The Chesapeake Western Railway is an intrastate

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

in west-central

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and it is an

operating subsidiary An operating subsidiary is a subsidiary of a corporation through which the parent company (which may or may not be a holding company) indirectly conducts some portion of its business. Usually, an operating subsidiary can be distinguished in that ...

of the Norfolk Southern Railway. It extended from

Elkton, Virginia Elkton (formerly Conrad's Store) is an incorporated town in Rockingham County, Virginia, United States. It is included in the Harrisonburg Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,762 at the 2010 census. Elkton was named for the Elk ...

on the South Fork of the Shenandoah River in Rockingham County to Stokesville, Virginia in

Augusta County Augusta County is a county in the Shenandoah Valley on the western edge of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The second-largest county of Virginia by total area, it completely surrounds the independent cities of Staunton and Waynesboro. Its count ...

at the foot of the

Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...

. At Elkton, it interchanged with the Norfolk and Western Railway. At Harrisonburg, Virginia it interchanged with the Southern Railway. Construction began in 1895 in Harrisonburg by the Chesapeake and Western Railroad, and proceed both east and west. To the west, Bridgewater, Virginia was the original terminus, but the line was extended to Stokesville by 1901 by the newly reorganized Chesapeake Western Railway. In 1933 the line was cut back to Bridgewater, and later to Dayton, Virginia. To the east the line reached Elkton by 1896, where the line's main yard and shops were constructed. In 1938 the line was bought by the line's general manager, Don Thomas, with the help of Norfolk and Western, which assumed direct control in 1954. In 1942, the Baltimore and Ohio's Valley Road of Virginia line, which ran between Harrisonburg and Lexington, Virginia was purchased, though the portion from Staunton, Virginia to Lexington was promptly dismantled. Later, a portion of the same line to the north of Harrisonburg as far as Mount Jackson, Virginia was added. The Chesapeake Western Railway operates three rail lines under Norfolk Southern ownership: *Chesapeake Western (Elkton to Dayton) *Chesapeake Western (Harrisonburg to Pleasant Valley) *Chesapeake Western (Harrisonburg to Bowman) At one time, the Chesapeake Western Railway operated its trackage as one rail line called the Chesapeake Western Branch under Norfolk Southern ownership, before it was split into three separate rail lines. A portion of the line south of Harrisonburg between Pleasant Valley, Rockingham County, Virginia is owned and operated by the Shenandoah Valley Railroad. Furthermore, the old Chesapeake Western Station remains standing in downtown Harrisonburg.

References

Detailed history

James Madison University Library, (Chesapeake and Western documents)

James Madison University Library, (Smals diaries)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chesapeake Western Railway Virginia railroads Predecessors of the Norfolk and Western Railway Railway companies established in 1901