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 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. Most of the railroad was constructed by Irish immigrant labor, or enslaved African Americans who were typically leased out by their enslavers to individuals contracted to build portions of the railroad.
Renamed as the Virginia Central Railroad in 1850, the railroad bypassed the under construction Blue Ridge Railroad via a temporary track built over Rockfish Gap. This connected the railroad's eastern division with its expanding line across the Blue Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley. Having reached Clifton Forge by 1857, the railroad began operating the completed Blue Ridge Railroad in 1858 and continued preparing for further expansion until the beginning of the American Civil War in 1861. As a prime target for Federal raids by Union Cavalry, the railroad faced significant action against it during the war. Although the war left the railroad with only a fraction of its line left operable, the railroad was running over its entire pre-war length by July 1865.
After the war, both longtime president Edmund Fontaine and former Confederate General Williams Carter Wickham served as president of the Virginia Central and oversaw its expansion towards Covington. The Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad was formed in 1868 from the merger of the Virginia Central Railroad and the Covington and Ohio Railroad, and had expanded westward to the Ohio River by 1873 after new financing from Collis P. Huntington was recruited. The new railroad (reorganized as the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway in 1878) expanded eastward in the 1880s via the Peninsula Subdivision to Newport News. The Chesapeake and Ohio operated for over one hundred years until it was reorganized through merger as CSX Transportation in the 1980s. Today, CSX, Amtrak, and the Buckingham Branch Railroad still use portions of the old Virginia Central line for freight and passenger rail service.
Louisa Railroad The Virginia General Assembly passed on February 18, 1836, an act to incorporate the Louisa Railroad company to construct a rail line extending from the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad (RF&P) westward. The railroad, as specified by the original charter, was to connect with the RF&P near Taylorsville, at what would become Hanover Junction, and extend westward, passing the Louisa courthouse, to Orange County at the base of the Southwest Mountains. The Virginia Board of Public Works owned two-fifths of the total $300,000 ($ today) stock sold to finance the railroad's initial construction.Virginia General Assembly 1849, p. 3.
Construction of the Louisa Railroad began in October 1836, reaching the Louisa courthouse by 1839, and by 1840 had reached Gordonsville.Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company 1882, p. 17. The railroad had been planned by its original charter to build across the Blue Ridge Mountains to Harrisonburg, but in 1839, the Commonwealth requested a survey to be conducted to determine a feasible route to Staunton by way of Charlottesville. Ultimately, this route, which passed over the mountains at Rockfish Gap, was chosen as a better alternative than the original plan to cross at Swift Run Gap to the north. In 1847, the charter was modified by the Assembly to provide for the railroad's construction to the eastern base of the Blue Ridge,Virginia General Assembly 1849, p. 27. and in 1849, the Blue Ridge Railroad was chartered to cross the mountains at Rockfish Gap to Waynesboro.Virginia General Assembly 1849, p. 30-31 Claudius Crozet was appointed Chief Engineer of the Blue Ridge Railroad, and under his leadership and direction, the railroad began construction over the Blue Ridge using a series of four tunnels.History of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. Meanwhile, the Louisa Railroad had reached the Rivanna River near Charlottesville by 1850 and by 1852 had reached Mechums River, near the eastern end of the Blue Ridge Railroad.
Operation of the Louisa Railroad was initially handled by the RF&P, beginning with the first operation of a train over Louisa Railroad tracks on December 20, 1837.Cox 2011, p. 73. This condition continued until June 1847, when the Louisa Railroad took over operations.Couper 1936, p. 131.
The eastern terminus of the Louisa Railroad was originally at Hanover Junction (now known as Doswell) with the RF&P Railroad. The charter of that line protected it from construction of a parallel competitor, but an act by the Virginia General Assembly in 1848 authorized the extension of the Louisa Railroad easterly through Hanover and Henrico Counties to reach Richmond. This act was protested by the RF&P for violating the earlier decree of the Assembly against a parallel competitor. The RF&P's claim was originally overturned by a Virginia State Court, which ruled that the Assembly retained the right to authorize construction of other railroads between Richmond and Fredericksburg, and that the original charter of the RF&P only applied to the transportation of passengers. The decision of the court was appealed and eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court in Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad Company v. Louisa Railroad Company, which ruled in favor of the Louisa Railroad, upholding the state court's decision.Richmond Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad Company v. Louisa Railroad Company
The first president of the Louisa Railroad was Frederick Overton Harris, a native of Louisa County, who served until 1841. After Harris' term, Charles Y. Kimbrough, also from Louisa, served until 1845, when Edmund Fontaine was elected to office upon Kimbrough's death. Edmund Fontaine would continue to serve as president of the Louisa Railroad and its successor until after the American Civil War.Gwathmey 1979, p. 252.
