Covington and Ohio Railroad
Encyclopedia
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
(eastern side) of the Appalachian Plateau
between an existing canal
, railroads and navigable rivers represented a formidable obstacle.
The railroad is notable in that it was never formally incorporated. Instead, it became part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
in 1868. Under the leadership of Williams Carter Wickham
and Collis P. Huntington
, it opened to through traffic in 1873.
In the early 21st century, the tracks form a vital portion of the rail network for CSX Transportation
as part of a pathway from the bituminous coal mines
of West Virginia
to the coal pier
s at Newport News, Virginia
.
or railroad link between the navigable rivers which drain to the Chesapeake Bay
and the Atlantic Ocean
at the fall line
and the Ohio River
, which lead to the Mississippi River
and the Gulf of Mexico
. As a surveyor, George Washington
had mapped out several potential routes, and in 1785, he been an early investor in a canal venture. The James River and Kanawha Canal
was the last final effort to do so by canal, and was partially completed. However, after 1830, emerging railroad technology made it increasingly clear that it offered a better solution to providing the desired link.
, which was always keen to help with "internal improvements" in the state's transportation infrastructure. The Virginia Central Railroad
, earlier known as the Louisa Railroad, had been formed in 1836 and was one of the state's oldest railroads. 40% of its stock was owned by the Virginia Board of Public Works. By the 1850s, it extended westerly from Richmond
on the fall line of the James River
through the Piedmont region of Virginia
.
A plan was developed to extend the Virginia Central across the Blue Ridge Mountains
and into the Shenandoah Valley
and points west. However, the railroad had found that a planned crossing of the Blue Ridge Mountains at Swift Run Gap
was financially unfeasible.
then incorporated and financed a new entity, the Blue Ridge Railroad, to accomplish the hard and expensive task of crossing the Blue Ridge mountain barrier to the west. Rather than attempting the more formidable Swift Run Gap, under the leadership of the great early civil engineer
Claudius Crozet
, the state-owned Blue Ridge Railroad built over the mountains at the next gap to the south, Rockfish Gap
near Afton Mountain, using four tunnel
s, including the 4,263-foot Blue Ridge Tunnel
at the top of the pass, then one of the longest tunnels in the world. The tunnel was 'holed-through' on Christmas Day, 1856, and was less than six inches off perfect alignment, as construction had proceeded from either end. Rail service didn't begin until April 1858, although temporary tracks over the top of the gap were in operation as early as 1854. Due to the extreme grade, the first train to cross over the mountain wrecked on its return journey eastwards the following day. The Blue Ridge Tunnel eliminated this grade. As a corporate entity, the Blue Ridge Railroad ceased to exist when the tunnels were completed, becoming part of the Virginia Central Railroad
.
(During the American Civil War, the tunnels were utilized as part of the so-called foot cavalry
movements of the Confederate troops of General Stonewall Jackson
).
, railroads and navigable rivers was the rugged terrain of the Allegheny Front
(eastern side) of the Appalachian Plateau
(an area known in old Virginia as the "Transmountaine" region) to reach the Kanawha River
(a tributary of the Ohio River).
In 1853, the Virginia General Assembly
passed legislation authorizing the Board of Public Works to construct a railroad from Covington
to the Ohio River. Planned for future incorporation and sale of stock, the project was called the Covington and Ohio Railroad, but construction was commenced with state funds appropriations. Important grading work on the Alleghany grade and considerable work on numerous tunnels over the mountains and in the west was done It also did a good deal of roadway work around Charleston
on the Kanawha River. However, the work was interrupted by the American Civil War (1861–1865).
After the War, part of Virginia had been subdivided to form the new state of West Virginia. After the War, state funds were no longer available for the project. Virginia's pre-war debt became a major political issue and allocation of a fair portion became a source of conflict with the new state of West Virginia. Prior to 1861, the State had purchased a total of $48,000,000 worth of stock in transportation improvements, many of which were heavily damaged or destroyed during the Civil War. For several decades after the War, the two states disputed the new state's share of the Virginian government's debt. The issue was finally settled in 1915, when the United States Supreme Court ruled that West Virginia owed Virginia $12,393,929.50. The final installment of this sum was paid off in 1939.
However, immediately after the War, both states wanted to encourage completion of the Covington and Ohio line. To do without government funding, the state legislatures of both Virginia and West Virginia authorized incorporation of the Covington and Ohio Railroad in 1866 and again in 1867. However, with no state funds were available to subsidize the project, the offer found no takers. Instead, under a plan offered by the Virginia General Assembly
, in 1868, the existing project was merged with the extant Virginia Central Railroad
to form a new enterprise to be known as the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
(C&O).
