Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
Encyclopedia
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a Class I railroad
formed in 1869 in Virginia
from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington
, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond
to the Ohio River
by 1873, where the railroad town (and later city) of Huntington, West Virginia
was named for him.
Tapping the coal
reserves of West Virginia
, the C&O's Peninsula Extension
to new coal pier
s on the harbor of Hampton Roads
resulted in the creation of the new City of Newport News
. Coal revenues also led the forging of a rail link to the Midwest, eventually reaching Columbus
, Cincinnati
and Toledo
in Ohio
and Chicago, Illinois.
By the early 1960s, the C&O was headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio
, USA
. In 1972, under the leadership of Cyrus Eaton, it became part of the Chessie System
, along with the Baltimore and Ohio and Western Maryland Railway
. The Chessie System was later combined with the Seaboard Coast Line and Louisville and Nashville, both the primary components of the Family Lines System, to become a key portion of CSX Transportation
(CSXT) in the 1980s. A substantial portion of Conrail was added in 1999.
C&O's passenger services ended in 1971 with the formation of Amtrak
. Today, Amtrak's tri-weekly Cardinal passenger train continue to follow the historic and scenic route of the C&O through the New River Gorge in one of the more rugged sections of the Mountain State. The rails of the former C&O also continue to transport intermodal and freight traffic, as well as West Virginia bituminous coal
east to Hampton Roads and west to the Great Lakes as part of CSXT, a Fortune 500
company which was one of seven Class I railroad
s operating in North America
at the beginning of the 21st century.
, begun in 1836, and the James River & Kanawha Canal Company
, also begun in Virginia in 1785. The first train ran on December 20, 1837.
Originally a feeder line to connect with the predecessor of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad
(RF&P) at what is now Doswell
, by 1850 the Louisa Railroad had won the right in Virginia courts to build southeast (timetable east) to Richmond
in competition with the RF&P. It also expanded west, reaching Charlottesville
. In keeping with its new and larger vision, it was renamed the Virginia Central Railroad
. However, ambitious plans to cross the Blue Ridge Mountains
, the first mountain barrier to the west, at Swift Run Gap
proved both financially and technically unfeasible.
The Commonwealth of Virginia, always keen to help with "internal improvements" not only owned a portion of Virginia Central stock through the state Board of Public Works
, but incorporated and financed the Blue Ridge Railroad to accomplish the hard and expensive task of crossing the Blue Ridge Mountains. Under the leadership of the great early civil engineer
Claudius Crozet
, the Blue Ridge RR built over the mountains, using four tunnels, including the 4263 feet (1,299.4 m) Blue Ridge Tunnel
at the top of the pass, then one of the longest tunnels in the world.
At the same time, Virginia Central was building westward from the west foot of the Blue Ridge, crossing the Shenandoah Valley
(a part of the Great Appalachian Valley
) and Great North Mountain
, finally reaching the foot of the Alleghany Mountains
(note that in Virginia Alleghany is spelled with an "a") in 1856 at a point known as Jackson's River Station. This is the site that would later be called Clifton Forge
.
To finish its line across the mountainous territory of the Alleghany Plateau (known in old Virginia as the "Transmountaine"), the Commonwealth again chartered a state-subsidized railroad called the Covington and Ohio Railroad
, authorized by the General Assembly in 1853. This company completed important grading work on the Alleghany grade and did considerable work on numerous tunnels over the mountains and in the west. It also did a good deal of roadway work around Charleston on the Kanawha River
. Then the American Civil War
intervened, and work was stopped on the westward expansion.
the Virginia Central Railroad
was one of the Confederacy's most important lines, carrying food from the Shenandoah region to Richmond, and ferrying troops and supplies back and forth as the campaigns surrounded its tracks frequently. It had an important connection with the Orange and Alexandria Railroad
at Gordonsville, Virginia
. On more than one occasion, the Virginia Central was used in actual tactical operations, transporting troops directly to the battlefield. But, it was a prime target for Federal armies, and by the end of the war had only about five miles (8 km) of track still in operation, and $40 in gold in its treasury.
, realized that they would have to get capital to rebuild from outside the economically devastated South, and attempted to attract British
interests, without success. Finally, they succeeded in getting Collis P. Huntington
of New York, interested in the line. Huntington had been one of the "Big Four" involved in building the Central Pacific
portion of the Transcontinental Railroad
, which was at this time just reaching completion. Huntington had a vision of a true transcontinental railroad that would go from sea to sea under one operating management, and decided that the Virginia Central might be the eastern link to this system.
Huntington supplied the Virginians with the money needed to complete the line to the Ohio River
, through what was now the new state of West Virginia
. The old Covington & Ohio's properties were conveyed to them [Note: the name was Railroad at this time ... it will be changed later to Railway] in keeping with its new mission of linking the Tidewater coast of Virginia with the "Western Waters." This was the old dream of the "Great Connection" which had been current in Virginia since Colonial times.
On July 1, 1867, the C&O was completed nine miles (14 km) from Jackson's River Station
to the town of Covington
, county seat
of Alleghany County
. By 1869, it had crossed Alleghany Mountain, using much of the tunneling and roadway work done by the Covington & Ohio before the war, and was running to the great mineral springs resort at White Sulphur Springs
, now in Greenbrier County, West Virginia
. Here, stagecoach
connections were made for Charleston and the navigation on the Kanawha River (and thus water transportation on the whole Ohio/Mississippi system).
During 1869-1873 the hard work of building through West Virginia was done with large crews working from both ends: the new city of Huntington
on the Ohio River and White Sulphur (much as the UP and CP had done in the transcontinental work). The line was completed at Hawk's Nest, West Virginia
in the New River Valley on January 28, 1873.
The West Virginia
stretch of the C & O was the site of the legendary competition between John Henry
and a steam-powered machine; the competition is said to have taken place in a tunnel south of Talcott, West Virginia
near the Greenbrier River
. The C&O's westward expansion was completed at a cost of $23,394,263.69 (over $414 million in 2010 dollars).
Typical of the men who built the C & O during this period was William Nelson Page, a civil engineer
who had attended special courses in engineering at the University of Virginia
before he went to work on the railroad. Page directed the location and construction of the New River
Canyon Bridge in 1871 and 1872, and of the Mill Creek Canyon bridge in 1874. In 1875 and 1876, he led the surveying party charged with mapping out the route of the double-track railway to extend between Hampton Roads
and the Ohio River
via the New River and Kanawha Valleys of West Virginia. Like many men who came to West Virginia with the railroad, Page was struck with both the beauty and potential of the natural resources and is considered one of the more energetic and successful men who helped develop West Virginia's rich bituminous coal
fields in the late 19th and early 20th century. Page and his wife Emma Hayden Gilham, settled in the tiny mountain hamlet of Ansted, West Virginia
, a town located in Fayette County
which was named for British geologist David T. Ansted
, who had mapped much of the region's coal resources in 1853. The palatial Page Mansion
was built on a high bluff overlooking the New River far below, where the C&O occupied both sides of the narrow valley. Between the bridge just below Sewell and the one at Hawks Nest, one track is on the west bank of the New River, and the other on the east bank.
