The was a
Class I Railroad located in
Virginia and
West Virginia in the
United States . The VGN was created to transport high quality "smokeless"
Bituminous Coal from southern West Virginia to port at
Hampton Roads .
Early in the 20th century,
William Nelson Page , a
Civil Engineer and coal mining manager, joined forces with a
Silent Partner , industrialist financier
Henry Huttleston Rogers (a principal of
Standard Oil and one of the wealthiest men in the world), to develop the
Deepwater Railway , a modest 85-mile long
Short Line Railroad to access untapped
Bituminous Coal reserves in some of the most rugged sections of southern West Virginia. When Page was blocked by
Collusion of the bigger railroads, who refused to grant reasonable rates to interchange the coal traffic, he did not give up as they no doubt had anticipated. As he continued building the original project, using Rogers' resources and attorneys to form another intrastate railroad, they quietly secured the
Right-of-way all the way across Virginia for the
Tidewater Railway to reach
Hampton Roads .
The two projects were legally joined and renamed the
Virginian Railway in early 1907. Despite efforts to stop them, they then built the "Mountains to Sea" railroad right under the noses of the big railroads and the elite group of a few industrialists (so-called "
Robber Baron s") who controlled them. Completed in
1909 , the was largely financed through Rogers' personal fortune. It was a modern well-engineered railroad with all-new infrastructure and could operate more efficiently than its larger competitors.
Throughout a profitable 50-year history, the VGN continued the Page-Rogers philosophy of "paying up front for the best". It achieved best efficiencies in the mountains, rolling piedmont, and flat tidewater terrain. Known for operating the largest and best steam, electric, and diesel motive power, it became nicknamed "Richest Little Railroad in the World." Merged into the
Norfolk And Western Railway in
1959 , a large portion of the former VGN remains in service in the 21st century for the
Norfolk Southern Railway , a
Class I Railroad headquartered in Norfolk a few blocks from the former Virginian Railway offices in Norfolk Terminal Station.
Two years after the merger, the VGN began gaining new life in a book, as it was presented as classic story of competitive business intrigue mixed with a story-telling writing style about the lore of the railroad and its people. ''The Virginian Railway'', written by 's most vibrant Yahoo! Railway Enthusiast online groups. A group of retirees in Roanoke, Virginia meet each week and answer questions from a worldwide base of over 700 members. Annual seminars have a growing attendance and preservation activities have been increasing, even as the VGN itself fades into history.
See Also: Building the Virginian Railway
The (VGN) was conceived early in the
20th Century by two men. One was a brilliant
Civil Engineer , coal mining manager, and
Entrepreneur ,
William Nelson Page . His partner was
Millionaire Industrialist ,
Henry Huttleston Rogers . Together, they built a well-engineered railroad that was virtually a "conveyor belt on rails" to transport high quality "smokeless"
Bituminous Coal from southern
West Virginia to port on
Hampton Roads , near
Norfolk, Virginia .
The story of the building of the Virginian Railway has been described as a textbook example of
Natural Resource s and railroads, and of a smaller company taking on big
Business (and winning) early in the
20th Century . It was a time when many railroads were under the common control of a few powerful developers, who took on competitors without
Antitrust restraints.
William Nelson Page (1854-1932) was a
Civil Engineer and
Entrepreneur . Page, who was born in Virginia and educated at the
University Of Virginia in
Charlottesville , originally came to
West Virginia in the 1870s to help build the double-track
Chesapeake And Ohio Railway in the
New River and
Kanawha River Valleys.
A colorful man by all accounts, Colonel Page, as he came to be known, soon became involved in many coal and related enterprises in the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia, settling in the tiny mountain hamlet of
Ansted in
Fayette County, West Virginia .
