Gordonsville Virginia

The Louisa Railroad (later the Virginia Central Railroad) Station

When a group of farmers and other interested business persons began building a railroad in Louisa County Virginia, they did so because they realized that it was impractical for them to depend on using the far-distant James River and Kanwha Canal system despite what the Virginia Legislature of that time was advocating. No, they knew that if they were going to have a way to ship goods to market, they would have to rely on that new-fangled technology called a “railroad.” And thus they started the Louisa Railroad, later re-named the Virginia Central. By 1841 they had built westward to the town of Gordonsville Virginia. There they constructed this building to serve as a passenger and a freight station (it is possible that the passenger portion of this station was torn down many years ago and only the freight portion of the structure survives). Over the next 15 years, and particularly during the Civil War, the structure was to see several important trains arrive and depart.

In the spring of 1862, the troops under the command of Robert E. Lee managed to force the Union troops under the command of George C. McClelland away from the gates of Richmond in a series of engagements now known as the Seven Days Campaign. In the subsequent re-alignment of troops, Lee sent his chief Lieutenant, Stonewall Jackson with a group of men and equipment, west on the Virginia Central railroad. Their destination, was this building, the Virginia Central station in Gordonsville.

Here they detrained and tarried a while until Jackson saw the Bluecoats gathering up north and went off to “whip ‘em” once more at the Second Battle of Manassas.

A year later and Stonewall was dead. Lee and his forces had moved north into Pennsylvania, and in a ferocious contest had been turned away at a place called Gettysburg. As a result of Lee’s tactics, another of his “Lieutenants,” James Longstreet, decided he had had enough of Bobby Lee, and implored the War Department, and President Davis, to send him and his troops anywhere but with the Army of Northern Virginia.

The Civilian Government gave in to his entreaties and ordered Longstreet and his Corps, to be transferred to the troops under Braxton Bragg which were gathering to counter the Union threat coming down upon Chattanooga TN. They were to make their transfer by “the cars.” The most direct route, via the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad through Bristol and Knoxville, was not a viable option due to the presence of Union troops, and Union sympathizers in East Tennessee. Accordingly, Longstreet and his Corps, troops and equipment, boarded the Virginia Central at the Gordonsville station and went east and then south over several roads, before finally turning west and again north at Atlanta. But they got to Bragg just in time for him to use them with devastating results at the Battle of Chickamauga.

Throughout the conflict, various Union Commanders recognized the importance of the Virginia Central to the Confederacy. Without the Virginia Central, foodstuffs from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia had only the vagaries of the James River and Kanawha Canal as a way of traveling to Richmond. Thus, much of the Virginia Central’s line, and many of the stations and other railroad-related structures, was destroyed, often more than once. Somehow, however, this building survived.

After the conclusion of the Civil War, the Virginia Central became the basis for Collis P. Huntington’s Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. Eventually, this station was replaced with another one further on down the track built to serve both those trains heading to East-West to Richmond and Charlottesville, and North to Washington DC. And the 1841 station was demoted and used for strictly freight. Eventually, the “new” station was demolished, but the 1841 building soldiered on.

A few years ago, it was purchased by a local preservation group and at the time this picture was taken they appeared to be working on stabilizing the building. Initially they had to move the station back from the active tracks, there is also the possibility that it may be moved yet again.

Richmond Virginia

The Main Street Station

This station was originally proposed, and plans were developed, in the early 1890’s. At that time Richardson Romanesque Architecture was in fashion. However, due to “economic conditions” (i.e. the famous depression of 1893 and subsequent years), construction on the building was not begun until the spring of 1900. By that time Daniel Burnham had begun his Beaux Arts masterpiece now known as Washington Union Station, and Richardson Romanesque architecture was “out of fashion.” Nevertheless, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, with its headquarters newly relocated to Richmond, spearheaded the building of Main Street Station as originally designed. The Seaboard Airline Railroad, joined with the C&O in the construction efforts.

On November 2, 1901, the first train to officially leave the station was an SAL train bound for Tampa Florida. A C&O Newport News to St. Louis train followed shortly afterwards. And Main Street, located in the Shockoe Bottom area of Richmond near the beginning of the historic Kanawha and James River Canal, became a busy station for the next 50 years.

But as happened in many other cities and towns in the US, after World War II cars and airplanes became the “preferred” mode of transportation for many people, and Main Street Station declined. Symbolic of this decline was the routing chosen for the Richmond portion of the new North South Atlantic Coast “Speedway,” I-95 (note, don’t laugh, this now congested, slow-moving roadway was once seen as a “Speedway”). The road was built in such a way that piers for the bridge built to carry auto traffic through the area, were constructed cheek by jowl beside Main Street station.

In 1949 a photo in the Richmond Times Dispatch newspaper showed Main Street Station surrounded by the bridges of the C&O, SAL, and Southern (down beneath the area). This view later became a popular post card sold in the Richmond area. One can’t help but wonder if some highway engineer, full of an overweening pride that only access to unlimited amounts of project money can give, saw this I-95 routing as a way to take “revenge” for the earlier technology that Main Street represented.

SAL left the station first, choosing to route its trains through the Broad Street Station via a switchback shortly after its construction in the 1930’s. Thus, when I was in college and would take the train home, I would arrive via the C&O at Main Street, and then have to catch a cab, along with all 200 other college students going home on “break,” and dash up to the Broad Street station to continue my journey north.