General Williams Carter Wickham
. After failing to find southern of British financing, he went to New York City. There, he successfully attracted both industrialist Collis P. Huntington
and new financing. The final spike ceremony for the 428-mile long line from Richmond to the Ohio River was held on January 29, 1873 at Hawk's Nest railroad bridge in the New River Valley
, near the town of Ansted
in Fayette County, West Virginia
.
from West Virginia's untapped natural resources with the completion of the new railroad. His agents began acquiring property in Warwick County
in eastern Virginia. In the 1880s, he oversaw extension of the C&O's new Peninsula Subdivision, which extended from the Church Hill Tunnel
in Richmond
southeast down the peninsula through Williamsburg
to Newport News, where the company developed coal pier
s on the harbor of Hampton Roads. to extend the C&O to what would become new coal piers at Newport News
.
.
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...
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...
in the 1850s. The mountainous region of the Allegheny Front
Allegheny Front
The Allegheny Front is the major southeast- or east-facing escarpment in the Allegheny Mountains in southern Pennsylvania, western Maryland, and eastern West Virginia, USA. The Allegheny Front delineates the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians to its east from the Appalachian Plateau to its west...
(eastern side) of the Appalachian Plateau
Appalachian Plateau
The Appalachian Plateau is the western part of the Appalachian mountains, stretching from New York and Alabama. The plateau is a second level United States physiographic region....
between an existing canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
, railroads and navigable rivers represented a formidable obstacle.
The railroad is notable in that it was never formally incorporated. Instead, it became part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
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...
in 1868. Under the leadership of Williams Carter Wickham
Williams 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...
and 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 opened to through traffic in 1873.
In the early 21st century, the tracks form a vital portion of the rail network for 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...
as part of a pathway from the bituminous coal mines
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...
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...
to the 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 at Newport News, Virginia
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...
.
Historical transportation need
Beginning in the 18th century, for purposes of shipping goods and passenger transportation, Virginians had long sought a canalCanal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
or railroad link between the navigable rivers which drain to the Chesapeake Bay
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay's drainage basin covers in the District of Columbia and parts of six states: New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West...
and the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
at the fall line
Fall line
A fall line is a geomorphologic unconformity between an upland region of relatively hard crystalline basement rock and a coastal plain of softer sedimentary rock. A fall line is typically prominent when crossed by a river, for there will often be rapids or waterfalls...
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...
, which lead to the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
and the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
. As a surveyor, George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
had mapped out several potential routes, and in 1785, he been an early investor in a canal venture. The 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 the last final effort to do so by canal, and was partially completed. However, after 1830, emerging railroad technology made it increasingly clear that it offered a better solution to providing the desired link.
Virginia Central Railroad
The early railroads in Virginia were privately-owned, but often received partial state-funding through investments by the Virginia Board of Public WorksVirginia 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...
, which was always keen to help with "internal improvements" in the state's transportation infrastructure. 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...
, earlier known as the Louisa Railroad, had been formed in 1836 and was one of the state's oldest railroads. 40% of its stock was owned by the Virginia Board of Public Works. By the 1850s, it extended westerly 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...
on the fall line of the 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...
through the Piedmont region of Virginia
Piedmont (United States)
The Piedmont is a plateau region located in the eastern United States between the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the main Appalachian Mountains, stretching from New Jersey in the north to central Alabama in the south. The Piedmont province is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division...
.
A plan was developed to extend the Virginia Central across 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...
and into 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...
and points west. However, the railroad had found that a planned crossing of the Blue Ridge Mountains 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...
was financially unfeasible.
Blue Ridge Railroad
To protect its investment and enable transportation, the Virginia General AssemblyVirginia General Assembly
The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the oldest legislative body in the Western Hemisphere, established on July 30, 1619. The General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Virginia House of Delegates, with 100 members,...
then incorporated and financed a new entity, the Blue Ridge Railroad, to accomplish the hard and expensive task of crossing the Blue Ridge mountain barrier to the west. Rather than attempting the more formidable Swift Run Gap, 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 state-owned Blue Ridge Railroad built over the mountains at the next gap to the south, Rockfish Gap
Rockfish Gap
Rockfish Gap is a wind gap located in the Blue Ridge Mountains between Charlottesville and Waynesboro, Virginia, United States, through Afton Mountain, which is frequently used to refer to the gap....
near Afton Mountain, using four tunnel
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...
s, including the 4,263-foot 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. The tunnel was 'holed-through' on Christmas Day, 1856, and was less than six inches off perfect alignment, as construction had proceeded from either end. Rail service didn't begin until April 1858, although temporary tracks over the top of the gap were in operation as early as 1854. Due to the extreme grade, the first train to cross over the mountain wrecked on its return journey eastwards the following day. The Blue Ridge Tunnel eliminated this grade. As a corporate entity, the Blue Ridge Railroad ceased to exist when the tunnels were completed, becoming part of 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...
