Publications about Nelson & Albemarle

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Page 986; "The Virginia Soapstone Co., with quarries at Schuyler, and mills at Schuyler in Nelson County and at Alberene in Albemarle County, is the largest producer and has a branch railroad connecting it with the main line of the Southern Railway at Rockfish, as well as with the C&O Railway at Warren on James River. The deeper portion of the quarry has been practically abandoned at Schuyler and the openings have been extended to the northeast."

A reprint of the 1913, M-series locomotive catalogue published in 1980 and limited to 500 copies; The catalogue includes basic specifications and diagrams for locomotives, plus examples of Vulcan locomotives built for various industries.  Vulcan built locomotives for Old Dominion Soapstone, Culver & Port Clinton, Rhodes Construction that ended up on N&A roster as well, N&A purchased locomotives in 1920, 1922, 1924, and 1926. Locomotives include Old Dominion #1, #2; N&A #9, #10, #12, #14; Culver & Port Clinton (N&A #11); Rhodes Construction (N&A #15). 

Available from the National Archives & Records Administration, Cartographic Section, Room 3320 (NWSC-C), 8601 Adelphi Road, College Park, Maryland 20740-6001.  Use to support article on N&A terrain, the 4 maps show the layout of track in 1916 when Alberene and Schuyler were both very active locations for soapstone operations.  These maps include detail on track at both Alberene and Schuyler.

Pg. 85 references Alberene Soapstone: "Large soapstone works have been erected at Alberene, reached by a short branch of the Southern railroad, and the output in bath tubs, house and kitchen utensils, etc., has developed an extensive industry very useful to the county." 

DS-02-223 ($4.95) with detail on painting standard depot colors from 3 basic era's with commentary on the occasional painting of some depot in while in the 1940's.  Model paint for the Gray schema also available from the C&O Historical Society's Chessieshop.com

Sheet 2 of 2 of the Richmond Division shows the Alberene Subdivision; Location: Warren, Virginia; Use by Locos; Type: Elevated; Capacity: 50,000 gallons; Tank Kind: Wood; Tank Size: 16'x24'; Underframe: Steel with 12 posts and height of 30'.  List available from the C&O Historical Society (COHS.org) as item DS-04-288 for $5.95 (8 1/2" x 11" lateral set of 18 pages).

A reprint from the 1930 Locomotive Cyclopedia, Industrial Locomotives and Service Section 18 (includes Foreign Steam Locomotives, Section 19), Ninth Edition; Roy V. Wright, Editor; Simmons-Boardman Publishing Company, 72 pages. In Section 18 Industrial and Saddle Tank Locomotives on reprint of page 1354, Figure 3193 "Six-coupled (2-6-2) Saddle Tank Locomotive for Industrial Railroad Service.  Built for Nelson & Albemarle Ry. Co. by the Vulcan Iron Works.  Gage-4 ft. 8 1/2 in.; Cylinders-17" x 24"; Steam Pressure-180 lb.; Diam. of Drivers-46 in.; Tractive Force-23,065 lb.; Rigid Wheel Base-9 ft. 0 in.; Total Wheel Base-24 ft. 7 in.; Heating Surface, Tubes-1,608 sq. ft.; Heating Surface, Firebox-102 sq. ft.; Heating Surface, Total-1,710 sq. ft.; Grate Area-21.8 sq. ft.; Weight on Drivers-119,700 lb.; Weight, Total-155,300 lb."  Photo is the Vulcan Builder's Photo.

Building date: 1786; Primary owners: Scott family, Rives family, & Wilson C. Nicholas.  3 image files included.

See details on this entry in sidebar item "Find N&A on Film"

189 pps. with drawings by F. Strobel; published in Boston by Houghton Mifflin.  Chapter 2:  Pages 5-11: Root, Hog, or Die, drawing pg7, pg189 notes Esmont to Rockfish 18 mi; motor car daily in appendix.

Published by E.P. Dutton & Co, NY. bound in heavy decorated buckram cloth and with colorful dust jacket; pg. 2 mention of N&A; pgs. 59-62, 1 photo (engine #9).

Article by Louis D. Rubin, Jr. on the last passenger run of the N&A.  Includes photograph. Found in the Virginia State Library as a clipping from the Times-Dispatch under the heading "Virginia Railroads" stamped TD FEB 12 1950.; Page 3 heading, "Railfans make outing".  Louis Rubin joined the Old Dominion Railway chapter of the NRHS on the last passenger run of the N&A and chronicled this trip for T-D readers.  Photo included but NOT in the clipping.  (Note:  My recent trip to Nelson county - July 2009 - introduced me to Mr. Bill Gianninni who was also present on that last day of passenger running and he will be sending me photos soon that I will be posting on this site.)

