WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2019:


Below is the 64 mile route that I drove today. Weather shortened my activities.


NEW RIVER GORGE: DAY TWO
In this one hour and ten minute video I visit the Thurmond ghost town and Fayette Station Road.

MY DAILY EMAIL SENT ON OCTOBER 16, 2019
Soggy greetings,

My luck with the good weather ran out today. It was pouring rain when I woke up this morning and that wasn't going to change anytime soon. So I needed to find something else to do since my plans were all weather dependent. I decided to drive down to Beckley which is twenty miles south of here. I went to see the 12:10 showing of Downton Abbey. When the movie let out the rain had stopped and there was even a couple small patches of blue sky.



I wouldn't be able to do everything I had planned to do today before it got dark, but I did manage to do a couple things before the sun set. My first stop was in the ghost town of Thurmond. I arrived in town by crossing the one lane bridge, which is also shared with the railroad.



In the pictures above and below you can see the Thurmond Depot. A train came through while I was here. Below is a screen grab from my video of that.



The population of Thurmond was five at the 2010 census.



During the heyday of coal mining in the New River Gorge, Thurmond was a prosperous town with a number of businesses and facilities for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway.



The nicest part of my visit to Thurmond was the scenic drive there and back. It was on a VERY skinny road running alongside Dunloup Creek. In the picture below you can see the pretty fall foliage and a small waterfall ahead.



It was really a very nice drive. I pretty much had the road to myself. I saw very few other people. Below is another picture of Dunloup Creek. {Click HERE to watch my video of Thurmond.}



Next I drove down Fayette Station Road under the New River Gorge Bridge. In the picture below I was directly under the bridge.



When you get all the way down to the bottom there is a nice view of the bridge along side the railroad. No sooner did I get there than a train went through.



Next you cross a skinny one lane bridge to the other side of the river. I walked out to the center of that bridge to take some pictures.



And the picture below is the New River and the New River Gorge Bridge. {Click HERE to watch my video of the bridge.}



The clouds were probably a good thing. The setting sun didn't get in my way like it did yesterday. I drove back up the other side of the river. There was a pretty stream here as well.



It was almost dark but I had just enough time to visit downtown Fayetteville. Below is the courthouse.



And across the street is Town Hall.



Despite the gloomy weather it ended up being a pretty good day. I'm staying at the same Quality Inn that I was at last night. I'm leaving tomorrow. Have a good evening.

Tim
Click on email photos for the large full-size photograph.

Today's complete, mostly unedited dash cam footage is almost three hours long. The 64 mile journey includes
my scenic drive to the Thurmond ghost town and under the New River Gorge Bridge on Fayette Station Road.


Click on the arrow above for tomorrow's adventures.

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