Those familiar with the B&O Magnolia Cut Off will recognize this location as Concrete Wall. When B&O constructed the Cut Off in 1913-1914, they were faced with an obstacle at a bend in the Potomac River just east of Paw Paw, WV. There was hardly room for the original main line, much less two more tracks needed for the Cut Off. The solution was a 1,800 foot retaining wall. The original main line was kept at it's original location and the new tracks were located on top of the concrete retaining wall. Construction required the movement of 80,000 cubic yards of rock and placement of 22,000 cubic yards of concrete. During the mid-1950s, the original main line was removed and became an access road. We are at the west end of the wall on Sept. 11, 1977. The previous month an automotive train had derailed and impaled itself into the cliffs on one side of the tracks and cascaded off the wall on the other. We are on the access road, the original main line, looking at the leftovers of the derailment. Unfortunately, the derailment took the "1914" off the end of the wall.
