Richmond and Danville Railroad

the Pennsylvania Railroad acquired control of the Richmond and Danville Railroad to expand into the southern states
the Pennsylvania Railroad acquired control of the Richmond and Danville Railroad to expand into the southern states
Source: Wikipedia, Richmond and Danville Railroad (Travelers' Official Railway Guide for the United States and Canada, September, 1882)

The General Assembly chartered the Richmond and Danville Railroad on March 9, 1847. The 140 miles of track connecting the two cities was completed in 1856.

Danville was on the Dan River, a tributary of the Roanoke River. Farmers in the southern Virginia Piedmont shipped their agricultural products by wagon to Lynchburg or Petersburg, or down the Roanoke River via batteaux to Weldon. At Weldon, rival railroads could send the freight to either Petersburg or Portsmouth.

The Richmond and Danville Railroad made transportation significantly less expensive. Both Richmond and Danville benefitted from increased trade. Farmers in northern North Carolina carried more of their crops to Danville, where the tobacco processing factories grew. Tobacco processing also increased in Richmond, and wheat from the Piedmont helped expand the flour mills that were using hydropower at the Fall Line.

Plans to build the Richmond and Danville Railroad further to the south or southwest, to intercept more traffic from North Carolina, were achieved in 1862.

After the Confederate Congress chartered the Piedmont Railroad to link Danville to the North Carolina Railroad at Greensboro, the Richmond and Danville purchased almost all the stock and built the line. As required by North Carolina, the track was built to a 4-foot, 8.5 inch gauge. The Richmond and Danville had a 5-foot gauge, so all passengers and freight had to transfer at Danville until the Piedmont Railroad gauge was changed to 5-foot in 1866. Twenty years later, both railroads switched to the new standard of 4-foot, 8.5 inch.1

Starting in 1871, the Pennsylvania Railroad took control of the Richmond and Danville Railroad, the North Carolina Railroad, and the Atlanta and Richmond Air Line Railway to establish the Piedmont Air Line to Atlanta. The Pennsylvania Railroad outmaneuvered the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad after the Civil War to establish dominance in the southern states. It linked the Virginia Midland to the Richmond and Danville Railroad at Danville.

Railroad traffic in the former Confederate states was not sufficient to generate the profits desired by the Pennsylvania Railroad. It sold the Richmond and Danville Railroad in 1880.

The new Richmond and West Point Terminal Railway and Warehouse Company obtained control of another network of southeastern railroads, peaking at 3,300 miles of track. After the 1893 "panic" or economic recession, the Richmond and Danville Railroad became part of the Southern Railway.2

the Richmond and Danville had access to wharves on the York River at West Point, while the Chesapeake and Ohio built a line to Newport News
the Richmond and Danville had access to wharves on the York River at West Point, while the Chesapeake and Ohio built a line to Newport News
Source: Library of Congress, Map showing the Albemarle & Pantego Railroad and its connections (G.W. & C.B. Colton & Co, 1887)

The Southern Railway merged with the Norfolk and Western Railroad in 1982. Portions of the old Richmond and Danville route were no longer needed. Segments southwest of Burkeville were abandoned, or converted into the Virginia Southern short line railroad.

the Richmond and Danville had access to wharves on the York River at West Point, while the Chesapeake and Ohio built a line to Newport News
the Richmond and Danville had access to wharves on the York River at West Point, while the Chesapeake and Ohio built a line to Newport News
Source: Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT), Virginia Rail Map (2012)

Norfolk Southern Railroad

Southern Railway

Virginia Southern Railroad

in 1848, the Richmond and Danville Railroad was under construction
in 1848, the Richmond and Danville Railroad was under construction
Source: Library of Congress, A map of the internal improvements of Virginia (Claudius Crozet, 1848)

the Richmond and Danville system in 1881 extended south towards Atlanta
the Richmond and Danville system in 1881 extended south towards Atlanta
Source: Library of Congress, Map of the Richmond & Danville Railroad system (G.W. & C.B. Colton & Co, 1881)

Links

References

1. Philip Stanley, "Legislating the Danville Connection, 1847-1862: Railroads and Regionalism versus Nationalism in the Confederate States of America ," Masters thesis, Virginia Commonwealth University, 2014, pp.46-47, https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4497&context=etd; "North Carolina Railroads - Roanoke Valley Railroad," Carolana, http://www.carolana.com/NC/Transportation/railroads/nc_rrs_roanoke_valley.html; "Danville and the Steam Railroad," Bits of History, March 25, 2018, http://hisbits.blogspot.com/2015/02/danville-and-steam-railroad.html (last checked January 26, 2019)
2. "North Carolina Railroads - Richmond & Danville Railroad," Carolana, http://www.carolana.com/NC/Transportation/railroads/nc_rrs_richmond_danville.html (last checked December 1, 2018)


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