Virginian Railway (VGN) History Timeline

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History Timeline of the Virginian Railway (VGN)

Virginian Railway

Formation and construction (early 1900s)

  • 1902: William Nelson Page and industrialist Henry Huttleston Rogers begin forming the Tidewater Railway in Virginia and the Deepwater Railway in West Virginia.
  • 1907: The two roads officially merge to form the Virginian Railway (VGN).
    • Leader: William Nelson Page becomes the first president.
    • Ownership/Investment: Henry Huttleston Rogers secretly finances the entire railroad using his personal fortune, totaling over $30 million. This allows the VGN to be built without public debt.
  • 1909: Construction is completed, creating a 443-mile “Mountains to Sea” line.
    • The VGN is engineered for low grades to allow for efficient coal hauling, unlike its competitors, the Norfolk and Western (N&W) and Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O).
  • 1909: Henry Rogers dies just weeks after attending the railway’s completion ceremony in Norfolk. 

Electrification and expansion (1910s–1920s)

  • 1917: During World War I, the VGN is jointly operated with the N&W under federal wartime control.
  • 1922–1926: VGN electrifies a 134-mile section of its main line, spanning from Mullens, WV, to Roanoke, VA, to address the challenging grades in the Appalachian Mountains.
    • Financial Investment: The electrification project costs $15 million, a significant capital expenditure.
  • 1925: A new coal pier is built at Sewell’s Point to handle increased coal exports.
  • Late 1920s: VGN operates some of the largest and most powerful electric locomotives of the era. 

Depression and WWII (1930s–1940s)

  • 1930s: The Great Depression impacts financial performance, but coal traffic remains a steady source of revenue.
  • 1940s: During World War II, VGN’s strategic coal-hauling route is vital for the war effort. 

Dieselization and merger (1950s)

  • 1954: VGN begins transitioning from steam to diesel locomotives, purchasing units from Fairbanks-Morse.
  • 1956: The last passenger service on the VGN is discontinued.
  • 1957: The last steam locomotive is retired.
  • 1958: A merger with the rival Norfolk and Western (N&W) is proposed, citing significant cost savings and improved efficiency.
  • 1959: The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) approves the merger.
    • Acquisition: The VGN is absorbed into the N&W on December 1. 

Post-merger legacy (1960s–today)

  • 1962: N&W shuts down the former VGN electrification system.
  • 1963: The electric locomotives are sold to the New Haven Railroad.
  • 1966: The U.S. Navy purchases VGN’s Sewell’s Point terminal for expansion of Naval Station Norfolk.
  • 1970s: Parts of the former VGN line are abandoned due to traffic duplication with N&W lines.
  • 1982: N&W merges with Southern Railway to form Norfolk Southern (NS), which inherits the remaining VGN trackage.
  • 1990s: NS continues to use a significant portion of the former VGN main line for heavy coal traffic.
  • 2015: Norfolk Southern mothballs a section of the former VGN in West Virginia due to declining coal shipments.
  • 2016: WATCO Companies leases the mothballed section of the VGN line to serve three mines as the Kanawha River Railroad (KNWA).
  • Today:
    • Much of the former VGN main line in Virginia, especially between Norfolk and Roanoke, has been abandoned or sold.
    • The Virginian Railway Heritage Trail has been established to preserve surviving structures.
    • NS still operates the highly-efficient former VGN route in southern West Virginia.
    • The former VGN rail yards in Princeton, WV, are on the National Register of Historic Places.
    • The Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke preserves the last surviving VGN steam engine. 

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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