Collis Huntington intended to connect the C&O with his western and mid-western holdings, but had much other railroad construction to finance and he stopped the line at the Ohio and over the next few years did little to improve its rough construction or develop traffic. The only connection to the West was by packet boats operating on the Ohio River. Because the great mineral resources of the region hadn't been fully realized yet, the C&O suffered through the bad times brought on by the Financial Panic of 1873
, and went into receivership in 1878. Williams C. Wickham was named as its Receiver. When reorganized, it was renamed The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Company.
. During the ten years from 1878 to 1888, C&O's coal resources began to be developed and shipped eastward. Transportation began of southern West Virginia coal to Newport News
where it was loaded on coast-wise shipping and transported to the Northeast became a staple of the C&O's business at this time.
In 1881, C&O's new Peninsula Extension
was completed from Richmond
through the new Church Hill Tunnel
and down the Virginia Peninsula
through Williamsburg
to reach coal pier
s located on the harbor Hampton Roads
, the East Coast of the United State's largest ice-free port. The Peninsula Subdivision featured gentle grades through coastal plain
s of the Tidewater region of Virginia
, dropping only about 30 feet in elevation, from Richmond (54 feet above sea-level) to Newport News (at 15 feet above sea-level).
Collis P. Huntington helped develop the tiny unincorporated community at Newport New Point into a new independent city
with the coal and other railroad business and the development of Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company.
. In those days before US anti-trust laws were created, many smaller railroads which appeared to be in competition with each other were essentially under common control. Even the leaders of large Pennsylvania Railroad
(PRR) and New York Central Railroad
(NYC), obstensibly bitter rivals, had secretly entered into a "community of interests" pact.
Morgan and Vanderbilt had Melville E. Ingalls
installed as President.
Ingalls was, at the time, also President of the Vanderbilt's Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (The "Big Four System"), and held both presidencies concurrently for the next decade. Ingalls installed George W. Stevens as general manager and effective head of the C&O.
company, which had been built along the tow-path of the defunct James River and Kanawha Canal
, was merged into the C&O, giving it a down grade "water level" line from Clifton Forge
to Richmond, avoiding the heavy grades of North Mountain and the Blue Ridge on the original Virginia Central route. On this line, trains descend nearly 1,000 feet in elevation to Richmond (54 feet elevation) following the path of the river. This "James River
Line" became the principal artery of eastbound coal transportation down to the present day.
Ingalls and Stevens completely rebuilt the C&O to "modern" standards with ballasted roadbed, enlarged and lined tunnels, steel bridges, and heavier steel rails, as well as new, larger, cars and locomotives.
In 1888, the C&O built the Cincinnati Division, from Huntington, West Virginia
down the south bank of the Ohio River in Kentucky
and across the river at Cincinnati, connecting with the "Big Four" and other Midwestern Railroads.
fields of southern West Virginia
and eastern Kentucky
were built, and the C&O as it was known throughout the rest of the 20th Century was essentially in place.
In 1910 C&O merged the Chicago, Cincinnati & Louisville Railroad into its system. This line had been built diagonally across the state of Indiana
from Cincinnati
to Hammond
in the preceding decade. This gave the C&O a direct line from Cincinnati to the great railroad hub of Chicago.
Also in 1910, C&O interests bought control of the Kanawha and Michigan (K&M) and Hocking Valley (HV) lines in Ohio, with a view to connecting with the Great Lakes
through Columbus
. Eventually anti-trust laws forced C&O to abandon its K&M interests, but it was allowed to retain the Hocking Valley, which operated about 350 miles (563.3 km) in Ohio
, including a direct line from Columbus to the port of Toledo
, and numerous branches southeast of Columbus in the Hocking Coal Fields. But there was no direct connection with the C&O's mainline, now hauling previously undreamed-of quantities of coal. To get its coal up to Toledo and into Great Lakes shipping, C&O contracted with its rival Norfolk & Western to carry trains from Kenova,. W. Va.
to Columbus. N&W, however, limited this business and the arrangement was never satisfactory.
C&O gained access to the Hocking Valley by building a new line directly from a point a few miles from its huge and growing terminal at Russell, Ky.
, to Columbus between 1917 and 1926. It crossed the Ohio River
at Limeville, Ky. (Sciotoville, Ohio
), on the great Sciotoville Bridge
which remains today the mightiest bridge ever built from point of view of its load capacity. It was truly a monument to engineering, but seldom commented on outside of engineering circles because of its relatively remote location.
With the connection at Columbus complete, C&O soon was sending more of its high quality metallurgical and steam coal west than east, and in 1930 it merged the Hocking Valley into its system.
, Fast Flying Virginian, Sportsman, Pere Marquette, and Resort Special. While the George Washington
was the railroad's flagship the Fast Flying Virginian (which connected Washington, D.C. and Newport News) and Resort Special were also well-traveled trains on the system. Much of the reason for the popularity of C&O's passenger trains was because of Chessie, the sleeping kitten
, one of the most successful and fondly remembered marketing campaigns ever developed. Chessie was so popular that when she debuted in 1933 the railroad could not keep enough merchandise in stock. While the kitten was created by artist Guido Grenewald the success of Chessie as a marketing tool is often credited to Lionel Probert, at the time an assistant to the C&O president.
The next great change for C&O came in 1923 when the great Cleveland financiers, the Van Sweringen brothers
(O. P. and M. J. Van Sweringen), bought a controlling interest in the line as part of their expansion of the Nickel Plate Road (NKP) system. Eventually they controlled the NKP, C&O, Pere Marquette Railroad (in Michigan
and Ontario
), and Erie
railroads. They managed to control this huge (for the time) system by a maze of holding companies and interlocking directorships. This house of cards tumbled when the Great Depression
began and the Van Sweringen companies collapsed.
However, the C&O was a strong line. Despite the fact that in the early 1930s over 50% of American railroads went into receivership, it not only avoided bankruptcy, but took the occasion of cheap labor and materials to again completely rebuild itself. During the hard economic times when it seemed the whole country was retrenching, C&O was boring new tunnels, adding double track, rebuilding bridges, upgrading the weight of its rail, and rebuilding its roadbed, all with money from its principal commodity of haulage: coal. Even during the Great Depression
, coal was something that had to be used everywhere, and C&O was sitting astride some of the best bituminous
seams in the country.
