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Beginning in the late 19th Century, the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway was actively expanding into the coal rich regions of Southern West Virginia. Branch lines running deep into coal country began springing up throughout the state resulting in a population boom as people came looking for work in the mines. Along the railroad, numerous mining communities appeared and soon people and money were flowing at a rate not seen anywhere else in the country. Bramwell, West Virginia, a boom town in McDowell County, was once considered to have the most millionaires per capita than anywhere else in the world. One such boom town that grew to become a major player in the coal fields was Omar, West Virginia. Named after James Omar Cole, an original property holder of the vicinity, Omar would go on to become an expansive coal mining town featuring a movie theater, bank, gentleman's club, and of course, a company store. For a mining town to truly be considered a mining town, a coal company had to have some sense of control over the area. The coal company that would first call Omar home was the Main Island Creek Coal Company.
On November 2nd, 1907, the Logan & Southern Railroad Company was incorporated under the laws of West Virginia to operate a standard gauge common carrier railroad from Monitor Junction, West Virginia, south through the town of Omar terminating near Barnabas, West Virginia. The railroad was fully owned by two coal companies, the Monitor Coal & Coke Company and the Yuma Coal & Coke Company. Only about 1.2 miles had been constructed when the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway leased the line, signing the agreement on March 25th, 1912. The existing track was constructed in February of 1912 and extended from Monitor Junction, West Virginia, to Monitor, West Virginia, where the Monitor Coal & Coke Company's operations were located. On April 1st, 1912, the Chesapeake & Ohio officially began operations on the Logan & Southern. Construction of the remaining 8.59 mile section to Barnabas was finished around 1914 or 1915. With the extension of the Logan & Southern to Omar and Barnabas, the Main Island Creek Coal Company was able to grow and thrive. By 1915, the company had twenty one individual coal mines in operation in the vicinity of Omar.
In October 16th, 1915, the magazine Railway Review mentioned how the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway had extended its Pine Creek Branch an eighth of a mile. This was the first stage of construction of what would come to be known as the C&O's Pine Creek Subdivision. The first business on this short coal branch was the Main Island Creek Coal Company's Mine No. 5 tipple. In the April 7th, 1928, edition of the magazine Railway Age it is mentioned that the Chesapeake & Ohio had once again extended its Pine Creek Branch, this time 4.48 miles, to a new coal tipple owned by the Island Creek Coal Company. Note that the Island Creek Coal Company and the Main Island Creek Coal Company were two separate entities. The new tipple and mine constructed by the Island Creek Coal Co. were named Holden No. 22 and soon, a whole community had formed around this new business.
According to the August 2nd, 1924 edition of Saward's Journal, Main Island Creek Coal Company was sold to the West Virginia Coal & Coke Company for $4,500,000 on July 31st of that same year. twenty one mines are listed to have been under Main Island Creek Coal ownership at the time of sale, Mine No. 5 included. The West Virginia Coal & Coke Company, operating out of Elkins, West Virginia, would continue operating Mine No. 5 under the same name. In 1928, the West Virginia Coal & Coke Company was reorganized as the West Virginia Coal & Coke Corporation. The West Virginia Coal & Coke Corp. continued to operate the Mine No. 5 complex for the next two a half decades until late 1954 when coal sales giant A. T. Massey purchased the company outright. Now operated by Massey's Omar Mining Company, the Mine No. 5 complex would operate for a few more years before finally closing permanently sometime in the late 1960s. The tipple continued to stand into the 1970s.
Venturing back to the other end of the Pine Creek Subdivision, Island Creek Coal Company's Holden No. 22 complex, which had been constructed between 1926 and 1928, was running full steam ahead. The Public Service Commission mentions that on March 16th, 1928, the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway reimbursed the Island Creek Coal Company $15.21 for six loaded coal cars that had been moved from the Island Creek Holden No. 22 Mine. For thirty years, Island Creek's No. 22 Mine was consistently one of Island Creek's top producing mines. However, all good things must eventually come to an end. On March 8th, 1960, disaster struck the community of Holden No. 22. Around 8:30 A.M. that morning, a fire was discovered in No. 22 that would lead to the deaths of 18 men. This tragedy served as a major catalyst in the ultimate closure of Island Creek No. 22 which would only go on to produce coal for a few more years. In the 1965 edition of Mineral Yearbook it is noted that Island Creek Mine No. 22 was closed and abandoned sometime that year. In a 1966 map of all the tipples served by the Chesapeake & Ohio, only Omar Mining Company's Mine No. 5 is listed as active on the Pine Creek Subdivision.