Further expansion as the Virginia Central While the Blue Ridge Mountain section was being breached, the Louisa Railroad was busy building westward from the western foot of the mountains, across the Shenandoah Valley to Staunton. In January 1850, the Commonwealth authorized the Louisa Railroad to increase its stock in order to build from Staunton to Covington.Virginia General Assembly 1849, p. 31. On February 2, 1850, the Louisa Railroad, having expanded greatly since its beginnings in Louisa and Hanover counties, was renamed as the Virginia Central Railroad.Virginia General Assembly 1849, p. 32.
+ Tunnels on the Virginia Central RailroadVirginia Central Railroad Company 1861,1861 Report, p. 79.Katz, p. 5.Dixon 2008, pp. 5,8 Name (East to West) Feet MetersBlue Ridge MountainsSources vary as to the length of these tunnels, the most common ranges are as follows: Greenwood: ; Brooksville: ; Little Rock: ; Blue Ridge: Greenwood 536 163 Brooksville 864 263 Little Rock 100 30 Blue Ridge 4,263 1,299Ridge-and-Valley AppalachiansThe length of these tunnels also vary according to source, the most common ranges are as follows: Millborough: ; Mason's: ; Coleman's: Millborough 1,335 407 Mason's 323 98 Coleman's 355 108 In order to connect the eastern and western divisions of the railroad at this time divided by the unfinished Blue Ridge Railroad, a temporary track over Rockfish Gap was proposed by the railroad's chief engineer, Charles Ellet, Jr., and by 1854 had been constructed and was in use. Built over and around the under construction Blue Ridge Tunnel, this track, called the Mountain Track, included steep grades (maximum 5.6% with a ruling grade of 5.3%) and sharp curves (minimum radius of ), thereby limiting speeds to around .Virginia Central Railroad Company 1853, 1853 Report, pp. 20-22. Three small tank locomotives were ordered for the temporary track, one of which was supplied by the Tredegar Iron Works of Richmond, the Joseph R. Anderson, and two from Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, the Baldwin and C.R. Mason.Dixon 2008, pp. 7-8. A second temporary track around the Brooksville Tunnel and a third around Robertson's hollow were also constructed. The temporary tracks successfully joined the railroad and by eliminating the extra cost and effort of removing freight and passengers from trains for transport over the mountains, facilitated further growth and expansion westward.Virginia Central Railroad Company 1853, 1853 Report, pp. 23-28.
Construction continued from Staunton through a water gap near Goshen at Great North Mountain by 1855, and had reached Millboro by 1856. This western section of the line included an additional three tunnels, and a temporary track approximately long was used at Millboro while the tunnel was being completed. By 1857, the railroad had reached a point known as Jackson's River Station, at the foot of the Alleghany Mountains. This location would later be known as Clifton Forge and become a division point for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway.Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Company 1882, p. 18.Dixon 2008, p. 8.
The temporary track over Rockfish Gap was used until the Blue Ridge Tunnel's opening in April 1858, and the last train to use the temporary track did so on the evening of April 12. That night, the connection with the completed Blue Ridge Railroad was made, and on the morning of the 13th, the mail train was the first train routed through the tunnel. With the tunnel in use, the temporary track was promptly torn up.Virginia Central Railroad Company 1853, 1858 Report, pp. 37-38. At the time of the Blue Ridge Tunnel's completion, it was the longest tunnel in the United States and the first tunnel in the country to be completed without the use of vertical shafts.Historic American Engineering Record. Although the Virginia Central did not own the Blue Ridge Railroad, it was granted the right to operate it from the Commonwealth of Virginia in return for an annual fee.Virginia Central Railroad Company 1853, 1857 Report, p. 28.
In 1859, the Virginia Central's line carried 134,883 passengers throughout the year, and hauled 64,177 tons of freight.Virginia Central Railroad Company 1853, 1859 Report, p. 44. The road connected Richmond to a point about east of Covington, where the proposed Covington and Ohio Railroad would have started, a distance of approximately .Virginia Central Railroad Company 1853, 1856 Report, p. 32. In February 1853, the Commonwealth of Virginia had chartered the Covington and Ohio Railroad to extend the line completed by the Virginia Central westward across the Alleghany Mountains to the Ohio River. This company began work in 1855 and completed important grading work on the Alleghany grade, including the construction of numerous tunnels, and, to a lesser extent, in the areas around Charleston and the Kanawha River. However, as the American Civil War began in 1861, westward expansion came to a halt and the Covington and Ohio's line remained incomplete.
Civil War + Rolling Stock During the Civil WarVirginia Central Railroad Company 1861, 1861-1864 Reports.Bright, David L. Type 1861 1862 1863 1864 Passenger 19 16 16 16 Mail and Baggage 12 8 8 8 Conductor Cars 3 8 8 6 Box and Stock Cars 150 101 110 89 Platform and Gondola Cars 30 27 36 36 Hay Cars 8 4 4 2 Gravel and Sand Cars 22 22 22 22 Total 244 186 204 179