Because of this great upgrading and building program, C&O was in prime condition to carry the monumental loads needed during World War II
. During the War it transported men and material in unimagined quantities as the U. S. used the Hampton Roads
Port of Embarkation as a principal departure point for the European Theater. The invasion of North Africa was loaded there. Of course, in addition to fueling the ships of the U.S. Navy and the merchant marine, coal was also needed in ever increasing quantities by war industries. C&O was ready with a powerful, well organized, well maintained railway powered by the largest and most modern locomotives.
, C&O was poised to help America during its great growth during the decades following, and at mid-century was truly a line of national importance. It became more so, at least in the public eye through Robert Ralph Young
, its mercurial Chairman, and his Alleghany Corporation.
Young got control of the C&O through the remnants of the Van Sweringen companies, in 1942, and for the next decade he became "the gadfly of the rails," as he challenged old methods of financing and operating railroads. He regarded himself as a crusader against the mismanagement of railroads by banking interests. Young's most famous advertisement slogan was "A hog can cross the country without changing trains - but you can't."
Nicknamed "Rail Road Young", R.R. Young inaugurated many forward looking advances in technology that have ramifications to the present. He changed the C&O's herald (logo) to "C&O for Progress" to embody his ideas that C&O would lead the industry to a new day. He installed a well-staffed research and development department that came up with ideas for passenger service that are thought to be futuristic even now, and for freight service that would challenge the growth of trucking. Young eventually gave up his C&O position to become Chairman of the New York Central (NYC). However, Young was unable to accomplish results he had promised stockholders at the NYC. A lifelong victim of depression, he committed suicide in 1958.
During the Young era and following, C&O was headed by Walter J. Tuohy, under whose control the "For Progress" theme continued, though in a more muted way after the departure of Young. During this time, C&O installed the first large computer system in railroading, developed larger and better freight cars of all types, switched (reluctantly) from steam to diesel motive power, and diversified its traffic, which had already occurred in 1947 when it merged into the system the old Pere Marquette Railroad (PM) of Michigan and Ontario, Canada, which had been controlled by the C&O since Van Sweringen days. The PM's huge automotive industry traffic, taking raw materials in and finished vehicle out, gave C&O some protection from the swings in the coal trade, putting merchandise traffic at 50% of the company's haulage.
, helped start the modern merger era by "affiliating" with the ancient modern of railroads, the hoary Baltimore & Ohio. Avoiding a mistake that would become endemic to later mergers among other lines, a gradual amalgamation of the two lines' services, personnel, motive power and rolling stock, and facilities built a new and stronger system, which was ready for a new name in 1972. Under the leadership of the visionary Hays T. Watkins Jr., the C&O, B&O and Western Maryland Railway
became Chessie System
, taking on the name officially that had been used colloquially for so long for the C&O, after the mascot kitten
used in ads since 1933.
Under Watkins' careful and visionary leadership, Chessie System then merged with Seaboard System Railroad
(itself a combination of great railroads of the Southeast including Seaboard Air Line Railroad
, Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
, Louisville and Nashville Railroad
, Clinchfield Railroad
and others), to form a new mega-railroad: CSX Transportation
. Western Maryland was merged into B&O on May 1, 1983. B&O was merged into C&O on April 30, 1987, and C&O was merged into CSX Transportation on Aug. 31, 1987. After acquiring 42% of Conrail in 1999, CSX became one of four major railroad systems left in the country.
and his Orchestra performed a big band
number 'Chesapeake And Ohio',written by Sigman & Magidson, in which Tex sang of his regret about not requesting the address of a lady he met on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway.
Class I railroad
A Class I railroad in the United States and Mexico, or a Class I rail carrier in Canada, is a large freight railroad company, as classified based on operating revenue.Smaller railroads are classified as Class II and Class III...
formed in 1869 in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist Collis P. Huntington
Collis P. Huntington
Collis Potter Huntington was one of the Big Four of western railroading who built the Central Pacific Railroad as part of the first U.S. transcontinental railroad...
, it reached from Virginia's capital city of Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
to the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
by 1873, where the railroad town (and later city) of Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia, along the Ohio River. Most of the city is in Cabell County, for which it is the county seat. A small portion of the city, mainly the neighborhood of Westmoreland, is in Wayne County. Its population was 49,138 at...
was named for him.
Tapping the coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
reserves of West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
, the C&O's Peninsula Extension
Peninsula Extension
The Peninsula Extension which created the Peninsula Subdivision of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was the new railroad line on the Virginia Peninsula from Richmond to southeastern Warwick County...
to new coal pier
Coal pier
A coal pier is a transloading facility designed for the transfer of coal between rail and ship.The typical facility for loading ships consists of a holding area and a system of conveyors for transferring the coal to dockside and loading it into the ship's cargo holds...
s on the harbor of Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
resulted in the creation of the new City of Newport News
Newport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
. Coal revenues also led the forging of a rail link to the Midwest, eventually reaching Columbus
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
, Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
and Toledo
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
and Chicago, Illinois.
By the early 1960s, the C&O was headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In 1972, under the leadership of Cyrus Eaton, it became part of the Chessie System
Chessie System
Chessie System, Inc. was a holding company that owned the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway , the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad , the Western Maryland Railway , and several smaller carriers. It was incorporated in Virginia on February 26, 1973, and it acquired the C&O on June 15...
, along with the Baltimore and Ohio and Western Maryland Railway
Western Maryland Railway
The Western Maryland Railway was an American Class I railroad which operated in Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It was primarily a coal hauling and freight railroad, with a small passenger train operation. The WM became part of the Chessie System in 1973 and ceased operating its lines...
. The Chessie System was later combined with the Seaboard Coast Line and Louisville and Nashville, both the primary components of the Family Lines System, to become a key portion of CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...
(CSXT) in the 1980s. A substantial portion of Conrail was added in 1999.
C&O's passenger services ended in 1971 with the formation of Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
. Today, Amtrak's tri-weekly Cardinal passenger train continue to follow the historic and scenic route of the C&O through the New River Gorge in one of the more rugged sections of the Mountain State. The rails of the former C&O also continue to transport intermodal and freight traffic, as well as West Virginia bituminous coal
Bituminous coal
Bituminous coal or black coal is a relatively soft coal containing a tarlike substance called bitumen. It is of higher quality than lignite coal but of poorer quality than Anthracite...
east to Hampton Roads and west to the Great Lakes as part of CSXT, a Fortune 500
Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
company which was one of seven Class I railroad
Class I railroad
A Class I railroad in the United States and Mexico, or a Class I rail carrier in Canada, is a large freight railroad company, as classified based on operating revenue.Smaller railroads are classified as Class II and Class III...
s operating in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
at the beginning of the 21st century.