"Did Steve Maguire miss a really old trolley road of Virginia in his story in the March issue?" asks Bill Young, 23 Parker Ave., Crawford, N.J. "About the turn of the century the Schuyler Railway operated a four-mile line between the towns of Schuyler and Rockfish, the latter a station on the Southern Railway.  Very little of its history is known to me and I have no actual proof that it was a trolley line.  However it was listed among abandoned trolley lines in Poor's Manual of Railroads for 1906.  Later editions of Poor's explain that the N&A, a short steam road organized in 1903, absorbed the Schuyler Ry. on June 19, 1905. P> "The Nelson & Albemarle converted the trolley route to steam operation and ran it until August 28, 1947; other N&A lines still operate.  Archie Robertson's Slow Train to Yesterday mentions the N&A as a former trolley line."

pp14-15, 37-38.  Found in the Virginia Historical Society collection, Record #144457; Call Number F221.V918 v.73 no.8

Prose by the well known journalist-railfan-photographer along with photo by famed-rail photographer, August A. Thieme (back when A. Thieme lived on Floyd Avenue in Richmond, Virginia). Photo on top half of page, H. Reid's prose on the bottom half. "Well now, friend, you come at a right good time.  We all sort of take it easy about this part of a morning.  Must be nigh on to 11, I reckon.  Hear the steam train tootin' down yonder in the hollow?  Them bullfrogs'll hush directly so's you can hear better.  Our train generally comes humpin' by 'bout now.  It just totes freight, but a right smart train it be.  Don't see many like ours no more - not with that waily whistle.  Hear it, then?  And that clang-clangy bell.  You know, our train don't move so fast as the stream-liners but that's just as well.  It gives us a heap better chance to wave to them fellers on the engine.  Them's awful friendly folks.  Say, old No. 9's smokin' a spell.  Why, that chimbley is nearly 'bout high as you are.  There - he's whistlin' for Tarheel Lane.  Oh, Virginia!  Put down that wash and step out here.  Train's comin'! - H. Reid."

"John C. Mayo, according to a widely circulated newspaper item, is retiring after 51 years on Virginia's Nelson & Albemarle Ry.  Immortalized as a short-line locomotive engineer in Archie Robertson's book 'Slow Train to Yesterday', Mr. Mayo is a courtly and soft-spoken man whose acquaintance we made several years ago when he invited us on his engine.  An unusual twist put his story on news wires.  Lamenting the fact that rabbit hunting isn't as good as it used to be, engineer Mayo recalled to newsmen that he used to stop the train frequently to shoot rabbits - as many as 14 in one season."

Noting the history of the line with mention of fame gained from the likes of Archie Robertson and Lucius Beebe. "Fondly Remembered.  Nelson & Albemarle Railway, the Virginia short line immortalized by Archie Robertson and Lucius Beebe, has received I.C.C. permission to abandon its rural 9 miles of track from Schuyler to Esmont, including a mile of trackage rights over the C&O.  Opened in 1905 as successor to the short-lived Schuyler Railway, an electric line built the previous year, the Nelson & Albemarle once operated more than 18 miles of line serving quarries at Schuyler and Alberene from which came soapstone for the laundry tubs of America.  Before dieselizing in the early '50's the road had six Vulcan saddletankers for road and quarry service, and carried passengers aboard a motorcar or mixed train.  After that it lost much of its charm, although engineer John Mayo still carried a gun in the cab of his 44-ton diesel to shoot rabbits along the right of way.  Georgia Marble Company acquired the Nelson & Albemarle in 1959 along with the Schuyler plant of the railroad's previous owner, Alberene Stone Corporation of Virginia.  Now the plant at Schuyler has been closed:  Soapstone laundry tubs are no longer in style."

Caption Reads:  "A hand car lies forlornly in front of the former headquarters of the Nelson & Albemarle Railroad at Esmont.  The approximately 16 miles of track of the line are being taken up from Schuyler in Nelson County to Warren in Albemarle.  They were used to haul soapstone from the mountain quarries to the James River division of the C&O Railway.  Trucks now do the work.  The status of the railroad station is uncertain.  It may wind up as a polling place or other community use."  Photo available from the Valentine Richmond History Center at the Valentine Museum, Richmond, VA.

pg 223 chapter on N&A Ry.: 17 photos, list of locomotives.  Do not underestimate this book as these are great photographs and the list of locomotives (though differing from other listings of the era) is good historical record. Of the 17 photos there are no views of any of the N&A diesel.  Photo's:  pg 223, #12 left side builder's photo; pg 224 top #9 right side builder's photo; pg 224 bottom #10 right side builder's photo; pg 225 top #11 right side view at Vulcan Iron Works; pg 225 bottom #14 right side builder's photo; pg 226 top #9 3/4 view at Esmont; pg 226 middle #7 at SI&E in 1924; pg 226 bottom #1 0-4-0T in 1936; pg 227 top #9 right side view at Warren; pg 227 middle #10 left side view at Rockfish; pg 227 bottom #11 at enginehouse schuyler; pg 228 top #11 at Schuyler; pg 228 middle #14 by enginehouse Schuyler; pg 228 bottom #14 at Schuyler in 1952; pg 229 top #10 at Damon; pg 229 middle 4 passenger cars on siding at Schuyler 1936; pg 229 bottom #14 at Schuyler in 1936.

