Submitted by Brandy Dudley of the C&O Historical Society
The Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society, the group dedicated to preserving the history of the C&O Railway, has just published its yearly fundraising calendars for sale in support of the 53-year-old non-profit organization.
This 89th edition of the calendar features a selection of vintage C&O Railway advertising art from the 1930s through the 1940s.
The 2023 calendars include a traditional calendar dedicated to Chesapeake & Ohio steam locomotive power, this year focusing on coal trains powered by the late-era steam locomotives of many types. The photographic selections feature a variety of steam locomotive classes including the H-8, H-6, H-7, G-9, T-1, and K-2.
Shown at various locations on the C&O Railway system, these archival photos were chosen to
represent a variety of geographic regions from Ohio to Virginia in typical heavy coal train service.
The C&O Historical Society has, for the second time, published a special calendar dedicated to a specific region along the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway: the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.
Explaining why the historical society is again publishing a calendar dedicated to this geographic region, the organization’s president, Mark Totten, said, “The success of last year’s calendar combining the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway with the New River Gorge, as opposed to a purely railroad-specific topic, was a tremendous fundraising success, selling nearly 1,000 copies. The appeal of the New River Gorge is just as strong with the public as it was a year ago, so it was
an easy decision to repeat this equation with additional photos selected from our archives.”