Formation, Crozet, and crossing the Blue Ridge Mountains
The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway traced its origin to the Louisa Railroad of Louisa County, VirginiaLouisa County, Virginia
Louisa County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the population was 33,153. The county seat is Louisa.- History :...
, begun in 1836, and the James River & Kanawha Canal Company
James River and Kanawha Canal
The James River and Kanawha Canal was a canal in Virginia, which was built to facilitate shipments of passengers and freight by water between the western counties of Virginia and the coast....
, also begun in Virginia in 1785. The first train ran on December 20, 1837.
Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad
The Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad was a railroad connecting Richmond, Virginia, to Washington, D.C. It is now a portion of the CSX Transportation system....
(RF&P) at what is now Doswell
Doswell, Virginia
Doswell is an unincorporated community in Hanover County in the Central Region of the U.S. state of Virginia. Originally called Hanover Junction, it was located on the Virginia Central Railroad, which later became part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad at a crossing of the Richmond,...
, by 1850 the Louisa Railroad had won the right in Virginia courts to build southeast (timetable east) to Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
in competition with the RF&P. It also expanded west, reaching Charlottesville
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...
. In keeping with its new and larger vision, it was renamed the Virginia Central Railroad
Virginia Central Railroad
Virginia Central Railroad was chartered as the Louisa Railroad in 1836 by the Virginia Board of Public Works and had its name changed to Virginia Central Railroad in 1850. It connected Richmond with the Orange and Alexandria Railroad at Gordonsville in 1854, and had expanded westward past the Blue...
. However, ambitious plans to cross the Blue Ridge Mountains
Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most...
, the first mountain barrier to the west, at Swift Run Gap
Swift Run Gap
Swift Run Gap is a wind gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains located in the U.S. state of Virginia.-Geography:At an elevation of , it is the site of the mountain crossing of U.S...
proved both financially and technically unfeasible.
The Commonwealth of Virginia, always keen to help with "internal improvements" not only owned a portion of Virginia Central stock through the state Board of Public Works
Virginia Board of Public Works
The Virginia Board of Public Works was a governmental agency which oversaw and helped finance the development of Virginia's internal transportation improvements during the 19th century. In that era, it was customary to invest public funds in private companies, which were the forerunners of the...
, but incorporated and financed the Blue Ridge Railroad to accomplish the hard and expensive task of crossing the Blue Ridge Mountains. Under the leadership of the great early civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
Claudius Crozet
Claudius Crozet
Benoit Claudius Crozet was an educator and civil engineer.Crozet was born in France. After serving in the French military, in 1816, he immigrated to the United States. He taught at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, and helped found the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington,...
, the Blue Ridge RR built over the mountains, using four tunnels, including the 4263 feet (1,299.4 m) Blue Ridge Tunnel
Blue Ridge Tunnel
The Blue Ridge Tunnel, also known as the Crozet Tunnel, was the longest of four tunnels built on the Blue Ridge Railroad to cross the Blue Ridge Mountains at Rockfish Gap near Afton Mountain in central Virginia...
at the top of the pass, then one of the longest tunnels in the world.
At the same time, Virginia Central was building westward from the west foot of the Blue Ridge, crossing the Shenandoah Valley
Shenandoah Valley
The Shenandoah Valley is both a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians , to the north by the Potomac River...
(a part of the Great Appalachian Valley
Great Appalachian Valley
The Great Valley, also called the Great Appalachian Valley or Great Valley Region, is one of the major landform features of eastern North America. It is a gigantic trough — a chain of valley lowlands — and the central feature of the Appalachian Mountain system...
) and Great North Mountain
Great North Mountain
Great North Mountain is a long mountain range within the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians in the U.S. states of Virginia and West Virginia. The range is located west of the Shenandoah Valley and Massanutten Mountain in Virginia, and east of the Allegheny Mountains and Cacapon River in West...
, finally reaching the foot of the Alleghany Mountains
Allegheny Mountains
The Allegheny Mountain Range , also spelled Alleghany, Allegany and, informally, the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the eastern United States and Canada...
(note that in Virginia Alleghany is spelled with an "a") in 1856 at a point known as Jackson's River Station. This is the site that would later be called Clifton Forge
Clifton Forge, Virginia
Clifton Forge is a town in Alleghany County, Virginia, United States which is part of the Roanoke Region. The population was 3,884 at the 2010 census. The Jackson River flows through the town, which as a result was once known as Jackson's River Station....
.
To finish its line across the mountainous territory of the Alleghany Plateau (known in old Virginia as the "Transmountaine"), the Commonwealth again chartered a state-subsidized railroad called the Covington and Ohio Railroad
Covington and Ohio Railroad
Covington and Ohio Railroad was part of a planned railroad link between eastern Virginia and the Ohio River in the 1850s. The mountainous region of the Allegheny Front of the Appalachian Plateau between an existing canal, railroads and navigable rivers represented a formidable obstacle.The...
, authorized by the General Assembly in 1853. This company completed important grading work on the Alleghany grade and did considerable work on numerous tunnels over the mountains and in the west. It also did a good deal of roadway work around Charleston on the Kanawha River
Kanawha River
The Kanawha River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 97 mi long, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The largest inland waterway in West Virginia, it has formed a significant industrial region of the state since the middle of the 19th century.It is formed at the town of Gauley...
. Then the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
intervened, and work was stopped on the westward expansion.
C & O predecessors during the Civil War
During the Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
the Virginia Central Railroad
Virginia Central Railroad
Virginia Central Railroad was chartered as the Louisa Railroad in 1836 by the Virginia Board of Public Works and had its name changed to Virginia Central Railroad in 1850. It connected Richmond with the Orange and Alexandria Railroad at Gordonsville in 1854, and had expanded westward past the Blue...
was one of the Confederacy's most important lines, carrying food from the Shenandoah region to Richmond, and ferrying troops and supplies back and forth as the campaigns surrounded its tracks frequently. It had an important connection with the Orange and Alexandria Railroad
Orange and Alexandria Railroad
The Orange and Alexandria Railroad was an intrastate railroad in Virginia, United States. It extended from Alexandria to Gordonsville, with another section from Charlottesville to Lynchburg...
at Gordonsville, Virginia
Gordonsville, Virginia
Gordonsville is a town in Louisa and Orange counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 1,496 at the 2010 census.-History:Nathaniel Gordon purchased in 1787 and in 1794, or possibly earlier, applied for and was granted a license to operate a tavern...
