The history of the line dates back to 1871, where a narrow-gauge line named the Washington, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad was chartered in 1871 as to connect Washington, D.C. to the Midwest at Cincinnati, Ohio. Little was done with this, but in 1892 a version of the railroad was revived when several businessman chartered it with the intentions of constructing a trunk line. Nothing was done with these proposals other
grading some land. The name was changed to Chesapeake & Western Railroad when actual construction on the line began in 1895. The line officially opened on March 23, 1896 in
Harrisonburg, and went both east and west. In 1901, a businessman named W.E.D. Stokes bought the line and renamed it to the Chesapeake Western Railway. To the west,
Bridgewater, Virginia was the original terminus, but the line was extended to Stokesville, a company town, by 1901. In 1933 the line was cut back to Bridgewater due to
timber around the area drying up, and later to
Dayton, Virginia. To the east the line reached
Elkton by 1896, where the line's main yard and shops were constructed. The line was experiencing a downturn in the 1930s, but was revived when bought by Donald W. Thomas on September 1,1938, who was able to purchase more modern equipment. A
historical marker was placed near the location of Stokesville at Stokesville Community Church to commemorate the history of the town, although most of it was destroyed by natural disasters in 1949. At least one Chesepeake Western locomotive has been preserved and is displayed at the
Virginia Museum of Transportation. In addition, the old Chesapeake Western Station remains standing in downtown Harrisonburg. == Current operations ==