Col. Page was one of the more successful men who developed West Virginia's rich
Bituminous Coal fields in the late
19th and early
20th Centuries and built the
Railroads to transport the coal. With his training and experience as a civil engineer, Page was exceptionally well-prepared to capitalize on southern West Virginia's hidden wealth. Former West Virginia Governor
William A. MacCorkle described him as a man who knew "the land as a farmer knows his fields." He was also an energetic entrepreneur. Author
H. Reid summed it up by labeling Col. Page "The idea man from Ansted."
'' See also featured article
William Nelson Page
Henry Huttleston Rogers (1840-1909) was a
Financier and
Industrialist who had grown up in a working-class family in Massachusetts. He began working while young, and had helped part-time in his father's grocery store and delivered newspapers. After graduating from high school, Rogers got experience as a brakeman on a local railroad while saving his money. In
1861 he and a friend set out for the mountains of
Pennsylvania , and helped develop
Oil and
Natural Gas resources there during the
U.S. Civil War , eventually becoming one of the key men with
John D. Rockefeller 's
Standard Oil Trust and a multi-
Millionaire . One of the wealthiest men in the United States, Rogers was an energetic entrepreneur, much like the younger Page, and was also involved in many rail and mineral development projects.
'' See also article
Henry Huttleston Rogers
Rogers became acquainted with Page while the latter was president of Gauley Mountain Coal Company, among many other ventures. Page knew of rich untapped
Bituminous Coal fields lying between the
New River Valley and the lower
Guyandotte River in southern West Virginia in an area not yet reached by the C&O and its major competitor, the
Norfolk & Western Railway (N&W). While the bigger railroads were preoccupied in developing nearby areas and shipping
Coal via rail to
Hampton Roads , Page formed a plan to take advantage of the undeveloped coal lands, with Rogers and several others as investors. A powerful partnership had been formed.
Originally, the Page-Rogers scheme was a
Short Line Railroad , the
Deepwater Railway , formed in 1898, an intrastate line intended to be only in West Virginia. Eventually, after establishing relationships to interchange coal traffic with the bigger railroads failed, the Deepwater's
Right-of-way was extended to reach the West-Virginia-Virginia state border near
Glen Lyn, Virginia . Important points on the Deepwater Railway were
Page ,
Mullens and
Princeton in West Virginia.
Over in Virginia, another intrastate railroad, the
Tidewater Railway , was formed in 1904, with right-of-way all the way across the southern tier of Virginia from
Giles County (which borders West Virginia) to
Norfolk County on
Hampton Roads . The principal points were
Roanoke ,
Victoria ,
Suffolk , and
Sewell's Point , a rural location where a new
Coal Pier was located on the harbor near
Norfolk .
Late in
1906 , near the halfway point on the Tidewater Railway between Roanoke and Sewell's Point, a new town with space set aside for railroad offices and shops was created in
Lunenburg County, Virginia . It was named
Victoria , in honor of
Queen Victoria of England, who was long-admired by Henry Rogers.
Victoria was the location of a large equipment maintenance operation, with roundhouse, turntable coaling and water facilities for servicing steam locomotives, and a large yard. Offices for the VGN's Norfolk Division were built by adding a second floor to the passenger station building a few years later.
was formed in Virginia on
March 8 ,
1907 to combine the Deepwater Railway in West Virginia and the Tidewater Railway in Virginia into a single interstate railroad, only a few months after Victoria was incorporated. On
April 15 ,
1907 , William Nelson Page became the first president of the new Virginian Railway.
Work progressed on the VGN throughout
1907 and
1908 using construction techniques not available when the larger railroads had been built about 25 years earlier. By paying for work with Henry Rogers' own personal fortune, the railway was built with no public debt. This feat, a key feature of the successful secrecy in securing the route, was not accomplished without some considerable burden to Rogers, however.
Rogers suffered some financial setbacks in the
Financial Panic Of 1907 which began in March. Then, a few months later that same year, he experienced a debilitating
Stroke . He was largely disabled for five months. Fortunately, Henry Rogers recovered his health, at least partially, and saw to it that construction was continued on the new railroad until it was finally completed early in
1909 .