. On more than one occasion, the Virginia Central was used in actual tactical operations, transporting troops directly to the battlefield. But, it was a prime target for Federal armies, and by the end of the war had only about five miles (8 km) of track still in operation, and $40 in gold in its treasury.
Collis P. Huntington links Richmond with the Ohio Valley
Following the war, Virginia Central officials, led by company president Williams Carter WickhamWilliams Carter Wickham
Williams Carter Wickham was a lawyer, judge, politician, and an important Confederate cavalry general who fought in the Virginia campaigns during the American Civil War...
, realized that they would have to get capital to rebuild from outside the economically devastated South, and attempted to attract British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
interests, without success. Finally, they succeeded in getting Collis P. Huntington
Collis P. Huntington
Collis Potter Huntington was one of the Big Four of western railroading who built the Central Pacific Railroad as part of the first U.S. transcontinental railroad...
of New York, interested in the line. Huntington had been one of the "Big Four" involved in building the Central Pacific
Central Pacific Railroad
The Central Pacific Railroad is the former name of the railroad network built between California and Utah, USA that formed part of the "First Transcontinental Railroad" in North America. It is now part of the Union Pacific Railroad. Many 19th century national proposals to build a transcontinental...
portion of the Transcontinental Railroad
First Transcontinental Railroad
The First Transcontinental Railroad was a railroad line built in the United States of America between 1863 and 1869 by the Central Pacific Railroad of California and the Union Pacific Railroad that connected its statutory Eastern terminus at Council Bluffs, Iowa/Omaha, Nebraska The First...
, which was at this time just reaching completion. Huntington had a vision of a true transcontinental railroad that would go from sea to sea under one operating management, and decided that the Virginia Central might be the eastern link to this system.
Huntington supplied the Virginians with the money needed to complete the line to the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
, through what was now the new state of West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
. The old Covington & Ohio's properties were conveyed to them [Note: the name was Railroad at this time ... it will be changed later to Railway] in keeping with its new mission of linking the Tidewater coast of Virginia with the "Western Waters." This was the old dream of the "Great Connection" which had been current in Virginia since Colonial times.
On July 1, 1867, the C&O was completed nine miles (14 km) from Jackson's River Station
Clifton Forge, Virginia
Clifton Forge is a town in Alleghany County, Virginia, United States which is part of the Roanoke Region. The population was 3,884 at the 2010 census. The Jackson River flows through the town, which as a result was once known as Jackson's River Station....
to the town of Covington
Covington, Virginia
Covington is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia, located at the confluence of Jackson River and Dunlap Creek. It is in Alleghany County where it is also the county seat. The population was 5,961 in 2010. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Covington with Alleghany...
, county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Alleghany County
Alleghany County, Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 12,926 people, 5,149 households, and 3,866 families residing in the county. The population density was 29 people per square mile . There were 5,812 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile...
. By 1869, it had crossed Alleghany Mountain, using much of the tunneling and roadway work done by the Covington & Ohio before the war, and was running to the great mineral springs resort at White Sulphur Springs
White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
White Sulphur Springs is a city in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 2,444 at the 2010 census.-Geography:White Sulphur Springs is located at ....
, now in Greenbrier County, West Virginia
Greenbrier County, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 34,453 people, 14,571 households, and 9,922 families residing in the county. The population density was 34 people per square mile . There were 17,644 housing units at an average density of 17 per square mile...
. Here, stagecoach
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
connections were made for Charleston and the navigation on the Kanawha River (and thus water transportation on the whole Ohio/Mississippi system).
During 1869-1873 the hard work of building through West Virginia was done with large crews working from both ends: the new city of Huntington
Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia, along the Ohio River. Most of the city is in Cabell County, for which it is the county seat. A small portion of the city, mainly the neighborhood of Westmoreland, is in Wayne County. Its population was 49,138 at...
on the Ohio River and White Sulphur (much as the UP and CP had done in the transcontinental work). The line was completed at Hawk's Nest, West Virginia
Hawk's Nest, West Virginia
Hawk's Nest, the site of Hawks Nest State Park, is a peak on Gauley Mountain in Ansted, West Virginia, USA. The cliffs at this point rise 585 ft above the New River. Located on the James River and Kanawha Turnpike , many early travelers on this road stopped to see the view of the river below...
in the New River Valley on January 28, 1873.
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
stretch of the C & O was the site of the legendary competition between John Henry
John Henry (folklore)
John Henry is an American folk hero and tall tale. Henry worked as a "steel-driver"—a man tasked with hammering and chiseling rock in the construction of tunnels for railroad tracks. In the legend, John Henry's prowess as a steel-driver was measured in a race against a steam powered hammer,...
and a steam-powered machine; the competition is said to have taken place in a tunnel south of Talcott, West Virginia
Talcott, West Virginia
Talcott is an unincorporated community in Summers County, West Virginia, United States.It lies along West Virginia Route 3 and the Greenbrier River to the east of the city of Hinton, the county seat of Summers County. Its elevation is 1,526 feet , and it is located at about...
near the Greenbrier River
Greenbrier River
The Greenbrier River is a tributary of the New River, long, in southeastern West Virginia, USA. Via the New, Kanawha and Ohio Rivers, it is part of the watershed of the Mississippi River, draining an area of...
. The C&O's westward expansion was completed at a cost of $23,394,263.69 (over $414 million in 2010 dollars).
Typical of the men who built the C & O during this period was William Nelson Page, a civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
who had attended special courses in engineering at the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
before he went to work on the railroad. Page directed the location and construction of the New River
New River (West Virginia)
The New River, part of the Ohio River watershed, is a tributary of the Kanawha River about 320 mi long. The river flows through the U.S. states of North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia...
Canyon Bridge in 1871 and 1872, and of the Mill Creek Canyon bridge in 1874. In 1875 and 1876, he led the surveying party charged with mapping out the route of the double-track railway to extend between Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
and the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
via the New River and Kanawha Valleys of West Virginia. Like many men who came to West Virginia with the railroad, Page was struck with both the beauty and potential of the natural resources and is considered one of the more energetic and successful men who helped develop West Virginia's rich bituminous coal
Bituminous coal
Bituminous coal or black coal is a relatively soft coal containing a tarlike substance called bitumen. It is of higher quality than lignite coal but of poorer quality than Anthracite...
fields in the late 19th and early 20th century. Page and his wife Emma Hayden Gilham, settled in the tiny mountain hamlet of Ansted, West Virginia
Ansted, West Virginia
Ansted is a town in Fayette County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is situated on high bluffs along U.S. Highway 60 on a portion of the Midland Trail a National Scenic Byway near Hawk's Nest overlooking the New River far below....
