I was in Logan WV and noticed two concrete piers in the Guyandotte River next to the active CSX bridge.

Was there a rail spur here serving the area now occupied by the power company substation?

Thank you!

Wesley Paulson

Looking at old 1950s aerials, there were two somethings across the river next to each other. The images aren't sharp enough to tell exactly what but likely not railroad. They look more like conveyors or pipe bridges. Note that there appears to have been a power or steam plant in the SE corner next to the track. Gone by the eighties.

This photo from Wikipedia, attributed to Magnolia677, shows Logan WV as it was in 2014 (click on it to expand). Looks like there is/was a wye there at least. Google streetview would show it now. (This response is also to a question in your post here: viewtopic.php?p=346190#p346190)

Thanks!

Looking at the current satellite view it looks like there is a junction but the third leg of a wye would run right through the center of town.
The building shown on the right in the panorama view resembles a typical C&O station and is now City Hall.


Re: the bridge piers, the same satellite view shows a road named Power House Rd adjacent to the property that may have been served by yard tracks.

Not a Logan expert in any way. However, surmising from the 1957 aerial image and topos back to 1903, there was no wye at Logan. the line heading west across the river is down grade to the bridge and goes to dead end coal branches. The line east, at one time a through route, still serves a few dead end coal branches.

It's hard to tell if Powerhouse Rd was once a spur to the power/steam plant property. I don't think so. The plant itself is small and may have been served by truck. Neither the piers nor the structures over the river look substantial enough for rail. Some towns had a steam plant to heat buildings downtown, that's why I think they could be pipe bridges.

One stop shopping: https://www.historicaerials.com/viewer. Type Logan, WV in the search box. Topos and aerials there.

Sanborn fire insurance maps can be an outstanding resource for built up areas and may cover from about 1890 until 1930, sometimes later, and often covering several dates. The Library of Congress has a large collection of them available on line. This is cut from the 1922 map of Logan Co. WV.

https://www.loc.gov/item/sanborn09417_004/

It looks like a switchback there, rather than a wye. Very short tail tracks, probably only one engine and one car at a time could navigate it.