   #copyright

Virginian Railway

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Railway transport

                        Virginian Railway
                              logo
    Reporting marks   VGN
         Locale       Deepwater, West Virginia- Norfolk, VA
   Dates of operation 1907 – 1959
     Successor line   Norfolk and Western
      Track gauge     4  ft 8½  in (1435  mm) ( standard gauge)
      Headquarters    Norfolk, Virginia

   The Virginian Railway ( AAR reporting mark VGN) was a Class I railroad
   located in Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The VGN was
   created to transport high quality "smokeless" bituminous coal from
   southern West Virginia to port at Hampton Roads.

   In a classic story of business intrigue, founders William Nelson Page,
   a coal mining engineer and manager of apparently limited means and his
   silent partner, industrialist financier Henry Huttleston Rogers, one of
   the richest men in the world, joined forces and quietly secured
   right-of-way and then built the "Mountains to Sea" railroad right under
   the noses of the big railroads and the elite group of a few
   industrialists (so-called " robber barons") who controlled them.

   Completed in 1909, the Virginian Railway was a modern well-engineered
   railroad with all-new infrastructure and could operate more efficiently
   than its larger competitors. Throughout a profitable 50-year history,
   the VGN continued the Page-Rogers philosophy of "paying up front for
   the best". It achieved best efficiencies in the mountains, rolling
   piedmont, and flat tidewater terrain. Known for operating the largest
   and best steam, electric, and diesel motive power, it became nicknamed
   "Richest Little Railroad in the World." Merged into the Norfolk and
   Western Railway in 1959, a large portion of the former VGN remains in
   service in the 21st century for the Norfolk Southern Railway, a Class I
   railroad headquartered in Norfolk a few blocks from the former
   Virginian Railway offices in Norfolk Terminal Station.

   Its story was first told by H. Reid in The Virginian Railway, published
   in 1961. Although one of the smaller fallen flags of U.S. railroads,
   the VGN continues over 46 years later to have an amazingly loyal
   following of former employees, modelers, authors, photographers,
   historians and preservationists. Early in the 21st century, many of
   these now belong to Virginian Railway (VGN) Enthusiasts, which is one
   of the Internet's most vibrant Yahoo! Railway Enthusiast online groups.
   A group of retirees in Roanoke, Virginia meet each week and answer
   questions from a worldwide base of over 700 members. Annual seminars
   have a growing attendance and preservation activities have been
   increasing, even as the VGN itself fades into history.

Building the Virginian Railway

   The Virginian Railway (VGN) was conceived early in the 20th century by
   two men. One was a brilliant civil engineer and entrepreneur, William
   Nelson Page. His partner was millionaire industrialist, Henry
   Huttleston Rogers. Together, they built a well-engineered railroad that
   was virtually a "conveyor belt on rails" to transport high quality
   "smokeless" bituminous coal from southern West Virginia to port on
   Hampton Roads, near Norfolk, Virginia.

   The story of the building of the Virginian Railway is a textbook
   example of natural resources and railroads, and of a smaller company
   taking on big business (and winning) early in the 20th century. It was
   a time when many railroads were under the common control of a few
   powerful developers, who took on competitors without antitrust
   restraints.

A partnership: The idea man from Ansted meets a millionaire

   William Nelson Page (1854-1932) was a civil engineer and entrepreneur.
   Page, who was born in Virginia and educated at the University of
   Virginia in Charlottesville, originally came to West Virginia in the
   1870s to help build the double-track Chesapeake and Ohio Railway in the
   New River and Kanawha River Valleys.

   A colorful man by all accounts, Colonel Page, as he came to be known,
   soon became involved in many coal and related enterprises in the
   mountains of Virginia and West Virginia, settling in the tiny mountain
   hamlet of Ansted in Fayette County, West Virginia.

   Col. Page was one of the more successful men who developed West
   Virginia's rich bituminous coal fields in the late 19th and early 20th
   centuries and build the railroads to transport the coal. With his
   training and experience as a civil engineer, Page was exceptionally
   well-prepared to capitalize on southern West Virginia's hidden wealth.
   Former West Virginia Governor William A. MacCorkle described him as a
   man who knew "the land as a farmer knows his fields." He was also an
   energetic entrepreneur. Author H. Reid summed it up by labeling Col.
   Page "The idea man from Ansted."