, a town located in Fayette County
Fayette County, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 47,579 people, 18,945 households, and 13,128 families residing in the county. The population density was 72 people per square mile . There were 21,616 housing units at an average density of 33 per square mile...
which was named for British geologist David T. Ansted
David T. Ansted
David Thomas Ansted was an English geologist and author.- Youth, education :Ansted was born in London on 5 February 1814. He was educated at Jesus College, Cambridge, and after taking his degree of M.A...
, who had mapped much of the region's coal resources in 1853. The palatial Page Mansion
Page-Vawter House
Page-Vawter House in the town of Ansted in Fayette County, West Virginia was built in 1889-90 by company carpenters of the Gauley Mountain Coal Company for the family of William Nelson Page, who was company president. The palatial white Victorian mansion is located on a knoll in the middle of town...
was built on a high bluff overlooking the New River far below, where the C&O occupied both sides of the narrow valley. Between the bridge just below Sewell and the one at Hawks Nest, one track is on the west bank of the New River, and the other on the east bank.
Collis Huntington intended to connect the C&O with his western and mid-western holdings, but had much other railroad construction to finance and he stopped the line at the Ohio and over the next few years did little to improve its rough construction or develop traffic. The only connection to the West was by packet boats operating on the Ohio River. Because the great mineral resources of the region hadn't been fully realized yet, the C&O suffered through the bad times brought on by the Financial Panic of 1873
Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 triggered a severe international economic depression in both Europe and the United States that lasted until 1879, and even longer in some countries. The depression was known as the Great Depression until the 1930s, but is now known as the Long Depression...
, and went into receivership in 1878. Williams C. Wickham was named as its Receiver. When reorganized, it was renamed The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Company.
West Virginia coal development and Newport News piers
Shortly after the end of the Civil War, Collis P. Huntington and his associates began buying up land in Warwick County, VirginiaWarwick County, Virginia
Warwick County was a county in Southeast Virginia that was created from Warwick River Shire, one of eight created in the Virginia Colony in 1634. It became the City of Warwick on July 16, 1952...
. During the ten years from 1878 to 1888, C&O's coal resources began to be developed and shipped eastward. Transportation began of southern West Virginia coal to Newport News
Newport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
where it was loaded on coast-wise shipping and transported to the Northeast became a staple of the C&O's business at this time.
In 1881, C&O's new Peninsula Extension
Peninsula Extension
The Peninsula Extension which created the Peninsula Subdivision of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was the new railroad line on the Virginia Peninsula from Richmond to southeastern Warwick County...
was completed from Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
through the new Church Hill Tunnel
Church Hill Tunnel
Church Hill Tunnel is an old Chesapeake and Ohio Railway tunnel extending for approximately 4,000 feet under the Church Hill section of Richmond, Virginia. Built in the early 1870s, in 1925, the tunnel collapsed on a work train killing four and trapping a steam locomotive and some flat cars...
and down the Virginia Peninsula
Virginia Peninsula
The Virginia Peninsula is a peninsula in southeast Virginia, USA, bounded by the York River, James River, Hampton Roads and Chesapeake Bay.Hampton Roads is the common name for the metropolitan area that surrounds the body of water of the same name...
through Williamsburg
Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg is an independent city located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 Census, the city had an estimated population of 14,068. It is bordered by James City County and York County, and is an independent city...
to reach coal pier
Coal pier
A coal pier is a transloading facility designed for the transfer of coal between rail and ship.The typical facility for loading ships consists of a holding area and a system of conveyors for transferring the coal to dockside and loading it into the ship's cargo holds...
s located on the harbor Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
, the East Coast of the United State's largest ice-free port. The Peninsula Subdivision featured gentle grades through coastal plain
Coastal plain
A coastal plain is an area of flat, low-lying land adjacent to a seacoast and separated from the interior by other features. One of the world's longest coastal plains is located in eastern South America. The southwestern coastal plain of North America is notable for its species diversity...
s of the Tidewater region of Virginia
Tidewater region of Virginia
The Tidewater region of Virginia is the eastern portion of the Commonwealth of Virginia formally known as Hampton Roads. The term tidewater may be correctly applied to all portions of any area, including Virginia, where the water level is affected by the tides...
, dropping only about 30 feet in elevation, from Richmond (54 feet above sea-level) to Newport News (at 15 feet above sea-level).
Collis P. Huntington helped develop the tiny unincorporated community at Newport New Point into a new independent city
Independent city
An independent city is a city that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity. These type of cities should not be confused with city-states , which are fully sovereign cities that are not part of any other sovereign state.-Historical precursors:In the Holy Roman Empire,...
with the coal and other railroad business and the development of Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company.
Morgan and Vanderbilt take control
In 1888 Huntington lost control of the C&O in a reorganization without foreclosure that saw his majority interest lost to the interests of J.P. Morgan and William K. VanderbiltWilliam Kissam Vanderbilt
William Kissam Vanderbilt was a member of the prominent American Vanderbilt family. He managed railroads and was a horse breeder.-Biography:...
. In those days before US anti-trust laws were created, many smaller railroads which appeared to be in competition with each other were essentially under common control. Even the leaders of large Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
(PRR) and New York Central Railroad
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...
(NYC), obstensibly bitter rivals, had secretly entered into a "community of interests" pact.
Morgan and Vanderbilt had Melville E. Ingalls
Melville E. Ingalls
Melville Ezra Ingalls , commonly abbreviated M.E. Ingalls, was a Massachusetts state legislator who went on to become president of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad .-Career:...
installed as President.
Ingalls was, at the time, also President of the Vanderbilt's Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (The "Big Four System"), and held both presidencies concurrently for the next decade. Ingalls installed George W. Stevens as general manager and effective head of the C&O.
The C&O gains a water level route along the James River across Virginia
In 1889 the Richmond and Allegheny RailroadRichmond and Allegheny Railroad
The Richmond and Alleghany Railroad was built along the James River along the route of the James River and Kanawha Canal from Richmond on the fall line at the head of navigation to a point west of Lynchburg near Buchanan, Virginia, and combined with the Buchanan and Clifton Forge Railway Company to...
company, which had been built along the tow-path of the defunct James River and Kanawha Canal
James River and Kanawha Canal
The James River and Kanawha Canal was a canal in Virginia, which was built to facilitate shipments of passengers and freight by water between the western counties of Virginia and the coast....
, was merged into the C&O, giving it a down grade "water level" line from Clifton Forge
Clifton Forge, Virginia
Clifton Forge is a town in Alleghany County, Virginia, United States which is part of the Roanoke Region. The population was 3,884 at the 2010 census. The Jackson River flows through the town, which as a result was once known as Jackson's River Station....
to Richmond, avoiding the heavy grades of North Mountain and the Blue Ridge on the original Virginia Central route. On this line, trains descend nearly 1,000 feet in elevation to Richmond (54 feet elevation) following the path of the river. This "James River
James River (Virginia)
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is long, extending to if one includes the Jackson River, the longer of its two source tributaries. The James River drains a catchment comprising . The watershed includes about 4% open water and an area with a population of 2.5 million...
