Virginia Central Railroad
Encyclopedia
Virginia Central Railroad was chartered as the Louisa Railroad in 1836 by the Virginia Board of Public Works
and had its name changed to Virginia Central Railroad in 1850. It connected Richmond
with the Orange and Alexandria Railroad
at Gordonsville
in 1854, and had expanded westward past the Blue Ridge Mountains
into the Shenandoah Valley
as the American Civil War
began in 1861. Edmund Fontaine was the president of the Virginia Central Railroad.
Heavily damaged, it was rebuilt after the War, and merged with the Covington and Ohio Railroad
in 1868 to form the new Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
(C&O). Under the leadership of Collis P. Huntington
, the C&O line was completed to the Ohio River in 1873, and the Peninsula Extension
was built east from Richmond to reached the harbor of Hampton Roads
at Newport News
by 1882.
in 1836 became the Virginia Central Railroad
in 1850 and became part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
(C&O) in 1868.
The eastern terminus of the Virginia Central was originally at Hanover Junction (now known as Doswell)
with the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad
. The charter of that line protected it from construction of a parallel competitor, and a Virginia Supreme Court decision was necessary before the Virginia Central was allowed to extend its tracks easterly through Hanover
and Henrico
Counties to reach Richmond
.
From Gordonsville, the Virginia Central was originally planned to connect Eastern Virginia with Harrisonburg
, crossing the Blue Ridge Mountains
at Swift Run Gap
, but construction costs were prohibitive. Instead, the route was redirected to Charlottesville
.
The Commonwealth of Virginia, always keen to help with "internal improvements" not only owned a portion of Virginia Central stock, but incorporated and financed the Blue Ridge Railroad to accomplish the hard and expensive task of crossing the first mountain barrier to the west. Rather than attempting the more formidable Swift Run Gap, under the leadership of the great early civil engineer
Claudius Crozet
, the state-owned Blue Ridge Railroad built over the mountains at the next gap to the south, Rockfish Gap
near Afton Mountain, using four tunnels, including the 4,263-foot (1,312m) Blue Ridge Tunnel
at the top of the pass, then one of the longest tunnel
s in the world.
While the Blue Ridge Mountain section was being breached, the Virginia Central was busy building westward from the west foot of the mountains, across the Shenandoah Valley
through Staunton
and a water gap at Goshen
at Great North Mountain
, reaching a point known as Jackson's River Station, at the foot of the Alleghany Mountains
(note that in Virginia Alleghany is spelled with an "a"), in 1856. This is the site that would later be called Clifton Forge
.
The road eventually connected Richmond to the southwestern Shenandoah Valley
at the point where the proposed Covington and Ohio Railroad
would have started. To finish its line across the mountainous territory of the Alleghany Plateau (known in old Virginia as the "Transmountaine"), the Commonwealth again chartered a state-subsidized railroad called the Covington and Ohio Railroad
. This company completed important grading work on the Alleghany grade and did considerable work on numerous tunnels over the mountains and in the west. It also did a good deal of roadway work around Charleston on the Kanawha River
. Then the American Civil War
intervened, and work was stopped on the westward expansion.
's famous "foot cavalry
". But, it was a prime target for Federal armies, and by the end of the war had only about five miles of track still in operation, and $40 in gold in its treasury.
in 1868 to form the new Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
, headed by former Confederate
General Williams Carter Wickham
. He needed to find adequate financing to resume the westward work through the challenging mountainous terrain, as the Virginia Board of Public Works
was no longer in a position to help as it had in the past. After failing in the impoverished southern states and with British investors, Wickham found new capital and financing by recruiting Collis P. Huntington
, one of the so called "Big Four", a group of businessmen who had recently completed the western portion of the transcontinental railroad
. Under Huntington's leadership, and with millions in new financing from New York City
, westward construction resumed. Virginia deeded over the Blue Ridge Railroad to the new C&O in 1869.
