The Atlantic and Danville Railway was a

Class I railroad In the United States, railroad carriers are designated as Class I, II, or III, according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportation Board in 1992. With annual adjustments for inflation, the 2019 thresholds were US$5 ...

which operated in

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

and

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...

. The company was founded in 1882 and opened its mainline between

Portsmouth, Virginia Portsmouth is an independent city in southeast Virginia and across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,915. It is part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Naval ...

and

Danville, Virginia Danville is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States, located in the Southside Virginia region and on the fall line of the Dan River. It was a center of tobacco production and was an area of Confederate activi ...

in 1890. The Southern Railway leased the company from 1899–1949. The

Norfolk and Western Railway The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precisi ...

purchased the company in 1962 and reorganized it as the Norfolk, Franklin and Danville Railway.

History

Brodnax Station on the Atlantic and Danville Railway

The Atlantic and Danville Railway was incorporated in 1882 and opened its mainline between Portsmouth and Danville in 1890. The Southern Railway leased the company from 1899–1949. A branch line ran from

Emporia, Virginia Emporia is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, surrounded by Greensville County, United States. Emporia and a predecessor town have been the county seat of Greensville County since 1791. As of the 2020 census, the populatio ...

Claremont, Virginia Claremont is an incorporated town in Surry County, Virginia, United States. The population was 378 at the 2010 census. A granite marker stands as a memorial to the arrival of British settlers in the area. The town was incorporated in 1886, had a p ...

and interchanged with the

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was a United States Class I railroad formed in 1900, though predecessor railroads had used the ACL brand since 1871. In 1967 it merged with long-time rival Seaboard Air Line Railroad to form the Seaboard Coas ...

. The Southern Railway discontinued service on this branch in 1932; the Gray Lumber Company continued to use it for logging operations until 1938. After the Southern terminated the lease the Atlantic and Danville continued as an independent company for another dozen years. The company went bankrupt in 1960 and was purchased by the Norfolk and Western Railway in 1962. The N&W created a new subsidiary, the Norfolk, Franklin and Danville Railway, to operate the A&D line. The former A&D line from West Norfolk to Suffolk is currently in operation as the

Commonwealth Railway The Commonwealth Railway, Inc. is a United States Class III short-line railroad operating of track of a former Norfolk, Franklin and Danville Railway line from Suffolk, Virginia, to Portsmouth, Virginia. The main office is in the Wilroy are ...

. The Tobacco Heritage Trail is built on the old Atlantic and Danville Railway right of way in Brodnax, Virginia and La Crosse to

South Hill, Virginia South Hill is a town in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, United States. The population was 4,650 at the 2010 census. Located on major Interstate and U.S. highways, it has a full-service hospital (serving patients from several rural counties), a t ...

Stations

The Atlantic and Danville Railway had a 205 mile main line, Norfolk and Danville, in 1951. West Norfolk and Boon was a six mile spur. The train main line had trains that left Norfolk at 10:01 PM and arrived in Danville at 5:45 AM the next day. Then left at Danville at 8:45 PM and arrived in Norfolk at 5:40 AM the next day. *Norfolk and Danville **

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nort ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

** Pinners Point, which now has Pinners Point Interchange. ** Boone, a populated place in

Chesapeake, Virginia Chesapeake is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 249,422, it is the second-most populous independent city in Virginia, tenth-largest in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 90th ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include L ...

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former province on the western coast of the Netherlands. From the 10th to the 16th c ...

** Franklin ** Courtland ** Drewryville ** Emporia ** Pleasant Shade, between where Virginia State Route 607 crosses the A&D and

U.S. Route 58 U.S. Route 58 (US 58) is an east–west U.S. Highway that runs for from U.S. Route 25E just northwest of Harrogate, Tennessee, to U.S. Route 60 in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Until 1996, when the Cumberland Gap Tunnel opened, US 58 ran only ...

. ** Lawrenceville ** Brodnax ** La Crosse ** South Hill ** Union Level **

Baskerville Baskerville is a serif typeface designed in the 1750s by John Baskerville (1706–1775) in Birmingham, England, and cut into metal by punchcutter John Handy. Baskerville is classified as a transitional typeface, intended as a refinement of what ...

Boydton Boydton is a town in Mecklenburg County, Virginia, United States. The population was 431 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, and it is near Kerr Lake. Geography Boydton is located at (36.667997, −78.389001). ...

** Jeffress, where Virginia State Route 702 crosses the A&D. ** Antlers, where Virginia State Route 678 crosses the A&D. ** South Clarksville ** Buffalo Junction ** Virgilina ** Denniston, where

Virginia State Route 711 State Route 711 (SR 711) in the U.S. state of Virginia is a secondary route designation applied to multiple discontinuous road segments among the many counties. The list below describes the sections in each county that are designated SR 711. Li ...

crosses the A&D. ** Milton, stop for

Milton, North Carolina Milton is a town in Caswell County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 166 at the 2010 census. It is adjacent to the Virginia International Raceway, just across the state line in Virginia. The town's name was derived from its begin ...

** Danville *West Norfolk and Boone ** West Norfolk ** Churchland ** Boone

Railroad Company in 1896

The railroad company was organized as the Richmond and Mecklenburg which was operated by the Southern Railway in 1896. All but one of the board of Directors and the two officers lived in

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. The railroad employed 315 people in 1896, including the company officers,

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

s, firemen, engine men,

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas * Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...

s, ticket agents,

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenters tra ...

s, foremen, laborers and

telegraph operator A telegraphist (British English), telegrapher (American English), or telegraph operator is an operator who uses a telegraph key to send and receive the Morse code in order to communicate by land lines or radio. During the Great War the Royal ...

s and

dispatcher A dispatcher is a communications worker who receives and transmits information to coordinate operations of other personnel and vehicles carrying out a service. A number of organizations, including police and fire departments, emergency medical s ...

s. The trains carried passengers and mail and freight. Outbound freight consisted coal, lumber, and farm products such as flour, wheat, hay, tobacco and fruits and vegetables as well as livestock, meats, wool and leather. Inbound freight included

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...

, oil,

naval stores Naval stores are all liquid products derived from conifers. These materials include rosin, tall oil, pine oil, and terpentine. The term ''naval stores'' originally applied to the organic compounds used in building and maintaining wooden sail ...

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impu ...

products, machinery, cement, brick, lime, agricultural tools, wagons, alcoholic beverages, furniture and

houseware Household goods are goods and products used within households. They are the tangible and movable personal property placed in the rooms of a house, such as a bed or refrigerator. Economic role Businesses that produce household goods are categor ...

s. Cars were equipped with

Janney coupler Janney couplers are a semi-automatic form of railway coupling that allow rail cars and locomotives to be securely linked together without rail workers having to get between the vehicles. They are also known as American, AAR, APT, ARA, MCB, knuck ...

s and

Westinghouse Air Brake Company The Westinghouse Air Brake Company (sometimes nicknamed or abbreviated WABCO although this was also confusingly used for spinoffs) was founded on September 28, 1869 by George Westinghouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Earlier in the year he had ...

brakes. There was one injury to an employee in 1896.

Western Union The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services company, headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the company ch ...

operated the telegraph on the track.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Atlantic and Danville Railway 3 ft gauge railways in the United States Defunct Virginia railroads Defunct North Carolina railroads Predecessors of the Norfolk and Western Railway Railway companies established in 1882 Railway companies disestablished in 1962 Former Class I railroads in the United States 1882 establishments in Virginia American companies disestablished in 1962 American companies established in 1882