“The Train”

Thurmond, West Virginia

The mountains of Vest Virginia are beautiful, so while in the area, we went picture-taking and ended up in Thurmond, West Virginia.  It was a Coal Town, but I was told it had no roads at one time.  You had to travel by train to get there.  I took many photos of the area and later painted “The Train”.  I made sure to show the low clouds in the mountains along with the beautiful fall colors. In my photos, there was an old oil tanker car sitting on the tracks, so I turned it into an old steam train.

Thurmond was used in a movie in 1987, called “Matewan” about a 1920’s coal mining town, dramatizing “The Battle of the Matewan Coal Strike in 1920”.  It included Actor James Earl Jones.

Thurmond is located, in the New River Gorge.  The 2010 Census shows the town is made up of a total population of 5 people.  There’s not much Real Estate action around there.  The whole town is on the Historic Register.