The final spike ceremony for the 428-mile long line from Richmond to the Ohio River was held on January 29, 1873 at Hawk's Nest railroad bridge in the New River Valley
, near the town of Ansted
in Fayette County, West Virginia
.
from West Virginia's untapped natural resources with the completion of the new railroad. His agents began acquiring property in Warwick County
in eastern Virginia. In the 1880s, he oversaw extension of the C&O's new Peninsula Subdivision, which extended from the Church Hill Tunnel
in Richmond
southeast down the peninsula through Williamsburg
to Newport News, where the company developed coal pier
s on the harbor of Hampton Roads. to extend the C&O to what would become new coal piers at Newport News
.
In 1889 the Richmond and Allegheny Railroad
company, which had been built along the tow-path of the defunct James River and Kanawha Canal
, was merged into the C&O, giving it a down grade "water level" line from Clifton Forge
to Richmond, avoiding the heavy grades of North Mountain and the Blue Ridge on the original Virginia Central route. On this line, trains descend nearly 1,000 feet in elevation to Richmond (54 feet elevation) following the path of the river. This "James River
Line" became the principal artery of eastbound coal transportation down to the present day, with earlier Virginia Central line used for westbound empty hoppers. From the convergence of the lines in Richmond, both eastbound and westbound coal trains utilize the Peninsula Subdivision through Williamsburg to service the coal pier
s in the East End of Newport News.
and the Buckingham Branch Railroad
, a Virginia-based short-line railroad.
Virginia Board of Public Works
The Virginia Board of Public Works was a governmental agency which oversaw and helped finance the development of Virginia's internal transportation improvements during the 19th century. In that era, it was customary to invest public funds in private companies, which were the forerunners of the...
and had its name changed to Virginia Central Railroad in 1850. It connected Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
with the Orange and Alexandria Railroad
Orange and Alexandria Railroad
The Orange and Alexandria Railroad was an intrastate railroad in Virginia, United States. It extended from Alexandria to Gordonsville, with another section from Charlottesville to Lynchburg...
at Gordonsville
Gordonsville, Virginia
Gordonsville is a town in Louisa and Orange counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 1,496 at the 2010 census.-History:Nathaniel Gordon purchased in 1787 and in 1794, or possibly earlier, applied for and was granted a license to operate a tavern...
in 1854, and had expanded westward past the Blue Ridge Mountains
Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most...
into the Shenandoah Valley
Shenandoah Valley
The Shenandoah Valley is both a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians , to the north by the Potomac River...
as the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
began in 1861. Edmund Fontaine was the president of the Virginia Central Railroad.
Heavily damaged, it was rebuilt after the War, and merged with the Covington and Ohio Railroad
Covington and Ohio Railroad
Covington and Ohio Railroad was part of a planned railroad link between eastern Virginia and the Ohio River in the 1850s. The mountainous region of the Allegheny Front of the Appalachian Plateau between an existing canal, railroads and navigable rivers represented a formidable obstacle.The...
in 1868 to form the new Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P...
(C&O). Under the leadership of Collis P. Huntington
Collis P. Huntington
Collis Potter Huntington was one of the Big Four of western railroading who built the Central Pacific Railroad as part of the first U.S. transcontinental railroad...
, the C&O line was completed to the Ohio River in 1873, and the Peninsula Extension
Peninsula Extension
The Peninsula Extension which created the Peninsula Subdivision of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was the new railroad line on the Virginia Peninsula from Richmond to southeastern Warwick County...
was built east from Richmond to reached the harbor of Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
at Newport News
Newport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
by 1882.
History
The Louisa Railroad chartered in VirginiaVirginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
in 1836 became the Virginia Central Railroad
Virginia Central Railroad
Virginia Central Railroad was chartered as the Louisa Railroad in 1836 by the Virginia Board of Public Works and had its name changed to Virginia Central Railroad in 1850. It connected Richmond with the Orange and Alexandria Railroad at Gordonsville in 1854, and had expanded westward past the Blue...
in 1850 and became part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P...
(C&O) in 1868.
