century railroad structure.
Research status: Verified to source
Citation / research lead
Historic American Engineering Record, HAER WV-13, B&O Railroad, Rowlesburg Bridge, written historical and descriptive data (transmitted 1984) and Library of Congress catalog
The Lake Lynn hydroelectric plant began operating on the Cheat River in Monongalia County, downstream from Preston County. Its dam created the reservoir now known as Cheat Lake and formed part of a power system serving northern West Virginia and southwestern Pennsylvania. The project also has a documented Preston connection through the construction albums of civil engineer and Preston County resident Harry Snedden Laird, preserved at West Virginia University.
Research status: Verified to source
Citation / research lead
Historic American Engineering Record, WV-30
No direct online link recorded for this citation.
Additional source
HAER WV-30 — federal engineering history of the dam and power system