The last spike in the Virginian Railway was driven on
January 29 ,
1909 , at the west side of the massive
New River Bridge at
Glen Lyn , near where the new railroad crossed the
West Virginia -
Virginia state line.
In April,
1909 ,
Henry Huttleston Rogers and
Mark Twain , old friends, returned to
Norfolk, Virginia together once again for a huge celebration of the new "Mountains to the Sea" railroad's completion.
Rogers left the next day on his first (and only) tour of the newly-completed railroad. He died suddenly only six weeks later at the age of 69 at his home in New York. But by then, the work of the Page-Rogers partnership to build the Virginian Railway had been completed.
While neither William Page or Henry Rogers ended up running the railway, it was arguably a crowning lifetime achievement for each man. Together, they had conceived and built a modern, well-engineered rail pathway from the coal mines of West Virginia to port at Hampton Roads right under the noses of the big railroads. The Virginian Railway could operate more efficiently than its larger competitors, had all-new infrastructure, and no debt. It was an accomplishment like no other in the history of US railroading, before or since.
Mr. Rogers left his heirs and employees with a marvelous new railroad which remained closely held until 1937; his son and sons-in-law such as
Urban H. Broughton and
William R. Coe were among its leaders. Coe served almost its entire history. Throughout that profitable 50-year history, the VGN continued to follow the Page-Rogers policy of "paying up front for the best." It became particularly well known for treating its employees and vendors well, another investment that paid rich dividends. The VGN sought (and achieved) best efficiencies in the mountains, rolling piedmont and flat tidewater terrain. The profitable VGN experimented with the finest and largest steam, electric, and diesel
Locomotive s. It was well known for operating the largest and best equipment, and could afford to. It became nicknamed "the richest little railroad in the world."
The VGN had a very major grade at . With work authorized beginning in 1922, a 134-mile portion of the railroad in the mountains from
Mullens, West Virginia over Clark's Gap and several other major grades to
Roanoke, Virginia was equipped with
Overhead Wire s supported by a
Catenary system. The VGN built its own power plant at
Narrows, Virginia . The electrification was completed in
1925 at a cost of $15 million. A link was established with Norfolk & Western to share electricity from its nearby electrification during contingencies.
ALCO and
Westinghouse supplied the
Electric Locomotive s, which were equipped with
Pantograph s. The 36 initial units were normally linked in groups of three as one set, and had much greater load capacity than the steam power they replaced.
The seemingly remotely-located terminal Page and Rogers planned and built at
Sewell's Point played an important role in 20th-century U.S. naval history. Beginning in
1917 , the former
Jamestown Exposition grounds adjacent to the VGN coal pier became an important facility for the
United States Navy . The VGN transported the high quality "smokeless" West Virginia
Bituminous Coal favored by the
US Navy for its ships, providing a reliable supply during both World Wars.
In the mid 1950s VGN management realized that the company's devotion to coal as its energy source (for steam locomotives and the power plant at Narrows for the electrification system) was becoming overshadowed by the economies of
Diesel-electric Locomotive s and a scarcity of parts for the older steam locomotives. Between 1954 and 1957 a total of 66 diesel-electric locomotives was purchased, including 25
Fairbanks-Morse H-24-66
Train Master s, and 40 H-16-44 smaller road switchers, two with steam generators to haul passenger trains. The last steam locomotive operated in June,
1957 .
Beginning in
1903 ,
Page, West Virginia , named for Col. William Page, became the site of a switching yard, roundhouse, and station on the
Deepwater Railway and later the Virginian Railway (VGN). After the railroad eliminated
Steam Locomotive s in 1957 and the area's coal mines were largely depleted, the facilities at Page were unneeded.
Mullens and
Princeton in West Virginia, and
Roanoke ,
Victoria and
Sewell's Point in Virginia were other locations where the extensive steam locomotive servicing facilities and roundhouses were also no longer needed after
1957 . The pattern was the same all across America as the steam locomotive era ended.