   Henry Huttleston Rogers (1840-1909) was a financier and industrialist
   who had grown up in a working-class family in Massachusetts. He began
   working while young, and had helped part-time in his father's grocery
   store and delivered newspapers. After graduating from high school,
   Rogers got experience as a brakeman on a local railroad while saving
   his money. In 1861 he and a friend set out for the mountains of
   Pennsylvania, and helped develop oil and natural gas resources there
   during the U.S. Civil War, eventually becoming one of the key men with
   John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Trust and a multi- millionaire. One
   of the wealthiest men in the United States, Rogers was an energetic
   entrepreneur, much like the younger Page, and was also involved in many
   rail and mineral development projects.
   Bituminous coal
   Enlarge
   Bituminous coal

   Rogers became acquainted with Page while the latter was president of
   Gauley Mountain Coal Company, among many other ventures. Page knew of
   rich untapped bituminous coal fields lying between the New River Valley
   and the lower Guyandotte River in southern West Virginia in an area not
   yet reached by the C&O and its major competitor, the Norfolk & Western
   Railway (N&W). While the bigger railroads were preoccupied in
   developing nearby areas and shipping coal via rail to Hampton Roads,
   Page formed a plan to take advantage of the undeveloped coal lands,
   with Rogers and several others as investors. A powerful partnership had
   been formed.

Deepwater Railway and Tidewater Railway

   The Virginian Railway was built early in the 20th century by building
   the Deepwater Railway in West Virginia and the Tidewater Railway in
   Virginia, and then combining them.

   Important points on the Deepwater Railway were Page, Mullens and
   Princeton in West Virginia.

   Over in Virginia, on the Tidewater Railway, the principal points were
   Roanoke, Victoria and Sewell's Point, where a new coal pier was located
   on Hampton Roads near Norfolk.

Victoria is created

   An aerial shot of Victoria in 1954, looking west. It shows the
   turntable and roundhouse in the lower left, and the passenger station
   and Norfolk division offices to the right of the tracks Photo courtesy
   Town of Victoria
   Enlarge
   An aerial shot of Victoria in 1954, looking west. It shows the
   turntable and roundhouse in the lower left, and the passenger station
   and Norfolk division offices to the right of the tracks Photo courtesy
   Town of Victoria

   Late in 1906, near the halfway point on the Tidewater Railway between
   Roanoke and Sewell's Point, a new town with space set aside for
   railroad offices and shops was created in Lunenburg County, Virginia.
   It was named Victoria, in honour of Queen Victoria of England, who was
   long-admired by Henry Rogers.

   Victoria was the location of a large equipment maintenance operation,
   with roundhouse, turntable coaling and water facilities for servicing
   steam locomotives, and a large yard. Offices for the VGN's Norfolk
   Division were built by adding a second floor to the passenger station
   building a few years later.

1907: Virginian railway is born

   Only a few months after Victoria was incorporated, in early 1907, the
   name of the Tidewater Railway was changed to "The Virginian Railway
   Company." The Deepwater Railway was merged into it a month later, and
   on April 15, 1907, Col. William Nelson Page became the first president
   of the new Virginian Railway.

   Work progressed on the VGN throughout 1907 and 1908 using construction
   techniques not available when the larger railroads had been built about
   25 years earlier. By paying for work with Henry Rogers' own personal
   fortune, the railway was built with no public debt. This feat, a key
   feature of the successful secrecy in securing the route, was not
   accomplished without some considerable burden to Rogers, however. He
   had suffered some setbacks in the Financial Panic of 1907 which began
   in March. Then, a few months later that same year, he experienced a
   debilitating stroke. Fortunately, Henry Rogers recovered his health, at
   least partially, and saw to it that construction was continued on the
   new railroad until it was finally completed early in 1909.

Last spike, celebrations

   The last spike in the Virginian Railway was driven on January 29, 1909,
   at the west side of the massive New River Bridge at Glen Lyn, near
   where the new railroad crossed the West Virginia- Virginia state line.

   In April, 1909, Henry Huttleston Rogers and Mark Twain, old friends,
   returned to Norfolk, Virginia together once again for a huge
   celebration of the new "Mountains to the Sea" railroad's completion.

   Rogers left the next day on his first (and only) tour of the
   newly-completed railroad. He died suddenly only six weeks later at the
   age of 69 at his home in New York. But by then, the work of the
   Page-Rogers partnership to build the Virginian Railway had been
   completed.

   While neither William Page or Henry Rogers ended up running the
   railway, it was arguably a crowning lifetime achievement for each man.
   Together, they had conceived and built a modern, well-engineered rail
   pathway from the coal mines of West Virginia to port at Hampton Roads
   right under the noses of the big railroads. The Virginian Railway could
   operate more efficiently than its larger competitors, had all-new
   infrastructure, and no debt. It was an accomplishment like no other in
   the history of US railroading, before or since.

