Roanoke, Virginia
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Page Contents
Roanoke, Virginia
Roanoke is one of the premiere and larger railroad cities in America that was born out of a rail line being built through the region. Today’s Roanoke, then a small community named Big Lick, was chosen as the railroad’s headquarters, was renamed, and soon became a true ‘railroad boomtown.’ For a century, Roanoke was home to the Norfolk & Western Railway.
Photo: Current Amtrak Platform in Roanoke, former N&W offices in background. To the right you can see a portion of Hotel Roanoke.
Atlantic Ocean to the Ohio River Valley
The Virginia & Tennessee Railroad arrived in the Roanoke area in the early 1850s, then known as Big Lick. Once the Norfolk & Western Railway was established by the merging of several railroads, the new railway soon completed the line from the Atlantic Ocean to the Ohio River, Norfolk VA to Kenova WV in 1892. By 1901, the railroad had reached Cincinnati and Columbus OH.
Roanoke’s geographic location provided a unique spot for a railroad to cross the Blue Ridge Mountains through a fairly easy air gap called Buford’s Gap just east of the city. To the west, the railroad could use several streams, the New River, and Tug Fork River to climb across the Appalachian Plateau.
Click here for more information on the Norfolk & Western Railway
Roanoke Passenger Trains
Until 1971, the city was served by multiple trains of the N&W and the Southern Railways. One could travel directly to New York, Washington DC, Cincinnati, New Orleans, and many other cities directly from Roanoke. The photo below by Roger Puta is N&W’s #611, designed and built in the Roanoke locomotive shops, which brought a streamline style to steam passenger trains. The second photo is of the station board showing the arrivals and departures at the Roanoke station as if it were 1955.
Norfolk & Western Railway Today
The Norfolk & Western still lives on today in Roanoke as part of the Norfolk Southern Railway. From Roanoke rail lines radiate westward to Bristol VA, eastward to Norfolk VA, north to Hagerstown MD, and south to Winston Salem NC. The N&W’s railroad facilities in Roanoke once dominated the city with rail yards, shops, and offices. Today, much of that has been removed, mothballed, or used for other purposes.
Photo: Almost vacant N&W Yard in Roanoke VA
Roanoke Stats
- Coordinates: 37°16′14″N 79°56′33″W
- Elevation: 974 feet above sea level
- Named For: Roanoke River
- Nickname: The Star City of the South
- Founded: 1884
- Formerly Known As: Big Lick, Gainesborough
- Population: 100,011 (2020)
- County: Roanoke
- Highlights: Commerce and business center for Southwest Virginia, Hotel Roanoke, the Roanoke Star, the Virginia Transportation Museum, and it was once the headquarters and shops for the Norfolk & Western Railway
Additional Information
Virginia Museum of Transportation
Norfolk & Western Historical Society
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 content on the website is verified across multiple sources.
- Association: Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Historical Society
- Association: Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society
- Association: Carolina Clinchfield Chapter National Railway Historical Society
- Association: ET&WNC Railroad Historical Society and their Facebook Page
- Association: George L. Carter Railroad Historical Society
- Association: Louisville & Nashville Railroad Historical Society
- Association: Norfolk & Western Historical Society
- Association: Southern Railway Historical Association
- Association: Watauga Valley Railroad Historical Society
- Personal Maps & Memorabilia: Documents, maps, timetables, and track charts
- Archives of Appalachia: ETSU, Johnson City TN
- Book – Castner, Flanary & Dorin: Louisville & Nashville Railroad, The Old Reliable
- Book – Drury. The Historical Guide to North American Railroads
- Book – Flanary: The Louisville & Nashville Cumberland Valley Division
- Book – Flanary, Lindsey & Oroszi. The Southern Railway
- Book – Flanary, Oroszi & McKee: ‘The Louisville & Nashville in the Appalachians’
- Books – Goforth: ‘Building the Clinchfield‘ and ‘When Steam Ran the Clinchfield‘
- Book – Graybeal: ‘The Railroads of Johnson City‘
- Book – Irwin & Stahl: ‘The Last Empire Builder: The Life of George L. Carter‘
- Book – Lindsey: ‘Norfolk Southern 1995 Review’
- Book – King: ‘Clinchfield Country‘
- Book – Marsh: ‘Clinchfield in Color‘
- Book – Oroszi & Flanary: ‘Dixie Lines, The Louisville & Nashville Railroad’
- Book – Poole: ‘A History of Railroading in Western North Carolina‘
- Book – Poteat & Taylor: ‘The CSX Clinchfield Route in the 21st Century‘
- Book – Stevens & Peoples: ‘The Clinchfield No. 1 – Tennessee’s Legendary Steam Engine‘
- Book – Way: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad, the Story of a Trade Route Across the Blue Ridge Mountains‘
- Book – Webb: ‘The Southern Railway System: An Illustrated History’
- Book – Wolfe: Southern Railway Appalachia Division
- Magazines/Online: ‘Trains‘, ‘Classic Trains‘
- Newspaper Articles: Newspapers.com
- Online Article: Flanary: ‘The Quick Service Route, The Clinchfield Railroad‘; Scientific American: ‘The Costliest Railroad in America‘
- Online Videos: Ken Marsh on Kingsport area railroads and region’s history Video #1 | Video #2:
- Website: Carolana.com – North Carolina Railroads, South Carolina Railroads
- Website: HawkinsRails.net
- Website: StateOfFranklin.net which hosts Johnson’s Depot
- Website: RailFanGuides.us for Johnson City and for Erwin
- Website: SteamLocomotive.com
- Website: VirginiaPlaces.org – Railroad History of Virginia
- Website: WvncRails.org – North Carolina and West Virginia Railroads
Contact Us
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.
3Cs Websites
Appalachian-Railroads.org | Clinchfield.org | Southern-Railroads.org
