Beaverdam History
After a busy morning in Ashland we headed up to Doswell where we heard the Buckingham Branch Railroad working somewhere newrby on their former Chesapeake and Ohio mainline. The BB has been the operator of this line since 2004 when they leased the old Richmond and Alleghany Division from CSXT, 199 miles from Richmond to Clifton Forge.
This route is the historic core of the mighty C&O which was created in August 1868, when the Virginia Central (this route) was merged with the Covington and Ohio to form the new Chesapeake and Ohio. But the rails here can trace back to 1840 when the Louisa Railroad which was chartered in 1836 built west from a connection with the RF&P at Doswell to Gordonsville. Largely supplanted by the low grade route along the James River which had been built in 1880 and acquired by the growing C&O in 1889 this route remained as a secondary mainline for succesors Chessie System and CSXT. A tentative agreement is in place to sell this line to the Commonwealth of Virginia in the coming years though BB will remain the frieght operator and overhead CSXT trackage rights trains should continue to run. To learn about that deal check out this link: www.railwayage.com/passenger/csx-starts-sale-for-virginia...
And for a history of the BB and a system map check out their excellent corporate page: buckinghambranch.com/
Anyway, after hearing BB 5 get a track warrant to head west we drove parallel route 684 until we found them just outside of Doswell finishing up work at the big Martin Marietta quarry. We gave chase to their next stop a dozen miles west where they switched out US Silica at MP 124.1 on the Piedmont Sub just east of the small unincorporated community of Beaverdam. This view shows BB5 (EMD GP40 blt. Nov. 1968 as PC 3216 and passing to Conrail and then later working for the Ohio Central) framed between the station sign and the historic depot.
The historical marker here states that this station was built in 1866 and is actually the fourth on the site with the original having been built in 1840 and destroyed during the Civil War in 1862. Two more were subsequently rebuilt and then burned by Union forces, the final time by cavalry under the command of General George Armstrong Custer.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1988 you can learn more here:
www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/042-0081/
Or even rent it out if you wish:
Unincorporated Beaverdam
Hanover County, Virginia
Friday March 31, 2023
Beaverdam History
After a busy morning in Ashland we headed up to Doswell where we heard the Buckingham Branch Railroad working somewhere newrby on their former Chesapeake and Ohio mainline. The BB has been the operator of this line since 2004 when they leased the old Richmond and Alleghany Division from CSXT, 199 miles from Richmond to Clifton Forge.
This route is the historic core of the mighty C&O which was created in August 1868, when the Virginia Central (this route) was merged with the Covington and Ohio to form the new Chesapeake and Ohio. But the rails here can trace back to 1840 when the Louisa Railroad which was chartered in 1836 built west from a connection with the RF&P at Doswell to Gordonsville. Largely supplanted by the low grade route along the James River which had been built in 1880 and acquired by the growing C&O in 1889 this route remained as a secondary mainline for succesors Chessie System and CSXT. A tentative agreement is in place to sell this line to the Commonwealth of Virginia in the coming years though BB will remain the frieght operator and overhead CSXT trackage rights trains should continue to run. To learn about that deal check out this link: www.railwayage.com/passenger/csx-starts-sale-for-virginia...
And for a history of the BB and a system map check out their excellent corporate page: buckinghambranch.com/
Anyway, after hearing BB 5 get a track warrant to head west we drove parallel route 684 until we found them just outside of Doswell finishing up work at the big Martin Marietta quarry. We gave chase to their next stop a dozen miles west where they switched out US Silica at MP 124.1 on the Piedmont Sub just east of the small unincorporated community of Beaverdam. This view shows BB5 (EMD GP40 blt. Nov. 1968 as PC 3216 and passing to Conrail and then later working for the Ohio Central) framed between the station sign and the historic depot.
The historical marker here states that this station was built in 1866 and is actually the fourth on the site with the original having been built in 1840 and destroyed during the Civil War in 1862. Two more were subsequently rebuilt and then burned by Union forces, the final time by cavalry under the command of General George Armstrong Custer.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1988 you can learn more here:
www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/042-0081/
Or even rent it out if you wish:
Unincorporated Beaverdam
Hanover County, Virginia
Friday March 31, 2023