In time, the big railroads learned to coexist with their newer competitor, and came to regret turning down opportunities to purchase it before completion.
During
World War I the VGN was jointly operated with its adjacent competitor, the
Norfolk & Western Railway (N&W), under the
USRA 's wartime takeover of the Pocahontas Roads. The operating efficiencies were significant. After the war, the railroads were returned to their respective owners and competitive status. However, the N&W never lost sight of the VGN and its low-grade routing through Virginia.
After the World War I there were many attempts by the C&O, the N&W, and others to acquire the profitable little Virginian Railway. However, the US
Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) turned down attempts at combining the roads until the late 1950s, when a proposed Norfolk & Western Railway and Virginian Railway merger was finally approved in
1959 . The VGN-NW merger is widely believed to have begun the modern era of major railroad mergers as the ICC came to accept that railroads needed to be able to compete more successfully against other modes of transport (i.e. highways and air travel) rather than just against each other.
When the VGN lost its identity upon purchase by the
Norfolk & Western in 1959, author and photographer H. Reid wrote the epoch book "The Virginian Railway" and stated "There will always be a Virginian." So far, time has proved him correct.
Today, major portions of the VGN low-gradient route are the preferred eastbound coal path for the N&W's successor, the
Norfolk Southern Railway .
Other portions of VGN right-of-way in eastern Virginia now transport fresh water and are under study for future high speed passenger rail service to South Hampton Roads from Richmond and Petersburg.
The former VGN property at Sewell's Point is part of the
Norfolk Navy Base , the largest naval facility in the world.
The Virginian Railway is still a favorite among the many
Fallen Flag s of railroading in the US.
Hobbyists around the world model the VGN in many gauges, with some items valuable collectibles.
and
Demonstrative of the lasting spirit of the Virginian, preservationists have saved VGN passenger stations in Suffolk and Roanoke, Virginia. The
Suffolk Passenger Station, which was also used by the Seaboard railroads, has been restored and is in use as a museum. Similar plans are underway by the local chapter of the
National Railway Historical Society in
Roanoke .
Three of the VGN's locomotives and numerous cabooses and other rolling stock survive. One steam and one electric locomotive have been cosmetically restored, and are on display at the
Virginia Museum Of Transportation in
Roanoke, Virginia .
In October, 2002 VGN authors and enthusiasts restored the
Mullens, West Virginia Caboose Museum which had been ravaged in one of West Virginia's notorious floods. The work was funded by sale of handmade models and contributions.
In May, 2003 a Gathering of Rail Friends was held at
Victoria, Virginia , home to a new museum, with a park with historical interpretations of the roundhouse and turntable sites under development. The
Norfolk Southern Railway sent its exhibition train to nearby
Crewe for the event.
In April, 2004 children of Boonsboro Elementary School in nearby
Bedford, Virginia and the local Kiwanis group in
Lynchburg, Virginia teamed to raise funds and work to save the only surviving original (circa 1910) class C-1 wooden Caboose.
In October, 2004, the ''Roanoke Times'' newspaper ran a feature story about the weekly meetings of the "Takin' Twenty with the Virginian Brethren" group of retired VGN railroaders, prominently displaying the model of a modern GE locomotive in Virginian Railway livery, which they hope the railroad will use as a basis for a special painting of current-day
Norfolk Southern Railway locomotive to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1907 founding of their favorite railroad, the Virginian Railway.
In December, 2004, a fully-restored and equipped VGN caboose, C-10 #342, built by VGN employees in the former Princeton (WV) Shops, was moved to newly laid rails at
Victoria , where it is the centerpiece of a new rail heritage park. It was dedicated in the summer of 2005, and has become a favorite of school groups in Southside Virginia.
In April 2005, the Virginian Railway Coalfield Seminar was held for three days at Twin Falls State Park, near
Mullens, West Virginia . Railfriends from many parts of the United States toured coal mining and railroad facilities for three days on several buses, and participated in presentations and group seminars with a Congressman, local officials, several noted authors and historians. The delegation of retirees based in Roanoke also attended. The program was considered to be the start of celebration of the railroad's centennial from 2007 until 2009.
