Overview | |
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Headquarters | 122 South 8th Street, Richmond, Virginia |
Locale | Richmond - Buchanan, Virginia |
Dates of operation | March 4, 1880–1888 |
Predecessor | James River and Kanawha Canal |
Successor | Chesapeake and Ohio Railway |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
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 reach Clifton Forge, Virginia.
The James River Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. State of Virginia. It was formerly part of the CSX Huntington East Division. [1] It became part of the CSX Florence Division on June 20, 2016. The line runs from Gladstone, Virginia to Clifton Forge, Virginia for a total of 110.2 miles. At its east end it continues west from the Rivanna Subdivision and at its west end it continues west as the Alleghany Subdivision. [2]
Long a dream of early Virginians such as George Washington, the canal was never completed as envisioned to link the James and Ohio Rivers. Beginning in the 1830s, railroads overtook canals as a preferred technology for transportation in Virginia. The canal was conveyed to the new railroad company by a deed dated March 4, 1880. Railroad construction workers promptly started laying tracks on the towpath. The company constructed the railroad using African-American convict laborers from Virginia penitentiaries. [3]
Led by Francis O. French of New York and later starting in 1884 by James T Closson of New York the new railroad offered a water-level route from Richmond, Virginia to Clifton Forge through the Blue Ridge Mountains at Balcony Falls. In 1888 the railroad was leased, and later purchased, by Collis P. Huntington's Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (merger with C&O occurred in 1889 [4] ).
Today, the former Richmond and Alleghany Railroad is a major route of CSX Transportation. It forms the Rivanna and James River subdivisions. The eastern terminus is Richmond's Main Street Station. It meets the former Virginia Central Railroad (now operated by the Buckingham Branch Railroad, a short-line operator) at Rivanna Junction.
<1. Laura E Armitage. "The Richmond and Alleghany," THE RAILWAY AND LOCOMOTIVE SOCIETY BULLETIN, No. 88 (May, 1953) pp. 59–68.> <2. Mary Lynn Bayliss, THE DOOLEYS OF RICHMOND: AN IRISH IMMIGRANT FAMILY IN THE OLD AND NEW SOUTH, University of Virginia Press, 2017, p. 125>
Fluvanna County is a county located in the Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,249. Its county seat is Palmyra, while the most populous community is the census designated place of Lake Monticello.
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. Huntington, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond to the Ohio River by 1873, where the railroad town of Huntington, West Virginia, was named for him.
The Virginia Central Railroad was an early railroad in the U.S. state of Virginia that operated between 1850 and 1868 from Richmond westward for 206 miles (332 km) to Covington. Chartered in 1836 as the Louisa Railroad by the Virginia General Assembly, the railroad began near the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad's line and expanded westward to Orange County, reaching Gordonsville by 1840. In 1849, the Blue Ridge Railroad was chartered to construct a line over the Blue Ridge Mountains for the Louisa Railroad which reached the base of the Blue Ridge in 1852. After a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Louisa Railroad was allowed to expand eastward from a point near Doswell to Richmond.
The James River and Kanawha Canal was a partially built canal in Virginia intended to facilitate shipments of passengers and freight by water between the western counties of Virginia and the coast. Ultimately its towpath became the roadbed for a rail line following the same course.
Buckingham Branch Railroad is a Class III short-line railroad operating over 275 miles (443 km) of historic and strategic trackage in Central Virginia. Sharing overhead traffic with CSX and Amtrak, the company's headquarters are in Dillwyn, Virginia in the former Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad (C&O) station, itself a historic landmark in the community. The railroad was featured in the January 2012 issue of Trains Magazine. It is referenced in the How It’s Made episode “Railway Bridge Ties”, showing it crossing a curved bridge.
Westham Station in Henrico County, Virginia, USA, was originally located at Westham on the Richmond and Allegheny Railroad (R&A), which was laid along the towpath of the James River and Kanawha Canal in the 1880s. The R&A railroad was acquired by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) in the 1890s. Westham station was built in 1911, near the Westham Bridge, which spans the James River. The station was heated by a coal stove and had a telegraph for communication through the 1950s.
