Tag: rail-trail

The Adena Trail, Mount Sterling, Kentucky

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

The U.S. state of Kentucky is a state known as the Bluegrass State.  Many people know about Kentucky Fried Chicken which was started by a man named Harland Sanders, commonly known as Colonel Sanders, even though he started in a restaurant in the state, the first Kentucky Fried Chicken was opened in Salt Lake City, Utah.  The state is known for its horses, and it has the continuously running sporting event in the world, the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, which is a horse race that is the first race of the Triple Crown.  The state is known for its bourbon, of which there are plenty of bourbon distilleries in the state mainly around the Frankfort and Lexington areas.  You may have heard of My Old Kentucky Home.  It is a real house in Bardstown.  In the city of Bowling Green, you will find the National Corvette Hall of Fame.  Along with Churchill Downs where the Kentucky Derby is run, the city of Louisville is known for the Louisville Slugger bat factory where many baseball bats are made and sold, and you can tour the factory and buy a bat of your own.  You have Mammoth Cave, the largest known cave system in the world.

Then you have the small town of Mount Sterling.  How many of you have ever heard of Mount Sterling, Kentucky?  A small town that is located 34 miles (55 kilometers) east of the city of Lexington, it is named after a small burial mound.  The town itself is small, but it does have the Adena Trail, a short, paved mile long trail that runs through the town south of the main historic district.  The town is small, but it is a special town to visit.

Some of you are saying, “This is nice.  Small towns are really special.  I am sure that the town of Mount Sterling is a special town.  There is a very big problem.  Mount Sterling is not a railroad town.  Therefore, I find no special reason to visit this town.”

You are right.  Mount Sterling, Kentucky is not a railroad town, and the town has no history with the railroad.  Why visit Mount Sterling, Kentucky?

Like many small towns in the United States of America, Mount Sterling, Kentucky has something special.  It has the downtown historic district where you have shops, cafes, historic architecture, and art.  Just south of the historic district, as mentioned, is a paved trail known as the Adena Trail.  It looks like a nice trail.  You decide to take a walk around.  The trail follows a small creek.  You then notice a structure next to the trail.  As you walk closer, you see that it looks like a train station.  Wait a minute.  This town has never been a railroad town.  Why is this train station here?

The town of Mount Sterling, Kentucky has never been a railroad town, but that did not keep the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway from passing through here.  The Adena trail was built on the old railroad bed.  It is about a mile long so walking the entire trail is easy.  As for the old train station, it was built in 1910 by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway as a passenger and freight depot.

As the railroad decline, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was forced to abandon lesser used railroad lines.  Mount Sterling, Kentucky was a victim of the decline.  Railroad service ceased to the town, and the railroad tracks were eventually removed.

Today, the old train station remains, and it is on the National Register of Historical Places.  As for the Adena Trail, it is a paved trail that it easily accessible for wheelchairs.  The train station and Adena Trail is located at the intersection of S. Maysville Street and Railroad Street about a few blocks from U.S. Routes 60 and 460 and Kentucky Route 11.

The next time you here about the town of Mount Sterling, Kentucky, think about a special town where the railroad once served.

Gassaway, West Virginia

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

The U.S. state of West Virginia is a state that has so much natural beauty.  It has famous sites like the New River Gorge and the New River Gorge Bridge, the Glade Creek Grist Mill at Babcock State Park, one of the most photographed mills in the United States of America, the natural spas in Berkeley Springs to include George Washington’s Bathtub where George Washington, well… you probably figured it out what he did here, plus the town of Harpers Ferry, and so much more.  It has its cities like the capital city of Charleston, Beckley, and Morgantown, and its many small towns.  One of these small towns located northeast of Charleston is the town of Gassaway.

Some of you are saying, “Interesting.  I bet the town got its name from the fact that somebody was getting gasoline, but the gasoline got away.”

You are very wrong.  The small town, established in 1905, is named after Henry Gassaway Davis, a West Virginia politician who was nominated for the Vice President of the United States of America in 1904.

Some of you are saying, “It is nice that they named a town after a politician.  There is a very big problem.  This is just a small town that has no railroad.  Therefore, I will not be taking these country roads to this town.”

If you were to ask people if they had ever heard of the town of Gassaway, West Virginia, you would get many strange looks.  The town is often overshadowed by the town of Sutton which is east of Gassaway and is famous for it Bigfoot Festival and museum.