The eastern terminus of the Virginia Central was originally at Hanover Junction (now known as Doswell)
Doswell, Virginia
Doswell is an unincorporated community in Hanover County in the Central Region of the U.S. state of Virginia. Originally called Hanover Junction, it was located on the Virginia Central Railroad, which later became part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad at a crossing of the Richmond,...
with the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad
Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad
The Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad was a railroad connecting Richmond, Virginia, to Washington, D.C. It is now a portion of the CSX Transportation system....
. The charter of that line protected it from construction of a parallel competitor, and a Virginia Supreme Court decision was necessary before the Virginia Central was allowed to extend its tracks easterly through Hanover
Hanover County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 86,320 people, 31,121 households, and 24,461 families residing in the county. The population density was 183 people per square mile . There were 32,196 housing units at an average density of 68 per square mile...
and Henrico
Henrico County, Virginia
Henrico is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state of the United States. As of 2010, Henrico was home to 306,935 people. It is located in the Richmond-Petersburg region and is a portion of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area...
Counties to reach Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
.
From Gordonsville, the Virginia Central was originally planned to connect Eastern Virginia with Harrisonburg
Harrisonburg, Virginia
Harrisonburg is an independent city in the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia in the United States. Its population as of 2010 is 48,914, and at the 2000 census, 40,468. Harrisonburg is the county seat of Rockingham County and the core city of the Harrisonburg, Virginia Metropolitan Statistical...
, crossing the Blue Ridge Mountains
Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most...
at Swift Run Gap
Swift Run Gap
Swift Run Gap is a wind gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains located in the U.S. state of Virginia.-Geography:At an elevation of , it is the site of the mountain crossing of U.S...
, but construction costs were prohibitive. Instead, the route was redirected to Charlottesville
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...
.
The Commonwealth of Virginia, always keen to help with "internal improvements" not only owned a portion of Virginia Central stock, but incorporated and financed the Blue Ridge Railroad to accomplish the hard and expensive task of crossing the first mountain barrier to the west. Rather than attempting the more formidable Swift Run Gap, under the leadership of the great early civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
Claudius Crozet
Claudius Crozet
Benoit Claudius Crozet was an educator and civil engineer.Crozet was born in France. After serving in the French military, in 1816, he immigrated to the United States. He taught at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, and helped found the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington,...
, the state-owned Blue Ridge Railroad built over the mountains at the next gap to the south, Rockfish Gap
Rockfish Gap
Rockfish Gap is a wind gap located in the Blue Ridge Mountains between Charlottesville and Waynesboro, Virginia, United States, through Afton Mountain, which is frequently used to refer to the gap....
near Afton Mountain, using four tunnels, including the 4,263-foot (1,312m) Blue Ridge Tunnel
Blue Ridge Tunnel
The Blue Ridge Tunnel, also known as the Crozet Tunnel, was the longest of four tunnels built on the Blue Ridge Railroad to cross the Blue Ridge Mountains at Rockfish Gap near Afton Mountain in central Virginia...
at the top of the pass, then one of the longest tunnel
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
s in the world.
While the Blue Ridge Mountain section was being breached, the Virginia Central was busy building westward from the west foot of the mountains, across the Shenandoah Valley
Shenandoah Valley
The Shenandoah Valley is both a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians , to the north by the Potomac River...
through Staunton
Staunton, Virginia
Staunton is an independent city within the confines of Augusta County in the commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 23,746 as of 2010. It is the county seat of Augusta County....
and a water gap at Goshen
Goshen, Virginia
Goshen is a town in Rockbridge County, Virginia, United States. The population was 406 at the 2000 census. The town is known amongst the Boy Scouts of America for hosting Goshen Scout Reservation, one of the largest Boy Scout camps in America....
at Great North Mountain
Great North Mountain
Great North Mountain is a long mountain range within the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians in the U.S. states of Virginia and West Virginia. The range is located west of the Shenandoah Valley and Massanutten Mountain in Virginia, and east of the Allegheny Mountains and Cacapon River in West...
