The public is invited to hear an update on railroad tourism in West Virginia at a luncheon meeting starting at 11:30 a.m. at the Medallion Restaurant on Thursday, September 12th.  Participants are asked to register in advance with the Barbour County Chamber of Commerce at (304) 457-1958 or at  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The speaker, Lars Byrne, is the Senior Dispatcher, certified conductor and a former locomotive engineer for the Durbin & Greenbrier Railroad which operates tourist trains out of Belington, Elkins, Durbin, and Cass West Virginia.  “Each year”, says Byrne, “thousands of tourists travel to the hills of West Virginia to enjoy our mountain rail adventures.  For over 20 years,” he said, “we have taken families over some of the most rugged corners of the Appalachians and through some of the best scenery in the eastern United States.  After riding one of our trains, you will understand why West Virginia is known as the Mountain State.”

Byrne is expected to discuss the new schedules and dinner trains available to the public, the construction of new track and new routes, new management of the old Cass Scenic Railroad, new opportunities for travelers boarding in Belington and Elkins, and the evolving certification of steam trains, like the one shown above which in use at Cass.