In 1886, Randolph Harrison, of the Virginia department of Agriculture, cited Cumberland Mining Company, stating that the United States had purchased stock in the Brighthope Railway. He continued by citing their assertion that extending the railway into

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

would increase the value of farms there because they could sell consumer agricultural products such as fruit, dairy and vegetables to all markets of Virginia. The Brighthope Railway was founded in 1877 by the creditors of the

Clover Hill Railroad The Clover Hill Railroad was a railroad company that operated for 36 years in central Virginia near Richmond. The railroad was created to carry coal most efficiently from the Clover Hill Pits in Winterpock, Virginia, to further transportation poi ...

who bought that railroad when the Clover Hill Railroad went bankrupt. The Brighthope Railway continued in the role of the

, hauling coal from the

Clover Hill Pits The Clover Hill Pits are a number of coal shafts and mines that operated in the Southside area of Richmond, Virginia from 1837 until around 1883. History In 1837, coal was found after a heavy rain at Clover Hill Plantation, in Chesterfield Count ...

Winterpock, Virginia Winterpock is an unincorporated community in western Chesterfield County, Virginia, United States. Winterpock does not have its own post office. History The Clover Hill Pits were coal mines from 1837 to 1883. Many of the miners lived in town na ...

. In addition to coal, the Bright Hope Railway transported timber and agricultural products and had passenger service. The Bright Hope Railway was narrowed from standard gauge to narrow gauge and rerouted in 1881. In 1886, much of the southern rails were changed to standard gauge. The Brighthope Railway was not changed back.Southern Railfan, The Days They Changed the Gauge
/ref> In 1889 the Bright Hope Railway was sold in foreclosure for $200,000 to the

Farmville and Powhatan Railroad In 1886, Randolph Harrison, of the Virginia department of Agriculture, cited Cumberland Mining Company, stating that businessmen would soon open a hotel at Lithia Springs, Farmville, VA for people seeking the healing waters. The Brighthope railway ...

, which became the main line of the

Tidewater and Western Railroad The Farmville and Powhatan Railroad went bankrupt in 1905 and became the Tidewater and Western Railroad. The line survived until 1917 when it was pulled up and sent to France for the World War I effort. The Tidewater and Western Railroad carried ...

. The line survived until 1917 when it was pulled up and sent to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

for the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

effort.

Stations

Fendley Station remodeled into a Park Office

Purdue Station on the Brighthope Railway

The Brighthope Railway was a

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...

railway to Osborne Landing when it was created. In 1881, sand and silt from the

Dutch Gap Dutch Gap Canal is located on the James River in Chesterfield County, Virginia just north of the lost 17th-century town of Henricus. The canal's construction was initiated by Union forces during the American Civil War to bypass a meander loop of ...

Canal made the Osborne Landing dock unreachable by boat. The Railway was narrowed to narrow gauge and routed to

Bermuda Hundred Bermuda Hundred was the first administrative division in the English colony of Virginia. It was founded by Sir Thomas Dale in 1613, six years after Jamestown. At the southwestern edge of the confluence of the Appomattox and James Rivers oppos ...

, the newer docks could harbor coastal colliers. It was lengthened four miles at the western end to reach the Appomattox at Epps Falls in the

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. The Railway has a bridge over the

Richmond and Petersburg Railroad The Richmond and Petersburg Railroad moved passengers and goods between Richmond and Petersburg from 1838 to 1898. It survived the American Civil War and eventually merged into the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1900. History The Richmond and Pe ...

and the Swift Creek Rail Bridge. * Before 1881: railroad length: 21 miles ** Winterpock, the small coal mining town, where the Bright Hope Mines coal mines were located. ** Summit ** Perdue ** Fendley was a water station for the train located on present day Beach Rd (). This station was moved to become the office for

Pocahontas State Park Pocahontas State Park is a state park located in Chesterfield, Virginia, United States, not far from the state capitol of Richmond. The park was laid out by the Civilian Conservation Corps along the Swift Creek, and at was, at its creation, Virg ...

. **

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

was a small town at the intersection with the

in the 1870s. ** Osborne's, docks on the James River in the

Tidewater region Tidewater refers to the north Atlantic coastal plain region of the United States of America. Definition Culturally, the Tidewater region usually includes the low-lying plains of southeast Virginia, northeastern North Carolina, southern Maryl ...

site of

Action at Osborne's The action at Osborne's (sometimes spelled Osburn's or Osborns), Virginia was a minor naval–land engagement on April 27, 1781, in the James River during the American Revolutionary War. The battle resulted in the near-complete destruction of the ...

in 1781. * After 1881: railroad length: 32 miles ** Appomattox River, in the

, the westernmost stop. ** Winterpock ** Summit ** Perdue ** Fendley Station **

on the

James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesapea ...

in Tidewater, where coal could be transported by coastal colliers.

Brighthope rail cars

In 1883, the Brighthope Railway had four

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

s, two

passenger cars A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...

and 144

freight car A railroad car, railcar (American and Canadian English), railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck (British English and UIC), also called a train car, train wagon, train carriage or train truck, is ...

Railroad engineer A train driver, engine driver, engineman or locomotive driver, commonly known as an engineer or railroad engineer in the United States and Canada, and also as a locomotive handler, locomotive operator, train operator, or motorman, is a pers ...

s included Edwin B., Cheatham;

fireman A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also a ...

Jerry Mack and conductor Luther Puckett.

Modern pathway

Following the path of the old railroad today travels down

Virginia State Route 10 State Route 10 (SR 10) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. The state highway runs from U.S. Route 360 (US 360) in Richmond east to SR 337 in Suffolk. SR 10 is a major suburban highway through Chesterfield County between ...

from

on the north side of the

Appomattox River The Appomattox River is a tributary of the James River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 in central and eastern Virginia in the United ...

and then east on Carver Heights Drive,

, through a landfill and housing complex, next to Bright Hope Road then along Beach Road then South on Coalboro Rd.

Location

References

{{Reflist Rail freight transportation in the United States Defunct Virginia railroads Railway companies established in 1877 Railway companies disestablished in 1889 Standard gauge railways in the United States 3 ft gauge railways in the United States American companies disestablished in 1889 American companies established in 1877