With both Island Creek Coal's No. 22 Mine and Omar Mining Company's No. 5 Mine abandoned, the C&O's Pine Creek Subdivision sat dormant. This was until 1979 when a new preparation plant was built on the land once home to the original Holden No. 22 tipple. In homage of the historic ground, this new facility was also named Holden No. 22 and continues to operate today. In 1981, just west of the new Holden No. 22 facility, the Hobet Mining & Construction Co., Inc. constructed a new preparation plant and loadout known as Hobet No. 7. Hobet Mining & Construction was a wholly owned subsidiary of Ashland Oil which had expanded into the coal industry beginning in the late 70s. Once again, the Pine Creek Subdivision was teaming with action. In July of 1997, Ashland Coal, Inc. was merged into Arch Mineral Corporation. Thus Hobet No. 7 was now operating under the Arch brand. It is unclear who was operating the Holden No. 22 plant at this time, Arch Mineral Corporation did assume ownership of the property some time prior to the sale of the property to Coal-Mac LLC. Sometime around 2003, Arch idled the Hobet No. 7 plant and by 2007, the facility was completely gone. That left the "new" Holden No. 22 plant the sole producing loadout in the Pine Creek Subdivision.
Today, the Pine Creek Sub continues to see trains just about once a week on average. Just as it's been for 100 years, residents of Pine Creek continue to experience the movement of black diamonds from mine to market. Coal-Mac's Holden No. 22 plant ships a mix of 110 car export trains as well as the occasion utility coal train. The export trains typically terminate at Kinder Morgan's Pier IX terminal in Newport News, Virginia, while the utility trains run to Duke Power's Terrell Steam Plant in Brice, North Carolina, near Charlotte. How long Holden No. 22 continues to ship coal is anyone's guess but for now, what has been happening at the head of Pine Creek for a century continues on.
Here is a fascinating newspaper snippet taken from the February 27th, 1931 edition of the Logan Banner discussing the improvements to the Mine No. 5 complex.
The Logan Banner (1931)
April 24th, 1960 C&O timetable Huntington Division #149 listing the Pine Creek Subdivision
Here is a fascinating very early look at what was probably still Main Island Creek Coal Company's Mine No. 5 tipple. Note that the painting on the side of the facade says "Mine No. 5-6". Although being referenced at the Mine No. 5 complex later in its life, the mine also processed coal from Mine No. 6 while that mine was still producing. Note the tramway tracks to the left.
Diana Ellis
Here is a photograph of the modernized West Virginia Coal & Coke Corporation Mine No. 5 tipple and prep plant taken around 1935. Although referred too as the Mine No. 5 preparation plant for most of its existence, the facility is also documented as having processed coal mined at Mine No. 6 and Mine No. 8. The building lasted into the 1970s
The Explosives Engineer (1935)
Here is a fascinating map displaying the various mines operated by the West Virginia Coal & Coke Corporation around 1935. Note the No. 5 Mine located on Pine Creek. This is the facility served by the Chesapeake & Ohio on the Pine Creek Branch. In a mid 50s list of coal mines served by the C&O, this facility is referenced as Omar No. 5.
The Explosives Engineer (1935)
Unbelievably, the Mine No. 5 tipple survived into at least 1970 as seen in this color image.
Matthew Trosper
A single crispy CSX ET44AH leads mine run R211-29 along Pine Creek in Southern West Virginia at 11:43 A.M. on Friday, December 29th, 2023. Running on the CSX Pine Creek Subdivision, this train of 107 empties is heading to Coal-Mac LLC's Holden No. 22 loadout at the head of the creek for loading. R211 is the typical morning mine run out of Peach Creek, West Virginia, just north of Logan, and goes on duty at 6:00 A.M. Unfortunately, I slept in that day and so wasn't able to chase him all the way down the Logan & Southern Subdivision. Thankfully, I was able to catch up to him along the Pine Creek Sub where I chased him to the mine. At this point, the train is about a mile out from the loadout.
*Nick A. Jobe Photograph*
Coal-Mac LLC's Holden No. 22 complex sits under the clouds on a cold December morning awaiting the arrival of CSX R211-29 and 107 empty coal cars due for loading. Built in 1979, this plant brought about the revival of the Pine Creek Sub and continues to be the sole reason for the lines existence with Hobet No. 7 now razed. The facility sits on the ground once home to the original Island Creek Coal Company Holden No. 22 tipple that operated from around 1928 to 1965. Hobet No. 7 was located further down the creek beyond where the flood loader is located in this image. Not much has changed in this December 29th, 2023, image since the plant opened 46 years ago.
*Nick A. Jobe Photograph*
https://wx4.org/to/foam/maps/and_timetables2.html
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Explosives_Engineer/l-7mAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=island+creek+coal+omar&pg=RA1-PA41&printsec=frontcover
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Trains/ICC_valuations/Logan_and_Southern_Railway
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435017429812&seq=16
https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1037676/000104746915001419/a2223254z10-k.htm
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