, reaching a point known as Jackson's River Station, at the foot of the Alleghany Mountains
Allegheny Mountains
The Allegheny Mountain Range , also spelled Alleghany, Allegany and, informally, the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the eastern United States and Canada...
(note that in Virginia Alleghany is spelled with an "a"), in 1856. This is the site that would later be called Clifton Forge
Clifton Forge, Virginia
Clifton Forge is a town in Alleghany County, Virginia, United States which is part of the Roanoke Region. The population was 3,884 at the 2010 census. The Jackson River flows through the town, which as a result was once known as Jackson's River Station....
.
The road eventually connected Richmond to the southwestern Shenandoah Valley
Shenandoah Valley
The Shenandoah Valley is both a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians , to the north by the Potomac River...
at the point where the proposed Covington and Ohio Railroad
Covington and Ohio Railroad
Covington and Ohio Railroad was part of a planned railroad link between eastern Virginia and the Ohio River in the 1850s. The mountainous region of the Allegheny Front of the Appalachian Plateau between an existing canal, railroads and navigable rivers represented a formidable obstacle.The...
would have started. To finish its line across the mountainous territory of the Alleghany Plateau (known in old Virginia as the "Transmountaine"), the Commonwealth again chartered a state-subsidized railroad called the Covington and Ohio Railroad
Covington and Ohio Railroad
Covington and Ohio Railroad was part of a planned railroad link between eastern Virginia and the Ohio River in the 1850s. The mountainous region of the Allegheny Front of the Appalachian Plateau between an existing canal, railroads and navigable rivers represented a formidable obstacle.The...
. This company completed important grading work on the Alleghany grade and did considerable work on numerous tunnels over the mountains and in the west. It also did a good deal of roadway work around Charleston on the Kanawha River
Kanawha River
The Kanawha River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 97 mi long, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The largest inland waterway in West Virginia, it has formed a significant industrial region of the state since the middle of the 19th century.It is formed at the town of Gauley...
. Then the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
intervened, and work was stopped on the westward expansion.
Civil War
During the war the Virginia Central was one of the Confederacy's most important lines, carrying food from the Shenandoah region to Richmond, and ferrying troops and supplies back and forth as the campaigns surrounded its tracks frequently. On more than one occasion it was used in actual tactical operations, transporting troops directly to the battlefield. The Blue Ridge Tunnels and the Virginia Central were key tools in the fast mobilization of Confederate General Stonewall JacksonStonewall Jackson
ຄຽשת״ׇׂׂׂׂ֣|birth_place= Clarksburg, Virginia |death_place=Guinea Station, Virginia|placeofburial=Stonewall Jackson Memorial CemeteryLexington, Virginia|placeofburial_label= Place of burial|image=...
's famous "foot cavalry
Foot cavalry
Foot cavalry was an oxymoron coined to describe the rapid movements of infantry troops serving under Confederate General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson during the American Civil War...
". But, it was a prime target for Federal armies, and by the end of the war had only about five miles of track still in operation, and $40 in gold in its treasury.
Post bellum
After the War, the Virginia Central Railroad was merged with the Covington and Ohio RailroadCovington and Ohio Railroad
Covington and Ohio Railroad was part of a planned railroad link between eastern Virginia and the Ohio River in the 1850s. The mountainous region of the Allegheny Front of the Appalachian Plateau between an existing canal, railroads and navigable rivers represented a formidable obstacle.The...
in 1868 to form the new Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P...
, headed by former Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
General Williams Carter Wickham
Williams Carter Wickham
Williams Carter Wickham was a lawyer, judge, politician, and an important Confederate cavalry general who fought in the Virginia campaigns during the American Civil War...
. He needed to find adequate financing to resume the westward work through the challenging mountainous terrain, as the Virginia Board of Public Works
Virginia Board of Public Works
The Virginia Board of Public Works was a governmental agency which oversaw and helped finance the development of Virginia's internal transportation improvements during the 19th century. In that era, it was customary to invest public funds in private companies, which were the forerunners of the...
was no longer in a position to help as it had in the past. After failing in the impoverished southern states and with British investors, Wickham found new capital and financing by recruiting Collis P. Huntington
Collis P. Huntington
Collis Potter Huntington was one of the Big Four of western railroading who built the Central Pacific Railroad as part of the first U.S. transcontinental railroad...