As you approach the town of Gassaway, the very first thing you see it the ‘Welcome to Gassaway’ sign.  Many towns have a welcome sign to greet you as you enter, but you see something interesting.  What do you see?  You see a steam locomotive on the sign.  You continue to drive into the town, and you see an old railroad bridge.  You drive further into the town, and you see an old train station.  You drive to the old train station, and you see a mural with a steam train.  What you do not see is a railroad line.  Well, the railroad line is now a railroad trail.  How did the train station get here?  Today, the town of Gassaway, West Virginia does not look like much, but that was not always the case.

The town of Gassaway, West Virginia was a town built by the railroad.  The Coal and Coke Railway, which ran between Charleston and Elkins, ran through the town of Gassaway, and, in 1914, they built the train station giving passenger train service to the town.  There was also a railroad yard in the town as they changed locomotives in the town as more powerful locomotives were needed to pull the trains to Elkins while locomotives with less power could be used for trains to Charleston.  During its heyday, the town had two hotels, a bank, retail stores, office buildings, and, schools, and churches.  When the railroad went into decline, so did the town.  Railroad service ended and was eventually converted into a rail trail.

As for the train station, it was abandoned for many years, but it was then restored and was put on National Register of Historic Places, and it now serves as an event and meeting space for the town.

The town of Gassaway, West Virginia is four miles west of Interstate 79 on West Virginia Route 4.  The old train station is located on 4th Street one block west of West Virginia Route 4.  It is open available for events like weddings and parties.

The small town of Gassaway may no longer be a railroad town, but the ghosts and the legacy of the railroad remain.

Williamsburg, Indiana

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

Welcome to Williamsburg, Indiana.

Some of you are saying, “You got it wrong.  You meant to say, ‘Welcome to Williamsburg, Virginia’.”

No.  This is the small town of Williamsburg in the U.S. state of Indiana.  It is not like its Virginia counterpart of Colonial Williamsburg but a small town in the eastern part of the state just west of the U.S. state of Ohio.  When you visit the town, you will pretty much see a ghost town… but it was not always that way.

The town was named after William Johnson, the man who settled the town in 1830.  Like many small towns, it flourished, but something happened in 1901.  What happened?  The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway came to town.  Connecting the Indiana cities of Richmond to the south with Muncie, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway brought massive growth of business and population to the town.  The town had its own train station.  Like many small towns in the United States of America, Williamsburg went into a decline and began beginning to be the ghost town it is today.

Today, the railroad line that passed through the town of Williamsburg, Indiana became a rail trail known as the Cardinal Greenway, the longest rail trail in the U.S. state of Indiana running to Richmond to the south and Marion to the north.  As you visit the rail trail, you will not notice that this was once a busy place.  Located north of the town center just a short drive of U.S. Route 35, you will experience a quiet place at a place that was once the centerpiece of the town.

Welcome to Williamsburg, Indiana.  You will not see people dress in colonial attire, but you will be in a small town where a railroad made history.

The White Oak Rail Trail, Oak Hill, West Virginia

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

In the heyday of America railroading, the railroad connected the small towns with the major cities.  As many railroad lines were no longer used, many of the railroad tracks and the railroad ties were taken up while some rails and ties were left to decay.  Some of the railroad beds were left to erode over time while some were covered into rail trails.  (A rail trail is a trail designed on an old railroad bed to be used for hiking, biking, horseback riding, or just plain walking.)  Many of the trails are paved while some remain dirt or have gravel.

In the U.S. state of West Virginia in the metropolitan region of Beckley, you will find the town of Oak Hill.  The town is not very famous although it is said the country music singer Hank Williams may have died at a gas station in this town while on route from Bristol, Virginia to Canton, Ohio.  (The story has not been confirmed.)  The only thing most people know about Oak Hill is that most people drive by the town on U.S. Route 19 while traveling from Beckley to the World Famous New River Gorge Bridge which is just north of the town.  One thing that is confirmed is that the town of Oak Hill was served by the railroad.

The White Oak Rail Trail is a rail trail that is slightly under eight miles that passes through the town.  Much of it is paved, but there are portions of the trail that are not paved.  The railroad line was owned by the White Oak Railway, and the rail line was later taken over by the Virginian Railway.  The main center point of the trail is the old train station.

