Thurmond’s life centered on the railroad, which served as the town’s main street and made its coal economy possible by carrying coal to market. Workers in Thurmond’s engine house kept the C&O Railway’s coal trains moving, and the coal shipped from its rail yards brought immense revenue to the C&O. The railroad provided jobs and brought in materials, merchandise, and paying passengers, drawing people from up and down the line to Thurmond. At one time 20 passenger trains stopped there daily. Thurmond was defined by steam, smoke, noise, cinders, and the people whose lives depended on the railroad, while coal dust and soot made it difficult to keep anything clean, as Mrs. Jane Graham Lawson recalled.