Charlottesville, Virginia

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Charlottesville, Virginia

Charlottesville, located in Virginia’s Piedmont region at coordinates 38°1′48″N 78°28′44″W and an elevation of 594 feet (181 m), has been a pivotal transportation hub, transitioning from colonial trade routes to a significant railroad juncture. Founded in 1762 along the Three Notched Road (now U.S. Route 250), its strategic position near the Blue Ridge Mountains made it ideal for early rail development, connecting Virginia’s interior to eastern markets and facilitating the transport of Appalachian resources like coal and timber.

Chesapeake & Ohio Railway

The city’s rail era began with the Louisa Railroad, chartered in 1836 to link Doswell westward, reaching Gordonsville by 1840. Renamed the Virginia Central Railroad (later Chesapeake & Ohio, or C&O), it arrived in Charlottesville in 1850, with the first train entering the east-end station on June 27. This drastically reduced travel times from Richmond, boosting population growth and enrollment at the nearby University of Virginia. To extend the line westward through the rugged Blue Ridge Mountains, engineer Claudius Crozet oversaw construction of the 4,273-foot Blue Ridge Tunnel near Waynesboro, completed in 1858, allowing trains to reach Staunton and beyond without steep climbs.

Southern Railway

By the 1860s, the Southern Railway established a north-south route from Washington, D.C., to Lynchburg, intersecting the east-west C&O at Charlottesville’s Union Station, a colonial-style brick depot built in 1905. This juncture supported bustling freight yards with roundhouses, coaling towers (upgraded to concrete in 1942), and turntables, servicing steam locomotives powered by Appalachian coal. The Charlottesville & Rapidan Railroad, chartered in 1876, closed a 5-mile gap from Orange to Charlottesville, connecting to the Orange & Alexandria (later Southern) and merging into Southern by 1914. Locally, the electric Charlottesville & Albemarle Railway streetcar operated urban routes from the 1880s until 1935.

CSX, Norfolk Southern, Amtrak, and the Buckingham Branch Railroad

Today, the Buckingham Branch Railroad (BBRR) leases and operates freight on former C&O tracks (owned by CSX) through Charlottesville since 2004, managing local switching and yard maintenance while interchanging with Norfolk Southern (NS). CSX retains trackage rights for through trains, and NS operates its own north-south mainline. Amtrak’s Union Station hosts the Cardinal (Chicago-New York, thrice weekly), Crescent (New York-New Orleans, daily), and Northeast Regional (Boston-Roanoke). Future proposals include Virginia Railway Express extensions and a Transdominion Express line, preserving Charlottesville’s role as a rail hub.

More Rails Across the Appalachians information will be added to this page and website in the days ahead. Please let me know if you have any questions, see any edits that should be made, or have any content you are willing to share. Would enjoy hearing from you if you have similar interests in Appalachian Railroads, the region, or model railroading.

For More Information – Sources and Resources

The following are excellent resources for those of you wanting to explore and learn more about the history and operation of the Appalachian Railroads. These sources of information also serve as reference and historical materials for Appalachian-Railroads.org. Much of the collective railroad history data points on this website are verified across multiple sources.

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Would enjoy hearing from you if you have questions, suggestions, edits, or content that you are willing to share. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have similar interests in the railroads or model railroading.

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Appalachian-Railroads.org | Clinchfield.org | Southern-Railroads.org