Operating and Electrifying "the Richest Little Railroad in the World"

   Mr. Rogers left his heirs and employees with a marvelous new railroad.
   Throughout its profitable 50-year history, the VGN continued to follow
   the Page-Rogers policy of "paying up front for the best." It became
   particularly well known for treating its employees and vendors well,
   another investment that paid rich dividends. The VGN sought (and
   achieved) best efficiencies in the mountains, rolling piedmont and flat
   tidewater terrain. The profitable VGN experimented with the finest and
   largest steam, electric, and diesel locomotives. It was well known for
   operating the largest and best equipment, and could afford to. It
   became nicknamed "the richest little railroad in the world."

   The VGN had a very major grade at Clark's Gap, West Virginia, and tried
   ever-larger steam locomotives before turning to an alternative already
   in use by one of its neighboring competitors, Norfolk & Western
   Railway: a railway electrification system. With work authorized
   beginning in 1922, a 134-mile portion of the railroad in the mountains
   from Mullens, West Virginia over Clark's Gap and several other major
   grades to Roanoke, Virginia was equipped with overhead wires supported
   by a catenary system. The VGN built its own power plant at Narrows,
   Virginia. The electrification was completed in 1925 at a cost of $15
   million. A link was established with Norfolk & Western to share
   electricity from its nearby electrification during contingencies. ALCO
   and Westinghouse supplied the electric locomotives, which were equipped
   with pantographs. The 36 initial units were normally linked in groups
   of three as one set, and had much greater load capacity than the steam
   power they replaced.
   VGN 36 Fairbanks-Morse H-16-44 diesel locomotive crossing the diamond
   with Norfolk & Western Railway at South Norfolk, VA
   Enlarge
   VGN 36 Fairbanks-Morse H-16-44 diesel locomotive crossing the diamond
   with Norfolk & Western Railway at South Norfolk, VA

   The seemingly remotely-located terminal Page and Rogers planned and
   built at Sewell's Point played an important role in 20th-century U.S.
   naval history. Beginning in 1917, the former Jamestown Exposition
   grounds adjacent to the VGN coal pier became an important facility for
   the United States Navy. The VGN transported the high quality
   "smokeless" West Virginia bituminous coal favored by the US Navy for
   its ships, providing a reliable supply during both World Wars.

   In the mid 1950s VGN management realized that the company's devotion to
   coal as its energy source (for steam locomotives and the power plant at
   Narrows for the electrification system) was becoming overshadowed by
   the economies of diesel-electric locomotives and a scarcity of parts
   for the older steam locomotives. Between 1954 and 1957 a total of 66
   diesel-electric locomotives was purchased, including 25 Fairbanks-Morse
   H-24-66 Train Masters, and 40 H-16-44 smaller road switchers, two with
   steam generators to haul passenger trains. The last steam locomotive
   operated in June, 1957.

End of steam: decline at servicing points

   Beginning in 1903, Page, West Virginia, named for Col. William Page,
   became the site of a switching yard, roundhouse, and station on the
   Deepwater Railway and later the Virginian Railway (VGN). After the
   railroad eliminated steam locomotives in 1957 and the area's coal mines
   were largely depleted, the facilities at Page were unneeded. Mullens
   and Princeton in West Virginia, and Roanoke, Victoria and Sewell's
   Point in Virginia were other locations where the extensive steam
   locomotive servicing facilities and roundhouses were also no longer
   needed after 1957. The pattern was the same all across America as the
   steam locomotive era ended.

The VGN-N&W Merger

   In time, the big railroads learned to coexist with their newer
   competitor, and came to regret turning down opportunities to purchase
   it before completion.

   During World War I the VGN was jointly operated with its adjacent
   competitor, the Norfolk & Western Railway (N&W), under the USRA's
   wartime takeover of the Pocahontas Roads. The operating efficiencies
   were significant. After the war, the railroads were returned to their
   respective owners and competitive status. However, the N&W never lost
   sight of the VGN and its low-grade routing through Virginia.

   After the World War I there were many attempts by the C&O, the N&W, and
   others to acquire the profitable little Virginian Railway. However, the
   US Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) turned down attempts at
   combining the roads until the late 1950s, when a proposed Norfolk &
   Western Railway and Virginian Railway merger was finally approved in
   1959. The VGN-NW merger is widely believed to have begun the modern era
   of major railroad mergers as the ICC came to accept that railroads
   needed to be able to compete more successfully against other modes of
   transport (i.e. highways and air travel) rather than just against each
   other.

Heritage: "There will always be a Virginian"

   When the VGN lost its identity upon purchase by the Norfolk & Western
   in 1959, author and photographer H. Reid wrote the epoch book "The
   Virginian Railway" and stated "There will always be a Virginian." So
   far, time has proved him correct.

The VGN in the 21st century

   Today, major portions of the VGN low-gradient route are the preferred
   eastbound coal path for the N&W's successor, the Norfolk Southern
   Railway.

   Other portions of VGN right-of-way in eastern Virginia now transport
   fresh water and are under study for future high speed passenger rail
   service to South Hampton Roads from Richmond and Petersburg.

