in February, 2005.]]
is a
Class III Short-line Railroad operating over 200
Mile s (322
Km ) of historic and strategic trackage in Central
Virginia . Sharing overhead traffic with
CSX and
Amtrak , the company's headquarters are in
Dillwyn, Virginia in the former
Chesapeake And Ohio Railroad (C&O) station, itself a historic landmark in the community.
The tracks in the heart of Central Virginia which are now operated by the Buckingham Branch Railroad in the
21st Century were mostly laid out in the
19th Century by the
Louisa Railroad , founded in
1836 , the
Virginia Central Railroad , state-owned
Blue Ridge Railroad (with famous tunnels designed by state engineer
Claudius Crozet ) and financed by the
Virginia Board Of Public Works , and the
Covington And Ohio Railroad , all of which became part of
Collis Huntington 's
Chesapeake And Ohio Railroad (C&O) in the
1870s , which connected the
Chesapeake Bay with the Valleys of the
New River and
Kanawha River , and leading to the
Ohio River Valley , and thence the
Mississippi River , a long-sought transportation goal for Virginians, who realized that the rail network was vital to the state economy.
Major
James H. Dooley 's
Richmond And Allegheny Railroad was built along the
James River along the former right-of-way of the
James River And Kanawha Canal in the
1880s , and also became part of the C&O, offering a lower grade pathway for
Coal bound from the mountains to
Newport News as an alternative to the route through
Staunton , Crozet's
Blue Ridge Tunnel complex and
Charlottesville . Diverging from the older line at
Goshen east of
Clifton Forge , this became known as the James River line, rejoining the old Virginia Central tracks near
Main Street Station at
Richmond .
The short-line branch from
Bremo Bluff on the James River line into
Buckingham County transported
Timber , quarried rock, and
Kaolin clay from the unique and rare deposits of
Willis Mountain .
As major railroads merged and consolidated in the late
20th Century , many rail lines with low traffic were abandoned, spun-off into
Short-line railroads, or at risk of abandonment. With lower operating costs and personalized service to shippers, many of the short-lines were able to perpetuate rail service in areas where the
Class 1 Railroad s could not operate profitably, even if
Subsidized by government entities.
The Buckingham Branch was founded in
1989 by retired
CSX railroader
Robert E. Bryant . The company began with acquisition of a 16-mile (26 km) long branch from the
CSX Transportation 's James River subdivision line near
Bremo Bluff on the
James River south to Dillwyn in
Buckingham County . The interchange with CSX is at Strathmore
Yard , near the junction of the former
Virginia Air Line Railway . Serving small industries and
Quarries , the BBRR began with one
Locomotive , and was staffed by Bryant's family.
For a number of years, the Buckingham Branch operated the
Shenandoah Valley Railroad (SV) under contract. That short-line extends from
Staunton through
Augusta County north to
Pleasant Valley outside
Harrisonburg in
Rockingham County . In
2002 , the operating contract was lost to another Virginia-based short-line road, the
Eastern Shore Railroad (ESHR). Today, the Shenandoah Valley Railroad, operated by the ESHR, interchanges with the Buckingham Branch at Staunton.
In
2004 , Buckingham Branch entered into a 20-year lease with CSX Transportation to operate 200 miles (322 km) of track in Virginia on the latter's Piedmont, Washington, North Mountain subdivisions. Each were originally parts of the
Virginia Central Railroad 's line, and extend from
Richmond through
Doswell ,
Orange to
Charlottesville, Virginia . From there, the line extends through the
Blue Ridge Tunnel complex to
Waynesboro , and
Staunton to reconnect with CSX lines at
Clifton Forge . The line which was the backbone of
Collis Huntington 's newly completed
Chesapeake And Ohio Railroad in the 1870s was supplanted by a lower-grade line along the path of the former
James River And Kanawha Canal in the 1880s.
Unlike the original branch in Buckingham County, the new section is leased for a 20-year period. CSX retains overhead rights on the trackage leased to the Buckingham Branch, and continues its same pattern of running empty westbound
Coal and
Grain trains over the route, sometimes as many as 8 a day. Buckingham Branch train crews must contend with this fact by continually dodging the CSX westbounds, as well as the Amtrak trains, by going into the various sidings along the lines.
Amtrak 's
Cardinal s (train numbers PO51 westbound and PO50 eastbound) continue to use the Buckingham Branch line between Orange and Clifton Forge on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
This new section of the expanded Buckingham Branch will be centrally dispatched by CSX from
Jacksonville, Florida for at least the first two years of the agreement.
- The two portions of former CSX trackage operated by BBRR are not directly connected to each other.
- BBRR provides the only rail interchange connection for the Shenandoah Valley Railroad whose operating contract it lost to competitor Eastern Shore Railroad.
- BBRR has been a frequent provider of excursion trains, a favorite of Railfan s. Beginning in the 1990s , liability insurance concerns and costs largely eliminated excursions on many U.S. railroads, and the BBRR service has been increasingly appreciated by railfans.