What is special about the old train station?  It is one of the oldest structures in Oak Hill.  It is a passenger and a freight depot.  It was built by the White Oak Railway in 1903, and it was later taken over by the Virginian Railway.  Like many small towns, the railroad was a major contributor to the town’s economy.  The depot was also used by the Norfolk and Western Railway and the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway.  The train depot remained in service until 1983.  The rail line later became the rail trail it is today.

The train depot is now an art store selling locally made at.  An old railroad line that passes by the old train station is the only reminder of Oak Hill being a railroad town today.

The Oak Hill Train Depot is on the National Register of Historic Places.  It is located at the intersection of Virginia Street and Central Avenue.  The trail goes north from the depot to the community of Summerlee and south to the community of Carlisle.  Much of the trail is wheelchair accessible.

When you think of the New River Gorge region of West Virginia, think of the small town of Oak Hill.  It was once a railroad town, and an old train depot remains.

The Cumberland Valley Rail Trail, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

The town of Chambersburg in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania was a town that was established and named after Benjamin Chambers.  The town has man historic sites and has a history that is older than the United States of America.  Even though a railroad line passes through the town today and there were railroad structures in the town, the town has no real history with the railroad and was never a railroad town.  As you walk through the downtown area, the one thing you will see is the Cumberland Valley Rail Trail.

What is the Cumberland Valley Rail Trail?  It is a trail under two miles that runs through the heart of the town of Chambersburg.  It was built on the railroad bed of the Cumberland Valley Railroad which ran through much of the south central part of Pennsylvania and into the U.S. state of Maryland connecting Chambersburg with the rest of the nation.  The main line, owned by the Norfolk Southern Railway today, continues to serve the town.  The rail trail parallels the Conococheague Creek and is next to the Fort Chambers Park.

The Cumberland Valley Rail Trail in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania is located on the west side of downtown and U.S. Route 11 crossing U.S. Route 30.  It is completely paved making it easy for those in wheelchairs.  Only street parking is available.  It is mainly flat, and it is accessible from sunrise to sunset.

Chambersburg, Pennsylvania may not be a famous railroad town, but it does preserve a piece of railroad history for hikers, bikers, walkers, and many people for many years to come.

‘Bridge of Dreams’, Brinkhaven, Ohio

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

The U.S. state of Ohio has so many great sites throughout the state.  It has great historic houses, museums, and parks.  The state is also known for its covered bridges.  One of these covered bridges is known as the ‘Bridge of Dreams’ in the small town of Brinkhaven.  Unlike most covered bridges, this particular covered bridge was not an automobile bridge but is part of a hiking trail.  Why is it called the ‘Bridge of Dreams’?  The answer is that the bridge that crossed the Mohican River was considered to expensive to build, but money was raised, and it was built.  Today, the ‘Bridge of Dreams’ is the second longest covered bridge in the state of Ohio and the third longest covered bridge in the United States of America.  If you love covered bridges, you will wanted to see the ‘Bridge of Dreams’ in Brinkhaven, Ohio.

Some of you are saying, “This is nice.  I love covered bridges.  It is a great thing about the United States of America.  The sad thing is that with this being a covered bridge, it has nothing to do with the railroad.  Therefore, I will not be dreaming of seeing this covered bridge.”

What is special about the ‘Bridge of Dreams’?  Yes, it is the second longest covered bridge in the state and the third longest covered bridge in the nation, but there is more to the story.

You will just see a long covered bridge if you hike, or bike, the trail.  It you approach the bridge from the road, you will notice something.  What do you notice from the road?

The ‘Bridge of Dreams’ is a covered bridge today, but it was not always a covered bridge.

Some of you are saying, “Wait a minute, are you saying that this was not always a covered bridge?”

You have read correctly.  It was originally a railroad bridge.  The trail, known as the Mohican Valley Trail, was built on an old railroad line of the Pennsylvania Railroad.  What is now the ‘Bridge of Dreams’ was originally built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in the 1920’s.  It was a railroad bridge until the 1990’s when the railroad line was abandoned, and it was made into a rail trail.  There was an idea to convert the old railroad bridge into a covered bridge.  Fighting against the skeptics, the bridge became a covered bridge, and it was dedicated in 1999.

