CHARLESTON, W.Va. — There a couple of big moves that are going to be made at the state Capitol Complex in Charleston this week.
Crews are going to use a crane to move a steam locomotive and a shuttle car into place at the state’s U.S. 250th Birthday Courtyard on the south side of the state Culture Center.
“We’ve got a fireless steam locomotive, and then we’ve got a coal shuttle car. Both of these are going to be brought in by crane. It is going to be quite the production, probably something that will be a little bit fun for folks to watch in the area,” state Tourism, Arts, Culture & History Secretary Chelsea Ruby said.
Ruby said traffic will be restricted in and out of the driveway behind the Governor’s Mansion and a section of Greenbrier Street will be closed to make way for the operation.
“They’re both going to be moved into place. Tomorrow (Wednesday) is when everything starts. I expect the train itself, depending on how quickly everything moves, to be moved in on Thursday afternoon, and Friday is really cleanup.” Ruby said.
The courtyard focuses on what makes West Virginia go, Ruby said.
“We’ve got coal, oil & gas, iron, steel, clay, chemicals, salt, agriculture, timber, glass, water, railroads, so we’ve got it all in there. All of the different ways West Virginia has contributed to the nation over the last 250 years,” Ruby said.
Ruby said maneuvering the 50-ton steam engine and the 20-ton shuttle car into place will be quite a fete.
“It’s a really tight area, and it’s really, really heavy. These are two huge pieces of equipment. It will be right in there along Governor’s Drive. It’s a really tight area, there’s a lot of trees, there’s a lot of stuff to work around. It’s going to be a bit of work of art to put it in there, but I think we’ve got a crew that’s ready to handle it.” she said.
The steam engine was actually gifted to the state several years ago by American Electric Power (AEP) but there’s been no place to put it. It’s been in Hinton, Ruby said.