The Winifrede Railroad had is beginnings in 1850 when Ralph Swinburn, an assistant to John Stevens was instructed by the Fields Creek Coal Company to build a coal hauling railroad up Fields Creek. He build a gravity type railroad with timber ties topped with metal strapping. When a run was complete, oxen were used to pull the cars back to the mines. About the time of the Civil War, the railroad changed its name to Winifrede Mining and Manufacturing Company. After the rails underwent massive reconstruction, the Winifred Railroad operated with profit for the next 50 years. It closed for the first time in 1920's, because of the declining coal market, but reopened in 1930 as the Winifrede Collieries. It then operated until, once again a declining coal market forced them to close in the late 1980's. In 2001 it has opened once more as the Big Eagle Railroad; the Winifred Railroad can be proud of its 150 year history