SEWELL, W.VA. (SWVO) – The photos below are all that remains of the Mann’s Creek Railway engine house in the old mining town of Sewell, deep in the New River Gorge.
The Mann’s Creek Railway was a narrow-gauge line that ran from Sewell through the Manns Creek Canyon, hauling coal and timber from the communities of Clifftop and Landisburg.
Instead of being shipped out on the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, much of the coal was fed directly into the coke ovens at Sewell—home to more active coke ovens than any other town in the region, with around 193 operating at its peak.
The railway operated from 1886 until about 1955, with the engine house falling out of use by 1953.
Today, the old Mann’s Creek narrow-gauge railbed can still be traced beside the ruins of the engine house, while the main C&O line runs just below it along the New River.
Above is a colorized photo of the engine house shortly after it closed, still intact. The other images show what’s left of it in 2025—nearly 140 years later.
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