Beginnings (1847-61) The new Richmond and Danville Railroad was championed by
Whitmell P. Tunstall, a
lawyer in
Chatham, Virginia, who was also a member of the
Virginia General Assembly. After many years, Tunstall secured a charter for the new railroad on March 9, 1847. In the same year, the state of Virginia took a 60% interest in the capital stock of the company, which it would hold until 1871. Construction on the line began on January 31, 1848, under the supervision of Col.
Andrew Talcott, who was later to become the Richmond and Danville's general manager. By 1850, the new railroad had reached
Coalfield Station, near the coal mines in an area known today as
Midlothian in western
Chesterfield County. There, it competed with the mule-powered
Chesterfield Railroad, the first railroad established in Virginia. Lawsuits followed, but the older railroad was quickly supplanted by the competition. The
Virginia General Assembly allowed the Richmond and Danville Railroad to buy the
Chesterfield Railroad for as much as $200,000 in 1848. By the end of 1851, the line had reached
Jetersville in
Amelia County. Two years later, it was completed to a point near
Drakes Branch, and had been graded to
South Boston in
Halifax County. On May 16, 1856, the railroad had finished construction of the main line. •
Richmond •
Midlothian Coal Pits •
Amelia Court House •
Jetersville •
Jennings Ordinary •
Burkeville •
Meherrin •
Keysville • Mossingford, now Mossingford Road
Virginia State Route 642, in
Charlotte County. •
Clover •
South Boston • New's Ferry in
Halifax County • Barksdale in
Halifax County •
Ringgold •
Dan River •
Danville Civil War (1861–1865) Known as the "first railroad war", the
American Civil War devastated the South's railroads and economy. In 1862, the
Richmond and York River Railroad — acquired after the war by the R&D — played a crucial role in
George McClellan's
Peninsula Campaign. In 1862, the R&D employed 400 laborers, 50 train hands, 30 carpenters, and 20 blacksmiths. The railroad also employed 300 slaves, some of whom it owned and some whose labor it rented from local planters. If a rented slave was injured or killed, the railroad reimbursed his or her owner; in one instance, the R&D paid $1,379.44 for a slave killed in an accident. Some enslaved women were put to work as maids in ladies' dining cars. The Richmond and Danville Railroad was an essential transportation link for the
Confederacy throughout the war. It provided the production of south-central Virginia to
Richmond. When the
Richmond and Petersburg Railroad was cut in 1864, the R&D's connection with the
Piedmont Railroad was the only remaining connection from Richmond to the rest of the South. The
Confederate Army was often handicapped by its inability to transport supplies efficiently from depots to forces in the field. In one case, the war forced the Confederate government to overrule objections by
North Carolina. That state had blocked construction of a rail connection from
Greensboro to Danville, fearing that post-war trade from
North Carolina's Piedmont would continue to flow to Richmond via the R&D.
April 1865 Following successful Union attacks on April 1, 1865, Confederate Gen.
Robert E. Lee abandoned
Petersburg and headed west and south in an attempt to join Gen.
Joseph Johnston's army in North Carolina. After evacuating Richmond the next day, on April 2, 1865, Confederate President
Jefferson Davis and his cabinet left Richmond on the R&D. The departing Confederates set fire to the bridge across the James River between Richmond and
Manchester. They traveled to Danville, where they attempted to set up a temporary government. On reaching Amelia Court House during the morning of April 4, 1865, Lee searched the commissary stores, finding abundant ordnance but no food. Lee waited 24 hours in vain there for R&D trains to arrive with badly needed supplies.
Union cavalry, meanwhile, sped forward and cut the Richmond & Danville at
Jetersville. Lee had to abandon the railroad, and his army stumbled across rolling country towards Lynchburg. On the morning of April 9, 1865,
Palm Sunday, Lee met Grant in the front parlor of
Wilmer McLean's home near
Appomattox Court House to surrender.
Reconstruction (1865–94) and connections) With the support of Virginia Governor
Francis H. Pierpont,
Algernon S. Buford became president of the R&D on September 13, 1865. Repair work began on war-damaged tracks, including the bridge across the
James River between
Manchester and
Richmond. Over the next 20 years, Buford, Richmonder
James H. Dooley, and other leaders extended the railroad's trackage to 3,000 miles through construction and acquisition. In 1877, Buford joined with
Andrew Talcott, Thomas Mann Talcott, and others to form the
Bon Air Land and Improvement Company, a land investment that added a
resort train stop in Bon Air six miles east of Richmond. In 1880, control of the R&D was acquired by
William P. Clyde and interests that controlled the Richmond, York River and Chesapeake Rail Road Company. One improvement that year was the installation of two steam powered Nutter car hoists in north
Danville, Virginia in order to allow
truck exchange to allow cars to be exchanged across the
break of gauge with the
Virginia Midland Railway. In or about 1886, the Richmond and West Point Terminal Railway and Warehouse Company acquired a majority of R&D Company stock, and thus control of the railroad. By 1890, the R&D System covered of track in Virginia,
North Carolina,
South Carolina, Georgia,
Tennessee,
Alabama,
Mississippi,
Arkansas, and
Texas. However, the R&D System had become financially unstable during all the growth. After the Richmond and West Point Terminal Railway and Warehouse Company, declared bankruptcy, the R&D Company was pulled down with it. Receivers were appointed to take possession of its property, including its subsidiaries, on June 15, 1892. The Southern Railway Company, incorporated in Virginia on the same date, June 18, 1894, controlled over of line at its inception.
Samuel Spencer became Southern's first president.
Norfolk Southern (1982-present) Norfolk Southern Corporation, a holding corporation, acquired control of
Norfolk and Western Railway Company and
Southern Railway Company and their affiliates and subsidiaries on June 1, 1982, after approval by the
Interstate Commerce Commission. Effective December 31, 1990, Southern Railway Company changed its name to Norfolk Southern Railway Company. Norfolk and Western Railway Company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Norfolk Southern Railway Company rather than a subsidiary of Norfolk Southern Corporation. In 1999, the system grew substantially with the acquisition of over half of
Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail). ==Officers==