The following year, in April, 2006, the Milepost 2006 seminar was held in Roanoke, Virginia. Again, several days of events, presentations, special tours, and a visit to the currently closed former VGN passenger station in Roanoke which is currently under preservation and restoration.
- Roanoke, Virginia Virginia Museum of Transportation - 2 VGN locomotives and misc. rolling stock
- Suffolk, Virginia restored Seaboard and VGN combination station, Museum and model train layout of Suffolk area circa 1940
One of the lasting features of the VGN seems to be the heritage of this little railroad, an example of a successful US transportation company. Beginning with
H. Reid 's epoch storytelling and photography in "''The Virginian Railway''", published in 1961, and reprinted at least three times, there have been numerous books published and enthusiasts groups formed, some of which meet physically, and others, on the worldwide web.
Formed in 2002,
Virginian Railway (VGN) Enthusiasts , a non-profit group of preservationists, authors, photographers, historians, modelers, and rail fans has grown to over 750 members as far from the VGN tracks as
New Zealand ,
Australia , including U.S. troops stationed in the war-torn
Middle East . A group of retired railroaders calling themselves "The Virginian Brethren" meet weekly, share tales of the VGN, and answer questions posed by members of the on-line group.
- Barger, Ralph L. (1983) ''Corporate History of Coal & Coke Railway Co., Charleston, Clendennin & Sutton R.R., Roaring Creek & Belington R.R. Co., as of Date of Valuation, June 30, 1918.'' Baltimore, MD: Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Historical Society.
- Cartlidge, Oscar (1936) ''Fifty Years of Coal Mining'' Charleston, WV: Rose City Press.
- Conley, Phil (1960) ''History of the Coal Industry of West Virginia'' Charleston, WV: Educational Foundation.
- Conley, Phil (1923) ''Life in a West Virginia Coal Field'' Charleston, WV: American Constitutional Association.
- Corbin, David Alan (1981) ''Life, Work and Rebellion in the Coal Fields: The Southern West Virginia Miners, 1880-1922'' Chicago, Illinois: University of Illinois Press.
- Corbin, David Alan, editor (1990) ''The West Virginia Mine Wars: An Anthology'' Charleston, WV: Appalachian Editions.
- Craigo, Robert W., editor (1977) ''The New River Company: Mining Coal and Making History, 1906-1976'' Mount Hope, WV: New River Company.
- Dix, Keith (1977) ''Work Relations in the Coal Industry: The Hand Loading Era, 1880-1930'' Morgantown, WV: West Virginia University Institute for Labor Studies.
- Dixon, Thomas W, Jr., (1994) ''Appalachian Coal Mines & Railroads''. Lynchburg, Virginia: TLC Publishing Inc. ISBN 1-883089-08-5
- Frazier, Claude Albee (1992) ''Miners and Medicine: West Virginia Memories'' Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.
- Huddleston, Eugene L, Ph.D. (2002) ''Appalachian Conquest'', Lynchburg, Virginia: TLC Publishing Inc. ISBN 1-883089-79-4
- Lambie, Joseph T. (1954) ''From Mine to Market: The History of Coal Transportation on the Norfolk and Western Railway'' New York: New York University Press
- Lane, Winthrop David (1921) ''Civil War in West Virginia: A Story of the Industrial Conflict in the Coal Mines'' New York, NY: B. W. Huebsch, Inc.
- Lewis, Lloyd D. (1992) ''The Virginian Era''. Lynchburg, Virginia: TLC Publishing Inc.