Today, you can take a walk across a bridge that was once traversed by the railroad.  The bridge is a short drive from U.S. Route 62 south of Brinkhaven.  You can park next to the trail and take a quarter mile walk on a paved trail that is easily accessible by wheelchairs.  If you have enough energy, you can go ahead and walk the entire four and a half mile trail to the nearby town of Danville.

The next time you hear about the ‘Bridge of Dreams’, you can dream about the days when the railroad traversed the Mohican River.  The railroad is long gone, but the dream still remains.

The Cumberland Valley Rail Trail, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

In the heyday of the railroad, there were railroad lines all over the United States of America.  As the railroad declined, less used railroad lines were abandoned.  Although many of these railroad lines are lost forever to time, many were preserved as rail trails.  Among these rail trails is the Cumberland Valley Rail Trail that runs between the towns of Newville to Shippensburg in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, the U.S. state that produced the Penn Central Transportation Company (simply known as the Penn Central) and the world famous Pennsylvania Railroad of which, sadly, neither of them exist today.

Why is it called the Cumberland Valley Rail Trail?  Although Conrail was the last owner of the railroad line who took over the line from the Penn Central Transportation Company, the railroad line was originally owned by the Cumberland Valley Railroad that ran railroad service throughout what is called the Cumberland Valley with railroad line through much of the south central region of Pennsylvania and in the northern parts of the U.S. state of Maryland.  Very little of the railroad lines of the Cumberland Valley Railroad were preserved.

This brings us to the Cumberland Valley Rail Trail.  As mentioned, it begins in the town of Newville and it ends in Shippensburg.  What it special about Shippensburg?  Well, although it is not a famous railroad town, the Norfolk Southern Railway does continue to pass through the town, but it was also served by the Cumberland Valley Railroad that was taken over by the Penn Central Transportation Company and, the railroad line’s last owner, Conrail, who donated the railroad line to be converted into the railroad trail.

What is special about Shippensburg?  The town’s claim to fame is that it is the home of Shippensburg University.  The west end of the Cumberland Valley Rail Trail begins at the south side of Shippensburg University.  What is special about the rail trail beginning at Shippensburg University?  It is here where the Cumberland Valley Railroad Museum is located.

Why here at Shippensburg University?  Shippensburg University was a benefactor of the Cumberland Valley Railroad.  Here, you will find the Shippensburg Station, a replica train station that serves as a restroom stop for those utilizing the rail trail and is located where a passenger stop for the university was located.

Then you have a boxcar from the Penn Central Transportation Company.  What is special about this boxcar?  Well, it was not originally owned by the Penn Central Transportation Company but the New York Central System, a railroad company that was taken over by the Penn Central Transportation Company.  The boxcar was abandoned at a warehouse in town and was spared from being scrap metal and restored to house artifacts of the Cumberland Valley Railroad and its history and impact on the region.

Then you have another boxcar.  This one is from Conrail.  Inside, you will see artifacts and the history of Conrail and its people.

You take a short walk down the trail and you see a coal car From the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.  Why is it here if the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad never came to Shippensburg?  The coal car came from a train wreck, and it was brought here as coal was shipped to Shippensburg University, and it is a reminder of how coal impacted the region.

So, if you need a reason to visit Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, you now have one.  The rail trail is easy for wheelchairs and so are the boxcars which are open from sunrise to sunset.  Most important, the rail trail and the boxcars are free to visit.

Caledonia State Park, Fayetteville, Pennsylvania

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

U.S. Route 30, a route that has been nicknamed the ‘Lincoln Highway’ named after Abraham Lincoln, former President of the United States of America, begins in the town of Astoria in the U.S. state of Oregon and winds its way east through many U.S. states ending in Atlantic City in the U.S. state of New Jersey.  One of those states is Pennsylvania.  As it passes through Pennsylvania, it passes through the major cities of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, and it passes through the town of Gettysburg, the town famous for a great battle of the American Civil War known as the Battle of Gettysburg.  Halfway between Gettysburg and Chambersburg new the town of Fayetteville is Caledonia State Park.  Caledonia State Park is a park that has hiking trails, fishing, and hunting, and it has a waterfall.  Yes, many parks has this, but it also has the Totem Pole Playhouse, a theater that has produced actors like John Ritter from the old television series ‘Three’s Company’, the centerpiece of the park is the Caledonia Iron Furnace.