Line" became the principal artery of eastbound coal transportation down to the present day.
Ingalls and Stevens completely rebuilt the C&O to "modern" standards with ballasted roadbed, enlarged and lined tunnels, steel bridges, and heavier steel rails, as well as new, larger, cars and locomotives.
In 1888, the C&O built the Cincinnati Division, from Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington, West Virginia
Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia, along the Ohio River. Most of the city is in Cabell County, for which it is the county seat. A small portion of the city, mainly the neighborhood of Westmoreland, is in Wayne County. Its population was 49,138 at...
down the south bank of the Ohio River in Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
and across the river at Cincinnati, connecting with the "Big Four" and other Midwestern Railroads.
Great Lakes shipping, Chicago
From 1900 to 1920 most of the C&O's lines tapping the rich bituminous coalBituminous coal
Bituminous coal or black coal is a relatively soft coal containing a tarlike substance called bitumen. It is of higher quality than lignite coal but of poorer quality than Anthracite...
fields of southern West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
and eastern Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
were built, and the C&O as it was known throughout the rest of the 20th Century was essentially in place.
In 1910 C&O merged the Chicago, Cincinnati & Louisville Railroad into its system. This line had been built diagonally across the state of Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
from Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
to Hammond
Hammond, Indiana
Hammond is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. The population was 80,830 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Hammond is located at ....
in the preceding decade. This gave the C&O a direct line from Cincinnati to the great railroad hub of Chicago.
Also in 1910, C&O interests bought control of the Kanawha and Michigan (K&M) and Hocking Valley (HV) lines in Ohio, with a view to connecting with the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
through Columbus
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
. Eventually anti-trust laws forced C&O to abandon its K&M interests, but it was allowed to retain the Hocking Valley, which operated about 350 miles (563.3 km) in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, including a direct line from Columbus to the port of Toledo
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
, and numerous branches southeast of Columbus in the Hocking Coal Fields. But there was no direct connection with the C&O's mainline, now hauling previously undreamed-of quantities of coal. To get its coal up to Toledo and into Great Lakes shipping, C&O contracted with its rival Norfolk & Western to carry trains from Kenova,. W. Va.
Kenova, West Virginia
Kenova is a city in Wayne County, West Virginia, at the confluence of the Ohio and Big Sandy Rivers. The name of the town comes from its unique position where the borders of Kentucky, Ohio, and Virginia meet. Founded in 1859 but not incorporated until 1894, the town's early history and...
to Columbus. N&W, however, limited this business and the arrangement was never satisfactory.
C&O gained access to the Hocking Valley by building a new line directly from a point a few miles from its huge and growing terminal at Russell, Ky.
Russell, Kentucky
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,645 people, 1,428 households, and 1,106 families residing in the city. The population density was 910.5 people per square mile . There were 1,584 housing units at an average density of 395.7 per square mile...
, to Columbus between 1917 and 1926. It crossed the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
at Limeville, Ky. (Sciotoville, Ohio
Sciotoville, Ohio
Sciotoville is a populated place in the city of Portsmouth in Scioto County, Ohio. It is located at the intersection of U.S. 52 and State Route 335 between the village of New Boston and Wheelersburg in Scioto County along the northern bank of the Ohio River...
), on the great Sciotoville Bridge
Sciotoville Bridge
The Sciotoville Bridge is a steel continuous truss bridge carrying tracks of the CSX railroad across the Ohio River between Siloam - a junction located north of Limeville, Kentucky and east of South Shore, Kentucky - and Sciotoville, Ohio in the United States...
which remains today the mightiest bridge ever built from point of view of its load capacity. It was truly a monument to engineering, but seldom commented on outside of engineering circles because of its relatively remote location.
With the connection at Columbus complete, C&O soon was sending more of its high quality metallurgical and steam coal west than east, and in 1930 it merged the Hocking Valley into its system.
Passenger Operations and "Chessie," The Kitten
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway never spent lavishly on streamlined passenger trains, or passenger service in general, opting to put most of its resources into moving coal and freight in general. However, it did have a number of well known passenger trains including the George WashingtonGeorge Washington (C&O)
The George Washington was a named passenger train of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway running on a route between Cincinnati, Ohio and Washington, D.C. -History:...
, Fast Flying Virginian, Sportsman, Pere Marquette, and Resort Special. While the George Washington
George Washington (C&O)
The George Washington was a named passenger train of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway running on a route between Cincinnati, Ohio and Washington, D.C. -History:...
was the railroad's flagship the Fast Flying Virginian (which connected Washington, D.C. and Newport News) and Resort Special were also well-traveled trains on the system. Much of the reason for the popularity of C&O's passenger trains was because of Chessie, the sleeping kitten
Chessie (railroad mascot)
Chessie was a popular cat character used as a symbol of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. Derived from an etching by Viennese artist Guido Gruenwald, the image first appeared in an advertisement in the September 1933 issue of Fortune magazine with the slogan "Sleep Like a Kitten and Wake Up Fresh...
, one of the most successful and fondly remembered marketing campaigns ever developed. Chessie was so popular that when she debuted in 1933 the railroad could not keep enough merchandise in stock. While the kitten was created by artist Guido Grenewald the success of Chessie as a marketing tool is often credited to Lionel Probert, at the time an assistant to the C&O president.
Van Sweringen era - Pere Marquette Railroad
Van Sweringen brothers
Oris Paxton Van Sweringen and Mantis James Van Sweringen were brothers who became railroad barons in order to develop Shaker Heights, Ohio. They are better known as O.P. Van Sweringen and M.J. Van Sweringen, or by their collective nickname, the Vans...
(O. P. and M. J. Van Sweringen), bought a controlling interest in the line as part of their expansion of the Nickel Plate Road (NKP) system. Eventually they controlled the NKP, C&O, Pere Marquette Railroad (in Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
and Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
), and Erie
Erie Railroad
The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in New York State, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, originally connecting New York City with Lake Erie...
railroads. They managed to control this huge (for the time) system by a maze of holding companies and interlocking directorships. This house of cards tumbled when the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
began and the Van Sweringen companies collapsed.