- Lewis, Lloyd D. (1994) ''Norfolk & Western and Virginian Railways in Color by H. Reid''. Lynchburg, Virginia: TLC Publishing Inc. ISBN 1-883089-09-3
- MacCorkle, William (1928) ''The Recollections of Fifty Years'' New York, New York: G.P.Putnam's Sons Publishing
- Middleton, William D. (1974) ''When The Steam Railroads Electrified'' (1st ed.). Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing Co. ISBN 0-89024-028-0
- Reid, H. (1961). ''The Virginian Railway'' (1st ed.). Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing Co.
- Reisweber, Kurt (1995) ''Virginian Rails 1953-1993'' (1st ed.) Old Line Graphics. ISBN 1-879314-11-8
- Sullivan, Ken, editor (1991) The Goldenseal Book of the West Virginia Mine Wars: Articles Reprinted from Goldenseal Magazine, 1977-1991. Charleston: Pictorial Histories Pub. Co.
- Striplin, E. F. Pat. (1981) ''The Norfolk & Western : a history'' Roanoke, Va. : Norfolk and Western Railway Co. ISBN 0-9633254-6-9
- Tams, W. P. (1963) ''The Smokeless Coal Fields of West Virginia'' Morgantown, WV: West Virginia University Library.
- Thoenen, Eugene D. (1964) ''History of the Oil and Gas Industry in West Virginia'' Charleston, WV:
- Traser, Donald R. (1998) ''Virginia Railway Depots''. Old Dominion Chapter, National Railway Historical Society. ISBN 0-9669906-0-9
- various contributors (1968). ''Who Was Who in America'' Volume I (7th ed.). New Providence, New Jersey: Marquis Who’s Who
- Wiley, Aubrey and Wallace, Conley (1985}. ''The Virginian Railway Handbook''. Lynchburg, Virginia: W-W Publications.
- Beale, Frank D. (1955) ''The Virginian Railway Company 45th Annual Report Year Ended December 31, 1954''. published in-house
- Cuthriell, N.L. (1956) ''Coal On The Move Via The Virginian Railway'', reprinted with permission of Norfolk Southern Corporation in 1995 by Norfolk & Western Historical Society, Inc. ISBN 0-9633254-2-6
- Dept. of the Navy - (2004) ''Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships - article on steamship William N. Page''. Washington DC: US Naval Historical Center
- Huddleston, Eugene L, Ph.D. (1992) ''National Railway Bulletin'' Vol. 57, Number 4, article: ''Virginian: Henry Huttleston Rogers' Questionable Achievement''
- Reid, H. (1953) "''Trains & Travel Magazine''" December, 1953 "Some Fine Engines", Kalmbach Publishing Co.
- Skaggs, Geoffery - (1985) ''Page-Vawter House Project in Ansted'' Ansted, WV: Fayette County Government
- Special Collection William Nelson Page Papers, Library of the University of North Carolina
- US Dept. of the Navy, Naval Historical Center
- Millicent Library, Fairhaven MA, Henry Rogers homepage
- Mark Twain and Henry Huttleston Rogers in Virginia featuring excerpts from their trips together to the 1907 Jamestown Exposition and the 1909 Dedication of the Virginian Railway
- Mark Twain's Correspondence with Henry Huttleston Rogers, 1893-1909
- New River CVB Guide to Ansted, WV
- West Virginia Coal Mines site
- Norfolk & Western Historical Society covers Virginian history
- Virginia Museum of Transportation displays 2 of only 3 extant VGN steam and electric locomotives, located in Roanoke, VA
- Virginian Railway (VGN) Enthusiasts non-profit group of preservationists, authors, photographers, historians, modelers, and railfans
- Mullens West Virginia Caboose Museum a community project with photos
- Victoria Virginia's new home for Virginian railway Caboose 342 a community project with photos
- Lynchburg Virginia's project to save the oldest extant Virginian Railway Caboose # 64 a community project with photos
- preserving the Virginian Railway Passenger Station at Roanoke Virginia a community project with photos (requires a pdf file viewer)
- Norfolk Southern Corp website
- link to site of Railfan.net forum for Virginian Railway which has Roanoke Times story and photos
