Victoria, Virginia

Have you ever heard of the small town of Victoria in the southern region of the U.S. state of Virginia?  If you have never heard of this town, do not feel sad as very few people even know that this town even exists.  The town, located halfway between the port city of Norfolk at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and the city of Roanoke, has no famous historic sites or landmarks.  It is your typical small town with a main street with stores.  The only routes through the town is Virginia State Routes 40 and 49.

Some of you are saying, “Well, that is not much.  With a name like Victoria, it would be funny if the town is named after some famous queen.”

Ladies and gentlemen, start laughing.  This small one-horse town is named after Queen Victoria.  Yes, it is named after the British Queen Victoria.  The county the town is located in, Lunenburg County, is named for a German Duke.  As you can see, the town of Victoria is a small town that has much European royalty.

Now some of you are saying, “Amazing.  Queen Victoria would be very proud to have a town named in her honor.  Being a small town with no castles or palaces, she would probably never visit here.  What is really bad is that there is no railroad in this town.  Therefore, I will not accept the royalty of visiting this town.”

So, you do not want to visit this town because of the fact that it is not a railroad town.  Ladies and gentlemen, you are about to learn about a small town in southern Virginia.

The U.S. state of Virginia is a state that has much history, and the history begins long before the state was established.  Before it was a state, it was a British colony, one of the original thirteen colonies.  It has the oldest continuous American city in the United States of America which is the site of the first English settlement in the nation, Jamestown.  (Yes, Taos, New Mexico and Saint Augustine, Florida are older establishments, but they were not part of the United States of America until years later.)  The state has many great historical cities like the state capitol, Richmond, a city that served as the Confederate capital during the American Civil War, and Williamsburg, a city that was once the state capital of Virginia, and Yorktown where a great victory over the British and where they surrendered during the American Revolutionary War, and, as mentioned, Jamestown, the oldest continuous American city, and Charlottesville, the home of Thomas Jefferson, and Manassas where the first major battle of the American Civil War took place and it the only place that was the site of two major battles during that war, and Alexandria, a city with deep history, and Bristol, a town that is partly in Virginia and partly in Tennessee where it is said that country music began here.  The state has produce more U.S. presidents than any other state.  The father of the nation, George Washington, and the man who drafted the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, two U.S. presidents, were born here and had their homes here.  Speaking of Thomas Jefferson, his home, Monticello, located in Charlottesville, is the only U.S. presidential home that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The state is one of the most visited states in the nation.

That brings us to the town of Victoria, a town that very few have heard of.

Some of you are saying, “If nobody has ever heard of this town, then the town most likely had no significance.”

What is special about the town of Victoria, Virginia?  When you arrive here, you with see a town just like any other small town, but then you notice something.  You see a park with a caboose.  What caboose?  It is from the Virginian Railway.  What is it doing here in this town?  You notice what appears to be a trail, but it is not an ordinary trail, but what appears to be a rail trail.

What is special about the town of Victoria, Virginia?  It was a planned community.  As mentioned, the town is halfway between Roanoke and Norfolk.  What is so important about that?  Norfolk, as mentioned, is a major port city, and it is the largest natural port in the world.  Both Roanoke and Norfolk were major railroad cities, and they are major railroad cities today.  Why is Norfolk a major port?  The Port of Norfolk is a major coal city, and the port is served by many coal trains bringing coal from the mines in Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia to the ships in Norfolk.

Some of you are saying, “That is nice, but what does Victoria have to do with it?”

As mentioned, Victoria, Virginia was a planned community.  What was the plan?  The town was planned around the railroad.  The Tidewater Railway came to town.  The Tidewater Railway was then taken over by the Virginian Railway.  The steam locomotive, after one hundred miles of operation, had to be serviced.  What is special about the town of Victoria, Virginia?  It was the site of a roundhouse and a railroad yard.  The town flourished.  As the steam locomotive was replaced by the diesel locomotive that required less maintenance and could go farther before needing maintenance, the roundhouse became obsolete.  The Virginian Railway was taken over by the Norfolk and Western Railway which became the last railroad to serve the town.  (The Norfolk and Western Railway was later taken over by the Norfolk Southern Railway.)  Like with many takeovers of railroads, certain railroad lines are abandoned.  Sadly, the railroad line through Victoria was one of those lines.  The tracks were taken up, and it was eventually turned into a rail trail.

The railroad in Victoria, Virginia is now gone… but it is not forgotten.

Virginian Railway Caboose Number 342 sits in the place where the railroad yard and main railroad line once was.  Next to the caboose, you will see the foundation of the passenger station.  What about the roundhouse?  Across the street from the caboose is the Victoria Railroad Park.  Like the passenger station, only the foundation of the roundhouse and a Virginian Railway gondola car remain.  You can walk and see where a roundhouse once stood.  What is now a quiet park was once a bustling place.  When the railroad left town, the town became what it is today.

The town of Victoria, Virginia is located in southern Virginia served only by states routes 40 and 49.  The railroad park is located off of Main Street (Virginia Route 40).  The rail trail, part of the Tabacco Heritage Trail, is paved.  The Victoria Railroad Park is open sunrise to sunset, and it is free.  Parking is on site.  The park is flat, but it is not completely paved.  Wheelchairs may have difficulty getting around.

The town of Victoria, Virginia, may not be as famous as other cities in Virginia, but it has a place in state, national, and international history.  It may be a small town, but it has much railroad royalty.

The Cover Photo is an AI generated photo.