If you blinked, you missed this one. CSX leased its Cowen and Pickens Subdivisions west of Grafton to Watco, operating as the Appalachian & Ohio Railroad. This was a pretty significant acquisition for Watco at the time, and it didn't seem to go very well. The line was operated with unrebuilt ex UP/MP SD50s which were unreliable. There were also some operational difficulties. At times, it seemed Watco was in over their heads. Maybe they were, because CSX replaced Watco (or Watco got out of the lease, I have never come across anyone who knows or will say which way it went) with its wholly owned subsidiary Four Rivers Transportation just over a year later in May 2006.
I almost blew my chance at getting this one, because a much younger me was so concerned with the locomotives having A&O lettering applied, and most didn't in the first few months. But, after getting wind of this trio, I launched from Alexandria, VA. Good thing I did, because the railroad had changed hands before I could even plan a return trip. There was virtually no warning in the change of operators.
