We are offering a full slate of tours that should be of interest to all attendees. All transportation will be via chauffeured motor coach.  All coaches feature reclining seats with footrests, they will also have lavatories.

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THIS TOUR IS FOR RAIL ATTENDEES

Walker Machinery/Four Mile Surface Mine Tour

Friday May 14, 2010

8:00 AM-12 Noon

This tour travels 11 miles east from the hotel to Belle, WV along the Kanawha River, passes the beautiful gold domed WV state capital along the way.  Cecil I. Walker Machinery Co., a family owned Caterpillar dealer is West Virginia’s largest construction and mining equipment supplier. Their Belle facility is located along nearly 2 miles of the Kanawha River. On the walking tour, you will see their machine and component rebuild facility which includes a dynamometer that can handle engines of over 2,000 HP.  Their parts department is particularly impressive in that it has an automatic robotic retriever. 

Upon leaving Walker Machinery the tour continues east on US 60 passing Norfolk Southern’s Dickinson Yard and Progress Energy’s Kanawha River Terminal Dock at Quincy. While crossing the river at Chelyan there is a very good view of those facilities. The tour turns west on the WV Turnpike for a few miles to Marmet where it exits and goes up Lens Creek to Prichard Mining Company’s Four Mile Surface Mine.  This is an active Surface Mine that uses large excavators, wheel loaders, bulldozers and off highway trucks to remove overburden from the top of coal seams. You may not be able to leave the bus; however just driving through one of these mines is an experience you will not forget.

Price $30.00 per person

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THIS TOUR IS FOR RAIL ATTENDEES

John Amos Power Plant

Friday May 14, 2010

1:00 PM-5:00 PM

This tour travels west from Charleston to St. Albans the location of American Electric Power’s John Amos Plant.  This plant is one of the largest coal fired electric generating plants in North America. It has two 800 million watt and one 1,300 million watt generators. The plant also has an active rail to river transfer dock.  CSX serves the plant’s yard in addition to the plant’s 100 ton Center Cab GE.   Appalachian Railcar Service facility is also on the property.  This is a walking tour with plenty of stairways and an eye opening education on how electricity is generated.

Price $30.00 per person

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THE TAMARACK PORTION OF THIS TOUR IS FOR NON RAIL ATTENDEES

THE MINE PORTION OF THIS TOUR IS FOR RAIL ATTENDEES

Tamarack/Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine

Friday May 14, 2010

1:00 PM-5:30 PM

After leaving the hotel the tour travels southeast on the WV Turnpike I-77/I-64 to Beckley through some of the most rugged terrain in West Virginia.  The mountains begin when the highway makes an abrupt right 90 degree turn up Cabin Creek, the home of basketball great Jerry West. It goes over a mountain to cross Paint Creek seven times before arriving at Tamarack in Beckley.  Those going to Tamarack will dismount the bus and be picked up at 4:25 PM.  Tamarack: The Best of West Virginia is the nation’s first showcase of handcrafts, fine art and regional cuisine.  It comprises a warmly decorated retail store, working studios for resident artisans, a fine art gallery, a theater and A Taste of West Virginia food court, managed by The Greenbrier Resort. This is a must see if you enjoy fine art and handcrafts. 

The tour continues to the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine where the main attraction is an actual mine tour that takes visitors below ground, under the supervision of an experienced veteran coal miner. Traveling 1,500 feet beneath the hillsides of New River Park visitors are carried along track, riding authentic “man cars” from the mine entrance, to old working areas of the mine.  Stops along the way explore the history of low-seam coal mining from the hand-loading days to modern mechanization. In addition the visitors can explore the historical coal camp situated throughout the grounds.  This tour gives a true representation of life in an early 20^th century coal camp.  Bring a jacket; the mine is always 55 degrees.

Price $30.00 per person to Tamarack

Price $45.00 per person to Exhibition Mine (includes admission)

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THIS TOUR IS INTENDED FOR BOTH RAIL AND NON RAIL ATTENDEES

New River Bridge/New River National Park/Hawks Nest State Park Lodge and Overlook

Saturday May 15, 2010

8:00 AM - 3:00 PM

After leaving the hotel the tour travels southeast on the WV Turnpike I-77/I-64 to Beckley through some of the most rugged terrain in West Virginia.  The mountains begin when the highway makes an abrupt right 90 degree turn up Cabin Creek, the home of basketball great Jerry West. It goes over a mountain to cross Paint Creek seven times before exiting onto US 19 at Beckley.  US 19 crosses the New River Gorge just north of Fayetteville on an 876 foot high arch bridge. At the National Park Visitor Center the Park Service will conduct a narrated and guided tour.  The tour will continue to the Hawks Nest State Park lodge for an included lunch.  There will be enough time available to take the cable tram to the bottom of the gorge before departing to the nearby Hawks Nest overlook.  The return to the hotel via US 60 along the New, Gauley, and Kanawha rivers is a spectacular drive that parallels Norfolk Southern’s WV Subdivision and CSX’s Kanawha River Subdivision.   This is a tour for everyone and it has some of the most awesome vistas in the eastern United States. 

Price $50.00 per person (includes lunch at Hawks Nest)