However, the C&O was a strong line. Despite the fact that in the early 1930s over 50% of American railroads went into receivership, it not only avoided bankruptcy, but took the occasion of cheap labor and materials to again completely rebuild itself. During the hard economic times when it seemed the whole country was retrenching, C&O was boring new tunnels, adding double track, rebuilding bridges, upgrading the weight of its rail, and rebuilding its roadbed, all with money from its principal commodity of haulage: coal. Even during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, coal was something that had to be used everywhere, and C&O was sitting astride some of the best bituminous
Bituminous coal
Bituminous coal or black coal is a relatively soft coal containing a tarlike substance called bitumen. It is of higher quality than lignite coal but of poorer quality than Anthracite...
seams in the country.
Because of this great upgrading and building program, C&O was in prime condition to carry the monumental loads needed during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. During the War it transported men and material in unimagined quantities as the U. S. used the Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
Port of Embarkation as a principal departure point for the European Theater. The invasion of North Africa was loaded there. Of course, in addition to fueling the ships of the U.S. Navy and the merchant marine, coal was also needed in ever increasing quantities by war industries. C&O was ready with a powerful, well organized, well maintained railway powered by the largest and most modern locomotives.
Post World War II - Robert R. Young
By the end of the World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, C&O was poised to help America during its great growth during the decades following, and at mid-century was truly a line of national importance. It became more so, at least in the public eye through Robert Ralph Young
Robert R. Young
Robert Ralph Young was a United States financier and industrialist. He is best-known for leading the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway and New York Central Railroad during and after World War II. He was a brother-in-law of the famous western painter Georgia O'Keeffe.Because of his initials, R.R...
, its mercurial Chairman, and his Alleghany Corporation.
Young got control of the C&O through the remnants of the Van Sweringen companies, in 1942, and for the next decade he became "the gadfly of the rails," as he challenged old methods of financing and operating railroads. He regarded himself as a crusader against the mismanagement of railroads by banking interests. Young's most famous advertisement slogan was "A hog can cross the country without changing trains - but you can't."
Nicknamed "Rail Road Young", R.R. Young inaugurated many forward looking advances in technology that have ramifications to the present. He changed the C&O's herald (logo) to "C&O for Progress" to embody his ideas that C&O would lead the industry to a new day. He installed a well-staffed research and development department that came up with ideas for passenger service that are thought to be futuristic even now, and for freight service that would challenge the growth of trucking. Young eventually gave up his C&O position to become Chairman of the New York Central (NYC). However, Young was unable to accomplish results he had promised stockholders at the NYC. A lifelong victim of depression, he committed suicide in 1958.
During the Young era and following, C&O was headed by Walter J. Tuohy, under whose control the "For Progress" theme continued, though in a more muted way after the departure of Young. During this time, C&O installed the first large computer system in railroading, developed larger and better freight cars of all types, switched (reluctantly) from steam to diesel motive power, and diversified its traffic, which had already occurred in 1947 when it merged into the system the old Pere Marquette Railroad (PM) of Michigan and Ontario, Canada, which had been controlled by the C&O since Van Sweringen days. The PM's huge automotive industry traffic, taking raw materials in and finished vehicle out, gave C&O some protection from the swings in the coal trade, putting merchandise traffic at 50% of the company's haulage.
Chessie System, CSX
C&O continued to be one of the more profitable and financially sound railways in the United States, and in 1963, under the guidance of Cyrus S. EatonCyrus S. Eaton
Cyrus Stephen Eaton was a Canadian-born investment banker, businessman and philanthropist in the United States, with a career that spanned seventy years....
, helped start the modern merger era by "affiliating" with the ancient modern of railroads, the hoary Baltimore & Ohio. Avoiding a mistake that would become endemic to later mergers among other lines, a gradual amalgamation of the two lines' services, personnel, motive power and rolling stock, and facilities built a new and stronger system, which was ready for a new name in 1972. Under the leadership of the visionary Hays T. Watkins Jr., the C&O, B&O and Western Maryland Railway
Western Maryland Railway
The Western Maryland Railway was an American Class I railroad which operated in Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It was primarily a coal hauling and freight railroad, with a small passenger train operation. The WM became part of the Chessie System in 1973 and ceased operating its lines...
became Chessie System
Chessie System
Chessie System, Inc. was a holding company that owned the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway , the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad , the Western Maryland Railway , and several smaller carriers. It was incorporated in Virginia on February 26, 1973, and it acquired the C&O on June 15...
, taking on the name officially that had been used colloquially for so long for the C&O, after the mascot kitten
Chessie (railroad mascot)
Chessie was a popular cat character used as a symbol of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. Derived from an etching by Viennese artist Guido Gruenwald, the image first appeared in an advertisement in the September 1933 issue of Fortune magazine with the slogan "Sleep Like a Kitten and Wake Up Fresh...
used in ads since 1933.
Under Watkins' careful and visionary leadership, Chessie System then merged with Seaboard System Railroad
Seaboard System Railroad
The Seaboard System Railroad was a former Class I railroad created by merging the railroads of the Family Lines System. Although sharing common ownership, the railroads of the Family Lines System used different names when conducting business...
(itself a combination of great railroads of the Southeast including Seaboard Air Line Railroad
Seaboard Air Line Railroad
The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , which styled itself "The Route of Courteous Service," was an American railroad whose corporate existence extended from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime rival, to form the Seaboard Coast Line...
, Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was an American railroad that existed between 1900 and 1967, when it merged with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, its long-time rival, to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad...
, Louisville and Nashville Railroad
Louisville and Nashville Railroad
The Louisville and Nashville Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States.Chartered by the state of Kentucky in 1850, the L&N, as it was generally known, grew into one of the great success stories of American business...
, Clinchfield Railroad
Clinchfield Railroad
The Clinchfield Railroad was an operating and holding company for the Carolina, Clinchfield and Ohio Railway . The line ran from the coalfields of Virginia and Elkhorn City, Kentucky, to the textile mills of South Carolina...
and others), to form a new mega-railroad: CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...
. Western Maryland was merged into B&O on May 1, 1983. B&O was merged into C&O on April 30, 1987, and C&O was merged into CSX Transportation on Aug. 31, 1987. After acquiring 42% of Conrail in 1999, CSX became one of four major railroad systems left in the country.
In Popular Culture
Tex BenekeTex Beneke
Gordon Lee Beneke , professionally known as Tex Beneke, was an American saxophonist, singer, and bandleader. His career is a history of associations with bandleader Glenn Miller and former musicians and singers who worked with Miller. His band is also associated with the careers of Eydie Gorme...
and his Orchestra performed a big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
number 'Chesapeake And Ohio',written by Sigman & Magidson, in which Tex sang of his regret about not requesting the address of a lady he met on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway.
See also
- List of Chesapeake and Ohio locomotives
- George WashingtonGeorge Washington (C&O)The George Washington was a named passenger train of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway running on a route between Cincinnati, Ohio and Washington, D.C. -History:...
, the C&O's premier passenger train from 1932–1971