TRS Event 2026 Fall Colors Campout

[Jim Oaks]

I just got Panda Express on my way home and this was my fortune:

 

[Jim Oaks]

27 hours later....

I just got home.

 

[Robert Mangrum]

Sorry I had to cut out. For those interested. Dad is stable with a case of pneumonia and fluid on his lung again. They put in a drain and will evaluate the situation when they get the fluid drained.

It was awesome seeing everyone. Nice to meet the few I hadn't met before. Hope to see ya at more events in the future.

Thanks @Curious Hound for hosting and setting up everything. Look forward to the next time the TRS crew sits around a campfire.

 

[JohnnyO]

Good to see everybody again and thanks to Eric for setting this up again. We had a great time. Been through that area many times, it's how we get to Florida and other parts south from where we live, but never stopped to look at anything. We slipped out a little early Saturday because on the way down Mrs. O saw a sign for a winery north of Summersville. She goes to my truck stuff so I will stop for her wine stuff. Got a bottle of Carolina Vinegar BBQ sauce at the winery for me, it was very good on last night's pulled pork.
Hit a fair bit of rain on the way home so I had to drive the speed limit.
19.3 mpg.

 

[Jim Oaks]

​

Not every day you get to see a viking working on a Ranger.

 

[Jim Oaks]

Sorry I had to cut out. For those interested. Dad is stable with a case of pneumonia and fluid on his lung again. They put in a drain and will evaluate the situation when they get the fluid drained.

Thanks for the update. I hope he recovers soon.

 

[SenorNoob]

Thanks again guys. I've definitely got lots of work to do in the very near future.

 

[sgtsandman]

Ok, I got the picture on the computer. It's probably going to take a bit of time to post up the pictures and explain what they mean. So, please be patient.

First, to start off the trip, we tried to get to the nearly deserted town of Thurmond. A day or two before we arrived, apparently there was a train derailment and the road to the town was closed. This is us lined up while @Curious Hound tries to figure a way around to the other side.

That ended up being a bust. So we went to the Glade Creek Grist Mill at Babcock State Park.

 

[sgtsandman]

We then tried to visit the Nattallburg Mine. Most of everything was just remains of the building foundations and the coal shut from the top of the hill down to the town and railway. The path to the facility itself, or at least what remained of it ended up being too steep. Our level of energy balanced against out level of interest increasingly degraded as we got higher. The remaining 50 feet or so was very loose with no good handholds for the climb. So we turned back.

 

[sgtsandman]

The next day we went to the Canyon Rim Visitor Center in New River Gorge National Park to take a gander at the bridge and canyon.

View from the lower observation deck

 

[sgtsandman]

We then attempted to visit another grist mill. Google Maps got us and we ended up at the gates to the sewage plant instead. So we decided to go to another company store. Murphy's Law had other plans. @SenorNoob 's firewall decided to give up the losing battle of flex fatigue. So, we did that instead before going to get something Mexican to eat.

None of us would have traded the experiences and how it played out. We all enjoyed each other's company and had a good time doing it. Even @PetroleumJunkie412 's wife wants to come to another event. So, she's either a glutton for punishment or she's as messed up as we are!

 

[sgtsandman]

Oh, we also went to the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine. Boy did they pack a lot of stuff in there! There is a museum, a mine tour, a mining camp, a kid's museum, and a log cabin town. All in one relatively small area.

Mining town/Coal Camp:

Three Room House. I didn't take pictures of the inside of the house because there were so many people in there. It was a kitchen, a living room, and a bed room. That's it. Some miner's family homes had a fourth room.

Bachelor's Shanty

Church

School House

 

[sgtsandman]

Superintendent's House. They incorporated the Post Office, Doctor's Office, and Dentist's Office into three of the rooms upstairs since they didn't have dedicated buildings and suspect, not enough room on the property for them if they did have them. We do tend to take for granted how much we have and how big our homes are. Many homes around Pittsburgh and the steel mills are similar. The workers have smaller homes and the management staff have much larger ones.

Kitchen

Wash Room

Office

Dining Room

Living Room

Stairs

Bathroom

Children's Room(s)

Master Bedroom

Rooms taken up with the Doctor's/Post/Dentist Offices

 

[Curious Hound]

Nice collection of photos! Thanks!

 

[sgtsandman]

Nice collection of photos! Thanks!

I still have to put the mine tour photos in but I have a meeting to go to and have run out of time.