PRM
PrincetonRailroad MuseumEst. 1909 · Princeton, WV

In their own words

Oral histories.

The Virginian Railway was built and run by people — brakemen and machinists, dispatchers and their families. Here are their memories, recorded and preserved. Listen to a voice, or read the full transcript.

Railroaders seated together inside the Princeton Railroad Museum in 2015

Featured group recording

Railroaders remember close calls on the rails

Railroad workers and community members recorded at the museum

June 4, 2015 · 21 minutes 58 seconds · Enhanced audio · English captions

First-person recollections of a Number 78 derailment into the Ohio River, a July 1955 passenger-train wreck at Cedar Curve, emergency response, injuries and the close calls that shaped railroad work.

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Read the full transcript here

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Participants named with the recording

Russle Lemons; J. I. Taylor; Sam Burkett; Larry Buckland; Clyde Barr; Don Thomas; Danny Howell; Gene Gilpin; Peter Hypes ("Virginian"); and Rodney Powell, identified as being in the background.

The supplied list identifies the group but does not map every name to a particular seat or speaking turn.

Princeton Railroad Museum archival recording. This public copy uses the approved gentle noise-reduction treatment and synchronized English closed captions. The original camera masters remain privately preserved.

Listen & read

Voices of the railroad.

Each recording comes with a complete transcript you can read, search and quote. Select Read transcript to open the words.

No oral-history recordings have been published yet. New interviews will appear here as the museum preserves them.

Do you have a story to share?

If you, or someone in your family, worked on or remembers the Virginian Railway, we would be honored to record your memories for the museum's archive.

Share your story (304) 487-5060