Richmond and Alleghany Railroad

Richmond and Alleghany Railroad
Locale Richmond - Buchanan, Virginia
Dates of operation March 4, 1880–1888
Predecessor James River and Kanawha Canal
Successor Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Headquarters Richmond, Virginia

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 become 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]

History

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.

Led by Major James H. Dooley of Richmond, the new railroad offered a water-level route from the Appalachian Mountains just east of West Virginia near Jackson's River Station (now Clifton Forge) through the Blue Ridge Mountains at Balcony Falls to Richmond. 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 [3]). Major Dooley built a mansion on an estate west of Richmond (just east of the current Boulevard Bridge) overlooking the railroad. He and his wife Sallie became benefactors for many philanthropic causes around Richmond, and their estate in Richmond became Maymont.

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.

1884 map of the Richmond and Alleghany overlaid on a geological map of the route and connecting routes

References

  1. ↑ G. M. Williams, III (General Manager) (8 December 2004). "Huntington East Division Timetable" (PDF). Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  2. ↑ "JR-James River Sub - The RadioReference Wiki". wiki.radioreference.com. Retrieved 2017-04-07.
  3. ↑ "History – C&O Historical Society". cohs.org. Retrieved 2017-04-07.
  • Publisher of Trains Magazine (2000). Kalmbach Publishing, ed. The historical guide to North American railroads (2nd ed.). Waukesha, WI: Kalmbach Publishing. ISBN 0-89024-356-5.
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