HINTON, W.Va. — For decades, special passenger trains brought hundreds of visitors to this historic railroad town each October, drawing the crowds that helped make Hinton Railroad Days one of West Virginia’s enduring fall traditions.
When the excursions ended, local officials faced a difficult question: Could a festival built around train arrivals survive without them?
Hinton Mayor Jack Scott says the answer has been a resounding yes. Now celebrating its 60th year, Railroad Days returns October 9–11 with three days of music, food, vendors, and family activities throughout the city’s historic downtown.
“We already were a great vendor event,” Scott said in an interview with West Virginia Explorer. “And we had a great backdrop.”
Organizers expanded entertainment, added more children’s activities, and increased advertising in regional markets. According to Scott, last year’s Saturday crowd was among the largest he remembers.
“We had people parking across the river from Hinton and walking in,” he said.
How Railroad Days became a tradition
Hinton owes much of its existence to the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, which established the community as an important railroad division point in the 19th century.
At the confluence of the New and Greenbrier rivers, the town became a center for railroad employment, maintenance, and transportation. Passenger and freight trains connected the community to major cities, while railroad wages supported downtown businesses, theaters, restaurants, and other commercial establishments.
The annual excursion tradition began in 1966, when the Collis P. Huntington Railroad Historical Society started operating fall foliage trips through the New River Gorge.
The excursions eventually became a major attraction, drawing passengers from the Huntington and Charleston areas to Hinton during the autumn foliage season.
Scott said the community did not immediately recognize the economic potential.
“The community at that point, I don’t think, realized the significance and didn’t organize right away to embrace those folks that were coming down on the train,” he recalled.
That changed in the 1980s, when local civic organizations and merchants began organizing a more elaborate welcome. The Jaycees, businesses, and other organizations established vendor spaces near the station, and the event gradually expanded into downtown.
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At its height, Scott said, excursion trains could deliver 800 to 1,000 passengers in a single day. The festival sometimes extended over two weekends, providing a dependable seasonal influx of customers for local merchants, churches, civic groups, and independent vendors.
Some visitors returned year after year, purchasing homemade foods, crafts, and other products from familiar sellers. The excursions also provided a reliable customer base regardless of the weather.
How Hinton adapted when excursion trains ended
The original New River Train excursions ended after 2018 amid disputes over rising Amtrak operating costs.
A replacement service, the Autumn Colors Express, operated in 2019 and carried about 2,500 passengers, according to the West Virginia State Rail Plan. The COVID-19 pandemic then interrupted the replacement excursions in 2020 and 2021.
Without the trains, Hinton could no longer count on hundreds of passengers arriving downtown at once. Organizers began placing greater emphasis on attracting visitors by car.
The city strengthened its musical lineup, developed family-oriented attractions, including a children’s zone and a trackless train, and increased advertising outside Summers County.
By 2023, Scott estimated that 4,500 to 5,000 people attended Railroad Days over three days. That year’s festival also included about 100 vendors.
Scott said visitors now travel from Roanoke and Charlotte, as well as Huntington, Charleston, and Clarksburg.
“You wouldn’t believe how many out-of-staters turned up from North Carolina last year,” he said.
The city spends approximately $8,000 to $9,000 annually on advertising, according to Scott, much of it directed toward audiences outside Summers County.
The festival has also remained important to former residents who return to visit family and friends.
“The community really uses it kind of like a—it’s like a family reunion,” Scott said. “Folks that don’t come home often always try and get home during railroad days to see friends.”
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This year’s festival, scheduled for Friday through Sunday, October 9–11, will feature more than 80 vendors, two stages of live entertainment, a car show, food vendors, children’s activities, and railroad-themed attractions. Woodworking and blacksmithing demonstrations are also planned.
Admission is free, and the Hinton railroad museum will be open throughout the three-day event, Scott said.
The festival takes place among the city’s historic commercial buildings and railroad facilities, many dating to the period when Hinton was one of southern West Virginia’s important transportation centers.
Hinton also stands at the southern end of the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve, near Sandstone Falls, Bluestone Lake, and several state parks.
Scott said the city is increasingly promoting itself as a quieter alternative to the national park’s more heavily visited northern attractions.
“We need to … keep letting people know what we’re about and where we’re at and that we’re the quiet side of the New River Gorge,” he said.
Passenger trains still connect Hinton to the country
Although the special excursion trains are no longer part of Railroad Days, regular passenger rail service remains an important link to the outside world.
Amtrak’s Cardinal serves Hinton on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, connecting the community to Washington, D.C., New York, Cincinnati, and Chicago.
The route follows the New River through the national park, passing scenery most highways can’t reach.
Amtrak reported 2,489 passenger boardings and alightings at Hinton during fiscal year 2025, according to its Great American Stations program.
The city’s tourism office reported that Amtrak service to Hinton for Friday, October 9, and Sunday, October 11, had sold out as of October 5. Not all passengers are necessarily attending the festival.
Scott said regular Amtrak service continues to bring visitors during Railroad Days, though nowhere near the numbers the former excursions drew.
For the mayor, passenger rail also holds personal significance. As a boy, he traveled by train from Hinton to Cincinnati to visit his grandparents, who lived across the Ohio River in Kentucky.
His mother would put him aboard the train in Hinton, sometimes around 1 a.m., and his grandmother would meet him at the other end of the seven-hour journey. Railroad employees who knew his family would watch over him during the trip.
“I rarely slept,” Scott recalled. “I was too excited to be on the train by myself.”
He spent summers visiting relatives, attending Cincinnati Reds baseball games, and exploring a larger world the railroad made accessible.
The experience helps explain why he believes passenger rail remains important to Hinton, even as automobiles have become the dominant form of transportation.
“It gives us access to the outside world,” Scott said.
Railroad heritage may help shape Hinton’s future
Hinton’s relationship with the railroad has changed significantly since the Chesapeake & Ohio maintained extensive offices and operations in the city.
Scott recalled the elimination or relocation of clerical and other positions as the railroad industry consolidated operations and introduced new technologies. These economic shifts contributed to a prolonged adjustment period for the community.
Tourism has created opportunities to repurpose some of Hinton’s historic railroad properties and other buildings.
Scott said the local Accelerate group is seeking funding to convert part of the historic freight depot into overnight accommodations, potentially creating about eight lodging units upstairs.
The proposal remains in development, and funding and construction arrangements have not been confirmed.
Additional downtown lodging could help the city accommodate rail visitors, particularly those who want to spend several days exploring the region, Scott said.
Transportation remains a challenge. Visitors arriving without automobiles can explore downtown on foot, but reaching attractions such as Sandstone Falls requires arranging transportation.
Scott hopes future tourism development will include better transportation services and more recreational opportunities along the New and Greenbrier rivers.
“We exist because of that railroad expansion,” Scott said. “Now, our economy may diversify, and we are embracing tourism more.”
Planning a visit to Hinton Railroad Days
Railroad Days takes place October 9–11, 2026, in downtown Hinton, Summers County. Admission is free. Visitors can find schedules and festival updates on Explore Summers County or by calling Hinton City Hall at 304-466-3255.
Motorists should allow extra travel time because of construction and festival-related road closures. According to an October 2 traffic advisory, eastbound Interstate 64 Exit 139 remains closed, and drivers may need to use Exit 143 and return toward Sandstone on Route 20.
Travelers interested in arriving by rail can consult Amtrak for future service and schedules, though festival-weekend trains have reportedly sold out.
Visitors extending their stay can explore nearby Sandstone Falls, Bluestone State Park, Pipestem Resort State Park, and the southern reaches of the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.