, one of the so called "Big Four", a group of businessmen who had recently completed the western portion of the transcontinental railroad
Transcontinental railroad
A transcontinental railroad is a contiguous network of railroad trackage that crosses a continental land mass with terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks can be via the tracks of either a single railroad, or over those owned or controlled by multiple railway companies...
. Under Huntington's leadership, and with millions in new financing from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, westward construction resumed. Virginia deeded over the Blue Ridge Railroad to the new C&O in 1869.
The final spike ceremony for the 428-mile long line from Richmond to the Ohio River was held on January 29, 1873 at Hawk's Nest railroad bridge in the New River Valley
New River Valley
The New River Valley is a region in the eastern United States along the New River in the Commonwealth of Virginia . The valley comprises the counties of Montgomery , Pulaski, Floyd, Giles and the independent City of Radford...
, near the town of Ansted
Ansted, West Virginia
Ansted is a town in Fayette County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is situated on high bluffs along U.S. Highway 60 on a portion of the Midland Trail a National Scenic Byway near Hawk's Nest overlooking the New River far below....
in Fayette County, West Virginia
Fayette County, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 47,579 people, 18,945 households, and 13,128 families residing in the county. The population density was 72 people per square mile . There were 21,616 housing units at an average density of 33 per square mile...
.
Coal to Newport News
Huntington was also aware of the potential to ship eastbound coalCoal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
from West Virginia's untapped natural resources with the completion of the new railroad. His agents began acquiring property in Warwick County
Warwick County, Virginia
Warwick County was a county in Southeast Virginia that was created from Warwick River Shire, one of eight created in the Virginia Colony in 1634. It became the City of Warwick on July 16, 1952...
in eastern Virginia. In the 1880s, he oversaw extension of the C&O's new Peninsula Subdivision, which extended from the Church Hill Tunnel
Church Hill Tunnel
Church Hill Tunnel is an old Chesapeake and Ohio Railway tunnel extending for approximately 4,000 feet under the Church Hill section of Richmond, Virginia. Built in the early 1870s, in 1925, the tunnel collapsed on a work train killing four and trapping a steam locomotive and some flat cars...
in Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
southeast down the peninsula through Williamsburg
Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg is an independent city located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 Census, the city had an estimated population of 14,068. It is bordered by James City County and York County, and is an independent city...
to Newport News, where the company developed coal pier
Coal pier
A coal pier is a transloading facility designed for the transfer of coal between rail and ship.The typical facility for loading ships consists of a holding area and a system of conveyors for transferring the coal to dockside and loading it into the ship's cargo holds...
s on the harbor of Hampton Roads. to extend the C&O to what would become new coal piers at Newport News
Newport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
.
In 1889 the Richmond and Allegheny Railroad
Richmond and Allegheny Railroad
The Richmond and Alleghany Railroad was built along the James River along the route of the James River and Kanawha Canal from Richmond on the fall line at the head of navigation to a point west of Lynchburg near Buchanan, Virginia, and combined with the Buchanan and Clifton Forge Railway Company to...
company, which had been built along the tow-path of the defunct James River and Kanawha Canal
James River and Kanawha Canal
The James River and Kanawha Canal was a canal in Virginia, which was built to facilitate shipments of passengers and freight by water between the western counties of Virginia and the coast....
, was merged into the C&O, giving it a down grade "water level" line from Clifton Forge
Clifton Forge, Virginia
Clifton Forge is a town in Alleghany County, Virginia, United States which is part of the Roanoke Region. The population was 3,884 at the 2010 census. The Jackson River flows through the town, which as a result was once known as Jackson's River Station....
to Richmond, avoiding the heavy grades of North Mountain and the Blue Ridge on the original Virginia Central route. On this line, trains descend nearly 1,000 feet in elevation to Richmond (54 feet elevation) following the path of the river. This "James River
James River (Virginia)
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is long, extending to if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising . The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million...
