In 2016, I spent a day tracing the remnants of the former Wheeling Terminal Railway across the hills surrounding downtown Wheeling, West Virginia.
In 2016, I spent a day tracing the remnants of the former Wheeling Terminal Railway across the hills surrounding downtown Wheeling, West Virginia. The Ohio River bridge had been removed decades earlier, yet the railroad’s alignment remained clearly defined in the landscape.
The grade beneath Mount Wood led to the twin tunnel portals, measuring 537 feet and 1,203 feet in length, set high above the Ohio River. Their concrete facings were weathered but largely intact, framing dark interiors lined with brick and stone. One bore had collapsed farther inside, restricting passage, but the other remained accessible and opened toward an overlook where the river bridge once stood. The absence of the span was noticeable, though the approach embankments still suggested its former position.
Farther south, the alignment continued to the 2,406-foot Chapline Hill Tunnel, completed in 1895 to reach the Riverside Iron Works. One portal was partially obscured by later industrial construction, while the opposite end rested quietly beneath a modern freeway interchange.
Between these points, the line crossed Wheeling Creek on a 320-foot deck truss bridge. Its riveted steel and lattice bracing remained in place.
By 2016, vegetation had overtaken much of the right-of-way of the Wheeling Terminal Railway, but the tunnels and bridgework continued to define the deliberate path cut through ridge and valley more than a century earlier.
Always enjoy how you explore and bring abandoned places back to life in our memories or in stories we’ve heard. Especially when you add the historical part to match! Thanks much for every article! None go unread here!
Thank you for the warm regards Susan!
I agree with Greg. I live in Ohio, but have traveled to West Virginia for the rail trails. Great read, thank you.
Thank you Gene!
Well done. And suitably spooky. Keep it up
Thank you Mark!
It would be neat if we could turn this abandoned line into a rail trail especially the sections with the old RR tunnels.
Two of the tunnels are in great condition, and one is already connected to a park. An overlook could be built at the old Ohio River bridge site. But instead, city leaders are covering up the portals with dirt…