Where were the "other" depots along the James River?

[NW Mailing List]

I'm curious. Regarding the construction date of the connecting bridge
between the South Side and V&T at the west end of Percival's Island in
Lynchburg . . .

 

Richard Prince states in his book Pocahontas Coal Carrier that the Southside
RR reached Lynchburg in 1854 and "soon a railroad bridge was constructed
over the south bank so that the tracks of the South Side RR joined those of
the Virginia & Tennessee RR at the joint Lynchburg passenger station."

 

He also states: "at this time [1859] connecting railroad service was
available from Norfolk through Petersburg, Lynchburg, Bristol, . . . to
Memphis."

 

Do other sources seem to indicate that the connecting bridge wasn't
completed until the three roads (N&P, SS, and V&T) were merged in 1870 to
become the A.M.&O. RR.?

 

John Garner  Newport VA

 

From: NW Mailing List [mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org] 
Sent: Thursday, July 6, 2017 1:16 PM
To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
Subject: Where were the "other" depots along the James River?

 

  

In response to Bob Cohen's  message about the Orange & Alexandria Railroad
reaching Lynchburg, both Christian's and Chambers' books state that the O&A
reached the Amherst County side of the James River and began operations on
January 14, 1860. Until a bridge was built over the James, Chambers says
coaches transported passengers along Rover Road, then across the covered and
wooden Ninth Street bridge to the Lynchburg side and the existing station of
the V&T. Later that year an O&A bridge over the James was completed and
service commenced. However, a freshet in 1871 washed away bridges of both
the O&A and Southside. 

 

The Orange & Alexandria established a yard on the Lynchburg side of the
river. Although I can not find the source at this minute, I have read in a
Civil War publication of the inconvenience and time consuming process by
which the trucks of  freight cars of different gauges were traded at the O&A
yard.  The O&A was 4' 8-1/2" gauge while the V&T was 5' gauge. Freight and
passengers had to be hauled by wagon to the Southside depot on Percival's
Island.  Remember in an earlier message I described there was not a physical
connection between the V&T and Southside until 1870. 

 

Aubrey Wiley
"Our stories give our lives meaning." Rudyard Kipling, 1928

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