On October 15, 1975 Amtrak, the inheritor of all passenger train operations, pulled out of Main Street. After that the Main Street Station went through a rather checkered history as a “Mall” of sorts. The problems were many. First there was a devastating fire almost 8 years to the day from when Amtrak pulled out. Second, urban decay became the fate of the entire Shockoe Bottom area of Richmond. Third, through the years there have been a series of high water “events” (call them floods if you will). These events culminated with the waters of Hurricane Agnes washing to first floor of the Main Street Station in August of 1972. At last a floodwall was constructed. But since then, there has been yet one more flood owing to a design flaw in the floodwall. All of these factors contributed to the continuing decline of the Main Street Station.

Finally, in the 1990’s the City of Richmond got involved in the effort to restore the station. They sensed that Main Street Station was the key to any restoration efforts in Shockoe Bottom This was sort of ironic because at one point, after the fire, city officials almost destroyed the tower of the station, considered by many to be the “key” to the whole Richardson Romanesque structure. Their goal at that time was to “save” I-95. However, cooler heads prevailed and the tower stayed and thus the building was intact when the restoration effort finally gathered momentum. Amtrak agreed to work with the city and so, in the fall of 2003 train service returned.

However, even that return was filled with drama. On the day of the Official Grand Re-Opening, officials gathered at Main Street Station to wait for the first Southbound Amtrak NE Corridor Train to arrive. Unfortunately, the train never made it. CSX had a derailment up near Alexandria that completely blocked their North-South Rail line (the old Richmond Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad) for the entire day. And so the eagerly awaited NE Corridor train was aborted at Alexandria’s Union Terminal.

But now, the trains come. Currently, it is only those trains heading down to Williamsburg and Newport News. But Richmond would like to have the Florida Trains stop at Main Street as well. Belatedly, the City Officials have discovered that the Staples Mills Station, while it is great in terms of parking your car and “commuting” up the east coast, makes a terrible destination for folks coming into Richmond (I mean, you are greeted by a series of strip malls and fast food places, and that ain’t Richmond).

However, before Florida trains can arrive and depart out of Main Street, massive work to the track both into and out of Main Street, needs to occur. This will take time and money, lots of it. In addition it will take a greater understanding on the part of the freight railroads as to the importance of providing good passenger service as a way of developing greater public support for their enterprise. However, there are those, including yours truly, who believe that one day these two items will be in place. And then Main Street Station can assume its rightful place as a truly beautiful historic gateway into one of our nation’s most historic cities.

Balcony Falls Virginia

"Carrying Coals to Tidewater"

While I plan to provide mostly pictures of train stations on this site, occasionally I will include other "railroad related" shots. This is one of these type of shots. This shows a CSX coal train along the James River in Virginia, near Balcony Falls, in the late spring/early summer of 2006. When I took it I was driving east towards Charlottesville and had decided to follow State Route 130 from Natural Bridge over to Bus. 29 North just outside of Lynchburg VA.

As I was driving, I saw a sign posted for a wayside. Having driven for a while I decided to stop and rest. Once in the parking lot, I saw a well-used path leading south towards what I knew was the James River. I grabbed my camera and decided to follow the path. Soon, I came upon the above scene (minus the train). I stopped, did some "mental picture composition" and took a shot. I waited around to see if I could catch any rail traffic, but after about 5 minutes, hearing nothing I left my perch above the tracks and river. I had to be in Charlottesville that evening.

I was about 1/2 way back up the trail to the parking lot when I heard the un-mistakeable growl of a pair of engines lumbering in the distance. Accordingly, I retraced my steps, waited a few more minutes, and up above is what I got.

The James River Line of CSX (originally known as the James River Line of the C&O), was considered a "secondary route" for the C&O, the "Main Line" being the original line through Louisa, on to Charlottesville, Waynesboro, Staunton, Augusta Springs, Millboro Springs and into Clifton Forge. A few years ago, CSX leased the original "Main Line" to the Buckingham Branch railroad and retained this trackage. Thus, this line is now part of the CSX east-west Main Line through Virginia.

Parts of the James River Line were built on the old Tow-path of the Kanawha and James River Canal. In places the surveying for this tow-path had been done by George Washington. Thus, the C&O during the 1930's proudly announced this connection with the "Father of our Country" and named their new streamline flagship passenger train after him. Some would call this a "PR Stretch" but I must admit I have seen worse.

As should be obvious to anyone looking at the above picture, in times of high water on the James, parts of this line are under water. CSX is aware of this, and accordingly retained running rights on the old "Main Line" when they leased it out. As to whether the "old Main Line," technically the "Mountain Division" will be able to handle all the traffic in its drastically reduced running status is another question. I wonder if anyone at CSX ever asked it?

Amherst Virginia

The Southern Railway Depot

When you visit some train stations you just know you will never see them again. Mainly because you know they will not be in that location much longer. You know they will either be torn down, burned down, or moved.

Only occasionally when they get to be this bad do they get to be "restored" and turned into something like a restaurant or Visitor's Center. Thus, you realize this is a once in a lifetime stop, and you are not sad about that situation. For this is a station you really do not want to come back to.

Thus it is for this station we found one day in Amherst Virginia just to the north of Lynchburg Virginia. It was an old Southern Railway Depot that was obviously on its last legs. It still sat on Depot Street beside the active Washington DC to Atlanta Mainline of the Norfolk Southern Railroad. At one time it was no doubt busy with passengers boarding and de-boarding from various passenger trains, maybe even the fabled Crescent. But now Amtrak's Cresent passes by about mid-night with nary a nod to this old station. Surely, sadly, I suspect its days are numbered and soon will be no more. And thus, I will not see it any more.