Line" became the principal artery of eastbound coal transportation down to the present day, with earlier Virginia Central line used for westbound empty hoppers. From the convergence of the lines in Richmond, both eastbound and westbound coal trains utilize the Peninsula Subdivision through Williamsburg to service the coal pier
Coal pier
A coal pier is a transloading facility designed for the transfer of coal between rail and ship.The typical facility for loading ships consists of a holding area and a system of conveyors for transferring the coal to dockside and loading it into the ship's cargo holds...
s in the East End of Newport News.
Modern times
In modern times, portions of the Virginia Central Railroad are in use by CSX TransportationCSX Transportation
CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...
and the Buckingham Branch Railroad
Buckingham Branch Railroad
Buckingham Branch Railroad is a Class III short-line railroad operating over 200 miles of historic and strategic trackage in Central Virginia...
, a Virginia-based short-line railroad.
Other uses of the Virginia Central name
- Many years after the original Virginia Central became part of the Chesapeake and Ohio in the 1868, another railroad between FredericksburgFredericksburg, VirginiaFredericksburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia located south of Washington, D.C., and north of Richmond. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 24,286...
and OrangeOrange, VirginiaOrange is a town in Orange County, Virginia, United States. The population was 4,721 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Orange County...
used the name "Virginia Central." The Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad (PF&P RR) operated 38 miles (61 km) of 3 foot gauge railroad between Fredericksburg (with a connection to the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad) and Orange (with a connection to the Orange & Alexandria railroad). It operated as narrow gaugeNarrow gaugeA narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of between and .- Overview :...
until after World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. In 1926, the line was standard gauged and the name changed to the Virginia Central Railway. In 1938, the entire line was abandoned except for a one mile segment in Fredericksburg which lasted until 1983. - In the 1990s, an excursion company headed by Jack Showalter assumed the historic name Virginia Central Railroad, and operated trips on CSX Transportation tracks from a base in Staunton, VirginiaStaunton, VirginiaStaunton is an independent city within the confines of Augusta County in the commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 23,746 as of 2010. It is the county seat of Augusta County....
. Increased liability insuranceLiability insuranceLiability insurance is a part of the general insurance system of risk financing to protect the purchaser from the risks of liabilities imposed by lawsuits and similar claims. It protects the insured in the event he or she is sued for claims that come within the coverage of the insurance policy...
requirements forced suspension of the trips and the equipment into storage. In February, 2005, preparations were underway to relocate some of the historic rolling stock of the excursion company to the Science Museum of VirginiaScience Museum of VirginiaThe Science Museum of Virginia is a science museum located in Richmond, Virginia.-History:In 1906, the Virginia General Assembly approved funds for the construction of a simple "exhibits center" to display mineral and timber exhibits being assembled for the Jamestown Exposition of 1907. After the...
in Richmond, but that plan fell through. The equipment was is storage in Staunton and up the SVRR line in Verona. Some of the passenger cars were planned to return to limited service on excursion trains planned to operate on the short-line Shenandoah Valley RailroadShenandoah Valley RailroadShenandoah Valley Railroad refers to one of several railroads in the U.S. state of Virginia:*Shenandoah Valley Railroad , a current short line*Shenandoah Valley Railroad , predecessor of the Norfolk and Western Railway...
.
See also
- Blue Ridge Railroad
- Covington and Ohio RailroadCovington and Ohio RailroadCovington and Ohio Railroad was part of a planned railroad link between eastern Virginia and the Ohio River in the 1850s. The mountainous region of the Allegheny Front of the Appalachian Plateau between an existing canal, railroads and navigable rivers represented a formidable obstacle.The...
- Chesapeake and Ohio RailwayChesapeake and Ohio RailwayThe Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad formed in 1869 in Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P...
- Buckingham Branch RailroadBuckingham Branch RailroadBuckingham Branch Railroad is a Class III short-line railroad operating over 200 miles of historic and strategic trackage in Central Virginia...