RAILFAN GUIDES of the U.S.

 

RAILROAD STATIONS, TOWERS, TUNNELS, and BRIDGES
IN VIRGINIA
A Historical Reference

Allegheny
Ashland
Beaver Dam
Bristol
Charlottesville
Covington
Doswell
Fredericksburg
Glenvar
Merrifield
Milford
Mount Vernon
Richmond
Salem
Staunton
Tug Tower
Vera Tower
Victoria

 

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ALLEGHENY





ASHLAND

This depot serves Amtrak, in this unique, kinda in the middle of the street setting... the track runs up the middle of two streets, giving it the look of street running!  Located abut 12 miles south of Doswell, the two make an excellent case for getting off the boring I95.

My guide to Ashland is here

     

           





BEAVER DAM

I stumbled across this depot by accident recently after my daughter decided to visit something and follow her GPS instead of taking the highways which would have taken 30 minutes less.  There is a saying that everything happens for a reason, maybe coming across this little wonder in the middle of no-where was it!  In the "looking down the track" shots, the left one is looking east, the right one is looking west. 

In case the sign is not readable, it states that the depot, being in prime Civil War country, was burned on several occasions.  The original depot was built in 1840.  It was burnt in July 20, 1862, and re-built right away.  The second burned on February 29th, 1864, and the third on May 9th, 1864.  The depot that stands today was built in 1866 after the third burning.

Also in town of note is "Pops Store" and a barn that has definitely seen better days.

       

 



BRISTOL



 


CHARLOTTESVILLE

This station is still around and is used by Amtrak and a restaurant - good food, and they have a roof top dining area for good weather with a good view of the station and diamond crossing.
Pictures are from a 2012 trip I made there while working in Charlottesville.  My guide to Charlottesville is here   There is plenty to do and see in Charlottesville.









COVINGTON





DOSWELL

Station and HN tower at the junction of the ex RF&P mainline between Richmond and DC, and the ex C&O line which went west from Richmond.  To get here, take the Kings Dominion exit off I95.  My guide to Doswell is here

                               


FREDERICKSBURG

My guide to Frederiscksburg is here





 

A recent post card



GLENVAR

Glenvar tower was located at the big curve just behind the Red Barn Antiques place.  It stood west of where the road crossing is today.  I really do not know its specific purpose, other than train order operation, there was nothing but the mainline N&W there.  It was already closed and boarded up in this 1917 view, and was probably torn down sometime in the 1920s.  In its day, there was pusher operation going up the mountain, it may well have been to help block trains and control movement of pushers returning to Salem.  I think the pusher operation must have stopped about the time of the introduction of the Class Zs.

Forgot to mention, this is an N&W photo, one of the original glass plates.  I went back and looked at the view of the depot, negative 2481, and the tower, negative 2480, and the light is the same. The other photo I saw, probably from the 1920s, and distant, was seen in the early 1980s, never got the copy, but I thought the tower was shown on the north side of the tracks.

The depot was close to the old grade crossing.  Not that near the tower.  I seem to recall one of the old, old Railroad magazines with one of the sketches like the Ripley's Believe it or Not things, showing a sketch of the tower stating it was stone, which is obviously was not.  Don't have a clue which issue it was in.  Probably the 1940s.  Never knew a lot about these towers until studying it a few years ago, several designs like it, and the design was changed just about 10 years after introduction to the type like Walton.

Thanks to Ken on the Yahoo Virginian Rwy Group for the above information.  The picture can be found in the Virginia Tech's archives.







JAMES RIVER





MERRIFIELD

I know its not a railroad themed picture, but I couldn't help myself, our gas stations today just don't have any character.....






MILFORD

https://railfanguides.us/va/milford/index.htm

 



MOUNT VERNON





NEWPORT NEWS





PORTMOUTH





RICHMOND

A most impressive and beautiful depot, located in downtown Richmond, right next to I95.  If you're anywhere near Richmond, this would certainly be enough reason to go the extra distance.  Also in town is CSX former RF&P yard, and a RR museum just on the other side of the river from this depot.

I have a comprehensive guide for Richmond here



           


RICHMOND - Southern Rwy Depot




RICHMOND - Amtrak Station

This is Amtrak's station for Richmond, and is north of the downtown area.

         
These pictures were taken 3/4/2012 when Amtrak's 40th Anniversary Train was here visiting.


RICHMOND - Broad Street Station

This station was built by the RF&P as their southern terminus in 1917. The station also served the SAL, ACL, and the N&W. Service ended here in 1975, and the facility was sold to the Science Museum of Virginia.

 

                 

                 


RICHMOND - Triple Crossing

Richmond also has one of the more famous railroad "things" in the United States, a "triple crossing", where the RF&P, Southern Rwy, and the C&O once crossed over each other.  So far, the ground level track (ex Southern, now NS) remains, but with the urban renovation that has been going on, how long will it last?  The middle level track (ex Seaboard Air Line) is also the one that goes by the depot in the far right photo above.  The top track, on a three mile long viaduct on the north bank of the James River, comes from the small former C&O yard on the east side of town, and if you can wait long enough for a train, the pictures on it are spectacular!  (better than the two above - I had just gotten into the downtown area when this freight showed up - so I had no time to find a good spot to take pix)  The picture to the right is the river walk that passes next to and under some of the sites to behold.  For more info, visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_Crossing

     

 


ROANOKE

The postcard with the paperclip on it is a more accurate rendition than the first postcard, but both are probably from the same picture.

I have a comprehensive guide for Roanoke and Salem here









SALEM

Nicely restored depot, not to far from the live steam manufacturer, Mountain Car Company (which changed their name in 2016).
An earlier B&W map of the Salem to Christiansburg area is at: https://railroadsignals.us/xing/miscgrade/nwmap1.jpg

My guide to Salem is here

       


Gone but not forgotten is the Virginian Railway depot on Union Street.  The station was torn down in 1995-1996.  Picture and info courtesy Ken Miller.





STAUNTON

The name of the town pronounced as Stant-n.  My guide to Staunton is here





 


TUG TOWER

This was an N&W tower.  Don't know where tho.....

 


 
VERA TOWER

Another N&W tower. 





VICTORIA







 

New 8-17-2008
Last Changed: 10-May-2016