.
(During the American Civil War, the tunnels were utilized as part of the so-called foot cavalry
Foot cavalry
Foot cavalry was an oxymoron coined to describe the rapid movements of infantry troops serving under Confederate General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson during the American Civil War...
movements of the Confederate troops of General Stonewall Jackson
Stonewall Jackson
ຄຽשת״ׇׂׂׂׂ֣|birth_place= Clarksburg, Virginia |death_place=Guinea Station, Virginia|placeofburial=Stonewall Jackson Memorial CemeteryLexington, Virginia|placeofburial_label= Place of burial|image=...
).
Covington to the Ohio River
In the 1850s, it became clear that the biggest obstacle to a through route to the Ohio River between the existing canalCanal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
, railroads and navigable rivers was the rugged terrain of the Allegheny Front
Allegheny Front
The Allegheny Front is the major southeast- or east-facing escarpment in the Allegheny Mountains in southern Pennsylvania, western Maryland, and eastern West Virginia, USA. The Allegheny Front delineates the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians to its east from the Appalachian Plateau to its west...
(eastern side) of the Appalachian Plateau
Appalachian Plateau
The Appalachian Plateau is the western part of the Appalachian mountains, stretching from New York and Alabama. The plateau is a second level United States physiographic region....
(an area known in old Virginia as the "Transmountaine" region) to reach 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...
(a tributary of the Ohio River).
In 1853, the Virginia General Assembly
Virginia General Assembly
The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the oldest legislative body in the Western Hemisphere, established on July 30, 1619. The General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Virginia House of Delegates, with 100 members,...
passed legislation authorizing the Board of Public Works to construct a railroad from 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...
to the Ohio River. Planned for future incorporation and sale of stock, the project was called the Covington and Ohio Railroad, but construction was commenced with state funds appropriations. Important grading work on the Alleghany grade and considerable work on numerous tunnels over the mountains and in the west was done It also did a good deal of roadway work around Charleston
Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...
on the Kanawha River. However, the work was interrupted by the American Civil War (1861–1865).
After the War, part of Virginia had been subdivided to form the new state of West Virginia. After the War, state funds were no longer available for the project. Virginia's pre-war debt became a major political issue and allocation of a fair portion became a source of conflict with the new state of West Virginia. Prior to 1861, the State had purchased a total of $48,000,000 worth of stock in transportation improvements, many of which were heavily damaged or destroyed during the Civil War. For several decades after the War, the two states disputed the new state's share of the Virginian government's debt. The issue was finally settled in 1915, when the United States Supreme Court ruled that West Virginia owed Virginia $12,393,929.50. The final installment of this sum was paid off in 1939.
However, immediately after the War, both states wanted to encourage completion of the Covington and Ohio line. To do without government funding, the state legislatures of both Virginia and West Virginia authorized incorporation of the Covington and Ohio Railroad in 1866 and again in 1867. However, with no state funds were available to subsidize the project, the offer found no takers. Instead, under a plan offered by the Virginia General Assembly
Virginia General Assembly
The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the oldest legislative body in the Western Hemisphere, established on July 30, 1619. The General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Virginia House of Delegates, with 100 members,...
, in 1868, the existing project was merged with the extant 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...
to form a new enterprise to be known as the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
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...
(C&O).
Forming the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
The head of the Virginia Central Railroad was former ConfederateConfederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
General Williams Carter Wickham
Williams 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...
. After failing to find southern of British financing, he went to New York City. There, he successfully attracted both 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...
and new financing. The final spike ceremony for the 428-mile long line from Richmond to the Ohio River was held on January 29, 1873 at Hawk's Nest railroad bridge in the New River Valley
New River Valley
The New River Valley is a region in the eastern United States along the New River in the Commonwealth of Virginia . The valley comprises the counties of Montgomery , Pulaski, Floyd, Giles and the independent City of Radford...
, near the town of Ansted
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....
in Fayette County, West Virginia
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...
.
Coal to Newport News
Huntington was also aware of the potential to ship eastbound coalCoal
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...
from West Virginia's untapped natural resources with the completion of the new railroad. His agents began acquiring property in Warwick County
Warwick 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...
in eastern Virginia. In the 1880s, he oversaw extension of the C&O's new Peninsula Subdivision, which extended from the 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...
in 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...
southeast down the peninsula 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 Newport News, where the company developed 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. to extend the C&O to what would become new coal piers at 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...
.
Modern use
In modern times, portions of the former Covington and Ohio Railroad are in use by CSX TransportationCSX 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...
.
See also
- Virginia Central RailroadVirginia Central RailroadVirginia 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...
- Blue Ridge Railroad
- Chesapeake and Ohio RailwayChesapeake and Ohio RailwayThe 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...