[N&W] Re: Lexington VA

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

Okay, for the complete story of the B&O in Lexington - look to page 19 of
Donald Traser's book Virginia Railway Depots (Copyright 1998, Published by
the Old Dominion Chapter, NRHS, P.O. Box 8583, Richmond, Virginia 23226).  To
sum it up, the B&O had control of the rail line from Harpers Ferry, south to
Lexington, reaching that town in 1883.  The B&O was in the process of
building on to Salem but the completion of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad
ended any hope of the line becoming a financial success, so the work south of
Lexington was abandoned.

In addition to the remaining stone arch bridge south of Staunton, Mr. Traser
also reports that some portions of I-81 were built on the right-of-way of the
B&O line.  The B&O depot in Lexington is now owned by Washington & Lee
University.  A picture of it appears on page 25 of Mr. Traser's book.

Jerry Kay,
Portsmouth, Virginia
________________________________________
I sent this response to Bob Cohen who had some enlightening information on 
B&O's access to Lexington, Va.   I'm still trying to figure out the C&O/N&W 
situation.  Some information I have suggests C&O may have had a parallel 
route very early on into Buena Vista/ Loch Laird  which was later given up 
for trackage rights on N&W's Shenanadoah line.  Who ended up with the 
Richmond & Alleghany right of way in that area?
*****

Bob:

Thanks for your enlightening e-mail.
I got interested in railroads around Lexington (Va.) after a 1998 trip 
there.  I live in Texas, but my great-grandfather was born in the 1830's on 
a farm south of nearby Buena Vista, Va.  While exploring around the 
area,  I wanted to know more about the local N&W, C&O, and B&O lines.   (By 
the way, I found a depot on the edge of the campus of Washington & Lee 
Univ.  Was it B&O, C&O, or jointly used? )

I have a 1930's B&O brochure on the Shenandoah Valley.  I noticed B&O and 
Southern had an odd arrangement of connecting passenger service down that 
line to Lexington.  The brochure shows a photo of a motor car or "doodlebug."

In going through some county records in Lexington,  I came across mention 
of the Richmond & Alleghany RR (I think that's right) buying right of way 
through the family farm.   Was that later C&O or N&W line?

I'm still trying to figure out if the C&O line to Lexington changed 
slightly over time.  I see mention of the C&O line going west of Balcony 
Falls with Loch Laird or Glasgow as a junction.  Maps I've seen are not 
detailed enough to show exactly where the C&O joined the N&W Shenandoah 
line.  Either that or maps show different junction points between the two 
roads over time.

Anyway, next time I visit Virginia, I'll have fun exploring the area and 
perhaps tracing the abandoned B&O line north.

Dennis Hogan

P.S.  I figured out that one of O. Winston Link's published N&W night shots 
was taken on or very near the old family land.
_________________________________________
There are several stone bridge piers, stone culverts and arches across
streams between Lexington and Natural Bridge along Rt. 610, west of Rt. 11
that never saw the bridge or track or trains.  There are also excavation
marks where they had started to cut what appears to be the approach to one
of the bridges. They have been waiting for 120 years for the work to be
completed.  I also understand that there is an arch somewhere near Salem.
All of these were part of the B&O's projected valley line to Salem.  The
maps of the right of way still survive, at least some of them.  I pulled
them from the ashes of the CW station in Harrisonburg after an arsonist
torched the station in 1982.

David Ray
____________________________
Dennis,

While I do not know what may have been in the past, currently a short
1 mile connecting track breaks away from the C&O just west of Balcony
Falls and skirts the east side of the town on Glasgow to join the N&W
on the north side of town. This track crosses Rt 130 in Glasgow.
A small yard also exists along the C&O in Glasgow.

The N&W passes over the C&O 3 miles west at Natural Bridge Station.
You can only catch glimpses of both lines between Glasgow and
Natural Bridge Station, which adds to the difficulty in determining
what is going where.

According to the N&W List of Stations and sidings, the C&O connection
to Lexington was at Buena Vista, NOT Loch Laird, which was 1.3 miles
to the south. The old grade has been converted into a hiking/biking trail.
As Mason pointed out, there are some old canal locks along US-60 between
Lexington and Buena Vista.

Ron Davis