"Castle Rock Branch" off the Roanoke & Southern ... ?

[NW Mailing List]

Thanks for this Bruce. Great find!

I do know the mining company, in some form or another, did manage to stagger on for a few years, as I have notes in my files regarding the quantities of ore extracted, I believe in 1904. Obviously, the iron age in Virginia was at its end. I have no idea how or to where the ore was transported, but the quantities, if I recall correctly, was not high.

Ken Miller

On Nov 10, 2017, at 4:01 PM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:

> On Thu, Nov 9, 2017 at 7:46 PM, Gordon wrote:
> Abram,
> 
> This short-lived branch passed about 0.5 miles from where my home is located in Southwest Roanoke County (but long before this neighborhood was developed).  The branch left the Punkin Vine somewhere near where present-day VA 419 passes under the track, and its route is roughly followed by VA 419 today until the point where the branch crossed Mud Lick Creek, where I seem to remember reading that a ore washing plant was located.  The branch continued from the creek up grade to the ore mines along about where Castle Rock Road runs today.  Until developers chopped down all of the trees to build dwellings named ironically "McVitty Forest," and especially moved a lot of earth around, it was possible to see the branch right of way where it approached Mud Lick Creek on its way to the mines.
> 
> 
> ​The branch was also part of several lawsuits, in both state and federal courts, over possession of materials/assets on the branch.
> 
> The Castle Rock Branch 
> 
> MERCANTILE TRUST & DEPOSIT CO. OF BALTIMORE v. ROANOKE & S. RY. CO. et al.
> 
> (Circuit Court, W.D. Virginia. February 12, 1901)
> 
> "It appears that the mining company, in order to obtain better facilities for the shipment of ore from its premises, entered into a contract in writing on the 25th of April, 1893, with the Roanoke & Southern Railway Company and the Norfolk & Western Railroad Company for the construction of a branch railroad from a point on the main line of the Roanoke & Southern, the property and franchises of which were then leased to the Norfolk & Western Railroad Company, to the mines of the mining company a distance of about three miles. This contract provided, inter alia, that the mining company should forthwith convey to the Roanoke & Southern Railway Company an unincumbered title to the right of way, and thereafter, with diligence, construct thereon the roadbed, including the grading, trestles, bridges, and culverts, preparatory for the superstructure. The latter, including rails, ties, switches, frogs, etc., was to be furnished and erected by the Roanoke & Southern Railway Company, called the "lessor company," with funds furnished by the Norfolk & Western Railroad Company, called the "lessee company." The branch, when completed, was to be operated by the lessee company, by whom the cost of constructing the roadbed was to be refunded to the mining company, by the allowance to the latter of a rebate of 10 cents per ton on the freight originating on the branch line, and carried to or beyond the lines of the lessee company; and if the mining company, for a period of six months, continuously abandoned operations along the said branch, or failed to furnish business sufficient to defray the expenses of maintaining and operating the same, then the lessee company might, after 90 days' notice, and further default of the mining company, discontinue the operation of the branch, and remove the superstructure therefrom. The branch line was built and operated from September, 1893, to May, 1896, after which latter date no ore was mined or shipped.""
> 
> As the various companies went through receiverships, there was negotiation about continued operation of the Castle Rock branch by the Norfolk & Western Railway Co. But the mining company could not provide the right of way with a clear title due to liens on the property. 
> 
> "The negotiations thus rendered abortive were ultimately declared off; and the railway company, with the alleged intention avoiding the complication of its property with the possible of a purchaser at a judicial sale of the Castle Rock lands, in January, 1897, began the removal of the rails, ties, and other parts of the superstructure from the Castle Rock branch, possession of which then held, and had continued to hold after acceptance of the Roanoke & Southern property from the receivers of this court. Thomas Lewis was afterwards appointed receiver of the mining company, and subsequently instituted the action at law complained of."
> 
> The report deals with questions about the right of the railroad to remove assets from the property. Actual interpretation of the case is welcome from those who have a lawyerly bent . . .
> 
> 
> See "The Federal Reporter: With Key-number Annotations," Volume 109, pp. 3-12
> See https://goo.gl/LXTFti
> 
> Bruce in Blacksburg
> 
> ​
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