   The former VGN property at Sewell's Point is part of the Norfolk Navy
   Base, the largest naval facility in the world.

   The Virginian Railway is still a favorite among the many fallen flags
   of railroading in the US.

   Hobbyists around the world model the VGN in many gauges, with some
   items valuable collectibles.

Preservation activity & gatherings

   In 2004, initials of VGN founders Henry Huttleston Rogers and William
   Nelson Page were engraved by volunteers in newly-laid rail at Victoria,
   Virginia, where former VGN caboose #342 is now displayed. Virginian
   Railway Cabooses photo by Tom Salmon, courtesy of Virginian Railway
   Enthusiasts on Yahoo
   In 2004, initials of VGN founders Henry Huttleston Rogers and William
   Nelson Page were engraved by volunteers in newly-laid rail at Victoria,
   Virginia, where former VGN caboose #342 is now displayed. Virginian
   Railway Cabooses photo by Tom Salmon, courtesy of Virginian Railway
   Enthusiasts on Yahoo

   Demonstrative of the lasting spirit of the Virginian, preservationists
   have saved VGN passenger stations in Suffolk and Roanoke, Virginia. The
   Suffolk Passenger Station, which was also used by the Seaboard
   railroads, has been restored and is in use as a museum. Similar plans
   are underway by the local chapter of the National Railway Historical
   Society in Roanoke.

   Three of the VGN's locomotives and numerous cabooses and other rolling
   stock survive. One steam and one electric locomotive have been
   cosmetically restored, and are on display at the Virginia Museum of
   Transportation in Roanoke, Virginia.

   In October, 2002 VGN authors and enthusiasts restored the Mullens, West
   Virginia Caboose Museum which had been ravaged in one of West
   Virginia's notorious floods. The work was funded by sale of handmade
   models and contributions.

   In May, 2003 a Gathering of Rail Friends was held at Victoria,
   Virginia, home to a new museum, with a park with historical
   interpretations of the roundhouse and turntable sites under
   development. The Norfolk Southern Railway sent its exhibition train to
   nearby Crewe for the event.

   In April, 2004 children of Boonsboro Elementary School in nearby
   Bedford, Virginia and the local Kiwanis group in Lynchburg, Virginia
   teamed to raise funds and work to save the only surviving original
   (circa 1910) class C-1 wooden Caboose.

   In October, 2004, the Roanoke Times newspaper ran a feature story about
   the weekly meetings of the "Takin' Twenty with the Virginian Brethren"
   group of retired VGN railroaders, prominently displaying the model of a
   modern GE locomotive in Virginian Railway livery, which they hope the
   railroad will use as a basis for a special painting of current-day
   Norfolk Southern Railway locomotive to commemorate the 100th
   anniversary of the 1907 founding of their favorite railroad, the
   Virginian Railway.

   In December, 2004, a fully-restored and equipped VGN caboose, C-10
   #342, built by VGN employees in the former Princeton (WV) Shops, was
   moved to newly laid rails at Victoria, where it is the centerpiece of a
   new rail heritage park. It was dedicated in the summer of 2005, and has
   become a favorite of school groups in Southside Virginia.

   In April 2005, the Virginian Railway Coalfield Seminar was held for
   three days at Twin Falls State Park, near Mullens, West Virginia.
   Railfriends from many parts of the United States toured coal mining and
   railroad facilities for three days on several buses, and participated
   in presentations and group seminars with a Congressman, local
   officials, several noted authors and historians. The delegation of
   retirees based in Roanoke also attended. The program was considered to
   be the start of celebration of the railroad's centennial from 2007
   until 2009.

   The following year, in April, 2006, the Milepost 2006 seminar was held
   in Roanoke, Virginia. Again, several days of events, presentations,
   special tours, and a visit to the currently closed former VGN passenger
   station in Roanoke which is currently under preservation and
   restoration.

VGN lives on through the Internet

   One of the lasting features of the VGN seems to be the heritage of this
   little railroad, an example of a successful US transportation company.
   Beginning with H. Reid's epoch storytelling and photography in "The
   Virginian Railway", published in 1961, and reprinted at least three
   times, there have been numerous books published and enthusiasts groups
   formed, some of which meet physically, and others, on the worldwide
   web.

   Formed in 2002, Virginian Railway (VGN) Enthusiasts, a non-profit group
   of preservationists, authors, photographers, historians, modelers, and
   rail fans has grown to over 700 members as far from the VGN tracks as
   Australia, including U.S. troops stationed in the war-torn Middle East.
   A group of retired railroaders calling themselves "The Virginian
   Brethren" meet weekly, share tales of the VGN, and answer questions
   posed by members of the on-line group.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginian_Railway"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
