Pemberton, WV--32'x19' Track Plan

Scale: HO
Minimum Radius: 30"
Minimum Aisle Width: 26"
Designed by Dan Bourque

Pemberton, WV was an important junction for both the Virginian (later the N&W) and the C&O.  Although both railroads had extensive trackage rights over eachother's track in this area, it was more typical to see the railroads interchange hoppers to be loaded on the other's track.  At Pemberton, both the VGN and C&O interchanged cars.  The C&O entered the yard to interchange empty hoppers for loading at Affinity, while the VGN interchanged hoppers to the C&O to be loaded at Crab Orchard, a little ways up the line toward Beckley.  In the Virginian era and into the early '70s on the N&W, mine runs came from Elmore to work the interchange at Pemberton and the northeast (RR west) end of the Winding Gulf Branch.  In the mid '70s, however, traffic became so dense that the N&W operated four trains daily out of Pemberton.   My guess is that two trains went north to work the mines and the ammonium nitrate facility at McVey, and two trains went south to deliver loads to Elmore (continued below).

The C&O served several large mines south of Pemberton and interchanged more hoppers to the VGN at Stone Coal Junction, so C&O operations on the layout would consist of one or two interchange trains daily and two or three through coal drags in each direction.   Because the C&O staging provides a continuous loop, a single train in each direction could simulate multiple coal drags (always a plus when short on cash).   Also, if a single operator was working the layout, a C&O train could be set in motion to help "set the mood" while the operator worked the Virginian.  On the flip side, the focus of the layout could easily be reversed to make the C&O the center of attention.  Instead of the VGN branchline, the bottom half of the layout could be used to model the C&O line toward Beckley while the Virginian conveniently dives into the tunnel just east of Pemberton enroute to staging.

I couldn't find many photographs of this area, so this trackplan is based largely on NS track charts and topo maps.  Consequently, the tipples are really guesswork, although several of them appeared to be small and load on one or two tracks only.  Although there are tunnel portals on both the VGN and C&O within a mile or two of Pemberton, these are moved a little closer to provide a convenient exit for the trains.  Also, the towns and tipples on the other end of the layout are considerably compressed to fit a lot of branchline operations into a small space.