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.
Church Hill Tunnel is an old Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) tunnel, built in the early 1870s, which extends approximately 4,000 feet under the Church Hill district of Richmond, Virginia, United States. On October 2, 1925, the tunnel collapsed on a work train, killing four men and trapping a steam locomotive and ten flat cars. Rescue efforts only resulted in further collapse, and the tunnel was eventually sealed for safety reasons.
The Triple Crossing in Richmond, Virginia is one of two places in North America where three railroad lines cross at different levels at the same spot, the other being the BNSF operated Santa Fe Junction in Kansas City. Santa Fe Junction became a triple crossing after the Argentine Connection was completed in 2004.
In the U.S. state of Virginia, U.S. Route 220 (US 220) is a major north-south state highway that extends from the North Carolina state line through Roanoke to the West Virginia state line. South of Roanoke, US 220 is a four-lane highway within the proposed Interstate 73 (I-73) corridor. US 220 narrows to two lanes north of Roanoke, connecting to I-64 near Clifton Forge and then paralleling the Appalachian Mountains north-northeasterly in the direction of Cumberland, Maryland.
The Washington Subdivision is a railroad line in Virginia owned by CSX Transportation and leased and operated by the Buckingham Branch Railroad.
The Peninsula Extension which created the Peninsula Subdivision of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) was the new railroad line on the Virginia Peninsula from Richmond to southeastern Warwick County. Its principal purpose was to provide an important new pathway for coal mined in West Virginia to reach the harbor of Hampton Roads for coastal and export shipping on collier ships.
Maidens is a small unincorporated community in Goochland County, Virginia, United States. Sited on the north side of the James River, it is currently located at the junction of U.S. Route 522, State Route 6, and State Route 634.
The Cumberland Terminal Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the Cumberland, Maryland area. The line centers on the Cumberland rail yard and is a junction with three other subdivisions.
The Alleghany Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Virginia and West Virginia. It was formerly part of the CSX Huntington East Division. It became part of the CSX Florence Division on June 20, 2016. The line runs from Clifton Forge, Virginia, to Hinton, West Virginia, for a total of 78.6 miles (126.5 km). At its north end it continues south from the James River Subdivision and at its south end it continues south as the New River Subdivision.
The North End Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in Virginia and North Carolina. The line runs from Richmond, Virginia, to Rocky Mount, North Carolina, for a total of 123.2 miles. At its north end the line continues south from the Richmond Terminal Subdivision and at its south end the line continues south as the South End Subdivision. The North End Subdivision is the northernmost segment of CSX's A Line which in its entirety runs from Richmond to Tampa, Florida. Some of the line's notable features include running in the median of Interstate 195 in Richmond as well as the line's tall arch bridge over the James River.
The New River Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It was formerly part of the CSX Huntington East Division. It became part of the CSX Florence Division on June 20, 2016.
The Rivanna Subdivision is a railroad line owned by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of Virginia. It was formerly part of the CSX Huntington East Division. It became part of the CSX Florence Division on June 20, 2016. The line runs from Richmond, Virginia, to Gladstone, Virginia, for a total of 119.2 miles. From its eastern terminus in Richmond, the line continues east as the Peninsula Subdivision and at its west end the line continues west as the James River Subdivision.
The Florence Division is a railroad division operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia & West Virginia. The Florence Division has 60 Subdivisions. The Subdivisions in italics came from the Huntington East & Huntington West Divisions effective June 20, 2016.
The Washington District is a Norfolk Southern Railway line in the U.S. state of Virginia that connects Alexandria and Lynchburg. Most of the line was built from 1850 to 1860 by the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, while a small portion in the center opened in 1880 as the Charlottesville and Rapidan Railroad. Today, the line is mainly used for freight service, but Amtrak's Crescent, Cardinal and Northeast Regional passenger services use all or part of the line, and the Virginia Railway Express Manassas Line commuter service uses the northernmost portion of the line.