Southside Railroad (Virginia)
The Southside Railroad was formed in Virginia in 1846. Construction was begun in 1849 and completed in 1854.
Overview | |
---|---|
Headquarters | Petersburg, Virginia |
Locale | Virginia |
Dates of operation | 1854–1870 |
Successor | Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 5 ft (1,524 mm) gauge[3] |
Length | 132 miles (212 km) |
The Southside Railroad was important to the
Charter, construction, City Point Railroad
The State of Virginia issued the charter for the new Southside Railroad in 1846, with a capital of $1 million. directed towards the project. The State of Virginia gave all of its stock in the Petersburg Railroad to the City of Petersburg for the construction of the Southside Railroad. The stock was given on the condition that construction must start in three years or the stock would revert to the State.
The new board of directors began directing the extending of the line to
Construction began from the eastern end in 1849, reaching Burkeville and a connection with the Richmond and Danville Railroad in 1852. (The latter was still also building east-to-west, but had been completed east to Richmond.)
Following a more circuitous route through Farmville in response to financial incentives from the community, the railroad constructed the famous 21 span High Bridge across the Appomattox River valley about 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Farmville. The structure was 2,400 feet (730 m) long and as high as 117 feet (36 m) in the center, one of the largest in the world when built.
The Southside Railroad was completed to Percival Island across the James River from Lynchburg in 1854.
Also in 1854, the Southside Railroad acquired the 9-mile (14 km) long
Connections and stations
South Side Railroad Stations City Point Spur (Formerly City Point Railroad) 9
Petersburg to Shops Spur 1
Main Line
- Sutherland's 10 miles (16 km)
- Ford's 20 miles (32 km)
- Wilson's (Water stop) 27 miles (43 km)
- Wellville 31 miles (50 km)
- Blacks & Whites 37 miles (60 km)
- Nottoway 43 miles (69 km)
- Burkeville (Junction with the Richmond and Danville Railroad) 52 miles (84 km)
- Rice's 61 miles (98 km)
- High Bridge 65 miles (105 km)
- Farmville 69 miles (111 km)
- Prospect 80 miles (130 km)
- Pamplin's 88 miles (142 km)
- Evergreen 94 miles (151 km)
- Appomattox 100 miles (160 km)
- Spout Spring 106 miles (171 km)
- Concord 111 miles (179 km)
- Lynchburg 124 miles (200 km)[5]
By late 1860, the Southside Railroad provided connections with the following other transportation entities:
- Petersburg
- Petersburg Railroad extending south to Weldon, North Carolina
- Richmond and Petersburg Railroad extending north to Richmond
- Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad (after Sept. 1858) extending east to Suffolk and Norfolk
- Burkeville
- Richmond and Danville Railroad northeast to Richmond, southwest to Danville
- Lynchburg
- James River and Kanawha Canal east to Richmond, building west
- New Orleans
- Charlottesville and Alexandria
American Civil War
The Southside Railroad from Petersburg west was a vital resource for the Confederacy as a supply line for Richmond and Petersburg during the American Civil War (1861–1865). Beyond the lines of battle until the war's last year, the principal damage it suffered was the financial weakness caused by Confederate compensation policies and currency. The Confederate States Army destroyed most of the rail around Petersburg. Half of the eight-mile City Point Railroad was completely removed and another two miles were beyond repair. Only two-and-a-half miles from Petersburg was the track even salvageable.[6]
The United States Army rebuilt it. Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant requested a railroad to help with supplies for the Siege of Petersburg, knowing from past experience that it would be needed. Grant empowered Mr. C. L. McAlpine, engineer of construction and repairs, to rebuild the City Point to Petersburg Railroad, as soon as the fighting moved elsewhere. McAlpine commenced operations when he arrived on June 18, 1864.[6]
The City Point Railroad portion of the Southside Railroad was of great value to the
Stations & Waypoints of the Military railroad
- Terminus(Mile 0)
- Hospital spur (Mile 1.5)
- Wood Pile (Mile 2)
- Cedar Level Station (Mile 4)
- Clark's Station (Mile 4.25)
- Pitkin's Junction (Mile 5.75)
- Birney's Station (Mile 7)
- Meade's Station (Mile 8)
- "Shooting Hill" (Mile 9)
- Hancock's Junction/Jerusalem Plank Road (Mile 11)
- Gregg's Station (Mile 12 S)
- Crawford's Station Terminus (Mile 13.5 S)
- Parke's Station (Mile 13 N)
- Warren's Junction/Weldon Railroad (Mile 14.5 N)
- Patrick's Station Terminus (Mile 16 N)
- Humphreys Station Terminus (Mile 18.5 S)[6]
Merger into the Atlantic, Mississippi, and Ohio Railroad
After the War, the stockholders of the Southside Railroad elected former
Southside Railroad today
The former Southside Railroad formed a major piece of the
Presidents
- William Pannill (August 22, 1849 – 1856)
- Thomas H. Campbell (1857 – 1860 or after)
- Lemuel Peebles (1860 or after – December 1865)
- William Mahone (December 1865 – 1870)
References
- ISBN 978-5-88344-634-3.
- ISBN 978-1-59534-244-7.
- ^ a b Confederate Railroads - South Side
- ^ Virginia. Board of Public Works (1850). Annual Report of the Board of Public Works to the General Assembly of Virginia, with the Accompanying Documents. pp. 164–.
- ^ Bright, David L. (2015). "Confederate Railroads - South Side". Confederate Railroads. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
- ^ ISSN 1533-6271.
- ^ Congressional Serial Set. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1900. pp. 75–84.
- Blake, Nelson Morehouse, Phd. (1935) William Mahone of Virginia; Soldier and Political Insurgent, Garrett and Massie Publishers; Richmond, VA
- Dixon, Thomas W, Jr., (1994) Appalachian Coal Mines & Railroads. Lynchburg, Virginia: TLC Publishing Inc. ISBN 1-883089-08-5
- Huddleston, Eugene L, Ph.D. (2002) Appalachian Conquest, Lynchburg, Virginia: TLC Publishing Inc. ISBN 1-883089-79-4
- Lambie, Joseph T. (1954) From Mine to Market: The History of Coal Transportation on the Norfolk and Western Railway New York: New York University Press
- Lewis, Lloyd D. (1992) The Virginian Era. Lynchburg, Virginia: TLC Publishing Inc.
- Lewis, Lloyd D. (1994) Norfolk & Western and Virginian Railways in Color by H. Reid. Lynchburg, Virginia: TLC Publishing Inc. ISBN 1-883089-09-3
- Prince, Richard E. (1980) Norfolk & Western Railway, Pocahontas Coal Carrier, R.E. Prince; Millard, NE
- Reid, H. (1961). The Virginian Railway (1st ed.). Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing Co.
- Reisweber, Kurt (1995) Virginian Rails 1953-1993 (1st ed.) Old Line Graphics. ISBN 1-879314-11-8
- Striplin, E. F. Pat. (1981) The Norfolk & Western : a history Roanoke, Va. : Norfolk and Western Railway Co. ISBN 0-9633254-6-9
- Traser, Donald R. (1998) Virginia Railway Depots. Old Dominion Chapter, National Railway Historical Society. ISBN 0-9669906-0-9
- Wiley, Aubrey and Wallace, Conley (1985). The Norfolk and Western Railway Handbook. Lynchburg, Virginia: W-W Publications.