The Caledonia Iron Furnace was built in 1837, and it was owned by Thaddeus Stevens.  The name of the furnace comes from the name of the county in Vermont where Thaddeus Stevens was born. It was destroyed by Confederate General Jubal Early and his men in 1863.  The furnace was rebuilt, and it continued to produce iron until it was closed in 1902, and it was then turned into a state park.  When you visit Caledonia State Park, you can see the furnace, and you can see the blacksmith shop where demonstrations take place.  In Caledonia State Park, every step you take in the park is a place where history took place.

Some of you are saying, “Wow.  I love state parks.  I love being around the trees and the streams and the waterfalls.  As for the old furnace, it is nice that it is preserved although it would be great to see it working.  There is one problem.  What is the problem?  There is no railroad here.  Therefore, you will not see my company here.”

Well, as you walk around Caledonia State Park, you will not see a railroad nor do you see any sign of a railroad being here.  If there is no railroad at the park, why visit?

As you visit Caledonia State Park, you will notice a few structures within the park itself.  Of course, you have the restrooms, and, of course, you have the old furnace.  Then you have the blacksmith shop.  Yes, a blacksmith does mend and heat metals here, but it was not always a blacksmith shop.  If it was not always a blacksmith shop, what else could it have been.  The blacksmith shop was once a trolley station.  A trolley station?  Yes, it was a trolley station.  The Chambersburg and Gettysburg Electric Railway.  Trolley service began in 1905.  The Chambersburg and Gettysburg Electric Railway made a stop at Caledonia State Park, and they built a small amusement park there.  The railway got its name from the fact that its purpose was to take passengers from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania to visit the Gettysburg Battlefield in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.  The trolley line was built east from Chambersburg, and it took passengers as far as… Caledonia State Park.  Due to lack of funds and steep grades between Caledonia State Park, the section to Gettysburg was never built.  Service ended in 1926, and the amusement rides were dismantled.  Today, only the blacksmith shop and the Trolley Trail going west from the blacksmith shop are the only reminders of the trolley.

As mentioned, every step you take at Caledonia State Park in Fayetteville, Pennsylvania is a step where history happened.  That includes those on the Appalachian Trail which passes through the park.  If you walk along the Trolley Trail, every step you take will be a step where railroad history took place.

Caledonia State Park is located near the town of Fayetteville, Pennsylvania at the intersection of U.S. Route 30 and Pennsylvania Route 233.  The park is free to visit, and it is open from sunrise to sunset.  The iron furnace and the Caledonia Waterfall can be seen from the road.  Although the trolley trail is flat, it is not paved making it difficult for wheelchairs.  You can get more information at https://www.dcnr.pa.gov/StateParks/FindAPark/CaledoniaStatePark/Pages/default.aspx.

U.S. Route 30 has many great sites along the road.  Caledonia State Park is one of them.  It may be famous for the furnace, but it was also a place where a trolley line came to an end.

The Red Lion Mile, Red Lion, Pennsylvania

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

What is the Red Lion Mile?

Some of you are saying, “I know.  It is a lion that is red and is a mile long.”

Well, that is not the correct answer.  What is the Red Lion Mile?  It is a rail trail in the town of Red Lion in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.

Some of you are saying, “Wow.  I did not know that.  I bet the town got the name because a red lion was once here.”

Even though the ‘red lion’ is the symbol of the town, it is not named after an actual lion.  It is named after a pub when it was settled in 1852 called the Red Lion Tavern, and that tavern is still in business today.

Today, the town of Red Lion, Pennsylvania is not served by the railroad, but it was once a major railroad town on the York and Peach Bottom Railroad and later the Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad.  (It was commonly referred to as the ‘Ma and Pa Railroad’.”)  The town was a place of industry to include furniture and cigars.  As you walk along the rail trail, you will see some of the old factory structures.  The remaining structures have been converted into housing or businesses.  The old train station also remains, and it is the home of the Red Lion Historical Society.

The Red Lion Mile mainly runs west from the old train station located on Pennsylvania Route 24, and it is mostly paved.  Parking is available along the trail.  You can learn more about the town at https://redlionareahistoricalsociety.org/area-history/red-lion/red-lion-history/.

The Red Lion Mile: you may not see any red lions, but you will see the places that was once seen by those who once ran the trains through the town.

Victoria, Virginia

by jbcowgill, posted in Uncategorized

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.