Page 251 (bottom of page) contains detail on "Combination Depot, Class 'B', Richmond & Alleghany Railroad" "...is an island-depot, similar to class 'A', and consists of a single-story frame structure, 25 ft. x 50 ft., divided into a freight and baggage room, 24 ft. x 16 ft.; a ticket-office, 8 ft. x 16 ft., with a square bay-window projection; and a general waiting room.  This class of depot is for use at an island-station, where there is a side track on the rear of the building, in addition to the main track along the face of the building.  The platform at the face of the building next to the main track is a low platform, 8 foot wide.  The platform at the back of the building along the side track and at each end of the building is a high platform, 8 ft. wide."  This is the configuration for the C&O depot at Warren, Virginia built by the Richmond & Alleghany Railroad and serviced by the Nelson & Albemarle Railway once they were handling trains 209 and 210 between Esmont and Warren.

A review of the GE 44-ton Diesel Locomotive (Part 1)

Pg. 1354 (from original book's page numbering) has builder's photo (right side) and caption wording: "Figure 3193 - Six-Coupled (2-6-2) Saddle Tank Locomotive for Industrial Railroad Service.  Built for Nelson & Albemarle Ry. Co. by the Vulcan Iron Works."  "Gage...4 ft. 8 1/2 in.  Cylinders...17 in. x 24 in.  Steam Pressure...180 lb.  Diam. of Drivers...46 in.  Tractive Force...23,065 lb.  Rigid Wheel Base...9 ft. 0 in.  Total Wheel Base...24 ft. 7 in.  Heating Surface, Tubes...1608 sq. ft.  Heating Surface, Firebox...102 sq. ft. Heating Surface, Total...1710 sq. ft.  Grate Area...21.8 sq. ft.  Weight on Drivers...119,700 lb.  Weight, Total...155,300 lb.

pgs. 8-14; 1 map, no photos, good detail on operations from pre-published newspaper articles.  On page 13, the next to the last paragraph of the Louis Rubin reported story from February 6, 1950 Richmond Times-Dispatch led to the understanding of the combination ticket office-station-general store.

"Hamburg Industries, North Augusta, SC, 4/78: New Locomotive is #2, 44T GE (30956, 12/50) with only one builder's plate left.  HI #1 is minus her No. 2 engine and hood, sitting in the paint shop area of the plant."  Obviously, typo on the construction number as 30856 was correct sequence for 12/50 and is the N&A #1 first diesel from sale by Georgia Marble to Industrial Maintenance as noted in this site's articles and research.  Follows the premise learned in visiting the TTX facility (former Hamburg Industries) in 2010 and learning that the purchase of 30856 was mostly for spare parts to service other GE 44T units in house as was a common practice among shortlines to buy a unit for parts cannibalization and then scrap remaining shell/frame, etc.  However, c/n 30856 was painted in Hamburg Industries colors and lettered for HI as there are photographs of the locomotive in that livery.  So while it may have eventually been used to provide spare parts, at some point it was a viable and working unit supporting the facility.

Stations and Depots on various mainline (and some smaller) railroads operating in Virginia include the C&O with pg. 40 having a photograph of "ESMONT".  On Alberene Branch. September 1961 view. (C.K. Marsh, Jr. - photographer / * Tom King - from the collection of...).

Table of Contents lists Feature as "Alberene Soapstone" by Susan Tyler Hitchcock, page 29; subtitled: A dying industry leaves scars on the Piedmont's quarry towns. 6 photographs by Ken Klotz including an awesome quarry photo on page 29, photo of company houses (now private homes) on page 30, photo of soapstone slabs on rail car under overhead crane next to gang saw shop on page 31, photo of two workers grinding slab into non-slip surface for stair treads on page 31, photo of "The Company House" on page 31, and lastly, a photo of Quality Row houses as one of the first quarry-built communities on page 32.  The story primarily tells of the periodic (and most current at the time) demise of the soapstone industry.  Well written, and with interviews/quotes, the article well-represents the ups and downs of the soapstone industry in Nelson County plus provides some insight into why this type of mining in America is behind the mining capabilities of Europe.  Scarce to impossible to find magazine fortunately found in the VHS archives. 

Contains a photo of the watertank near Warren, but on the branch line with a saddletank engine from N&A.  

pg 17: A 7-page article on the N&A with 10 photos and 2 maps; A chronology of Alberene Stone & Its Railroads (pg. 23).  Noted as Special Feature on Table of Contents page with thumbnail photo & as Soft-soap Story!

See detail in listing: "Find N&A on Film".  The DVD contains live-action footage shot by August A. Thieme and sold to the production company that created the DVD and is only the 2nd known movie images of the N&A (with the 1st being the 1941 feature film "Virginia" where #9 a boxcar and combination baggage/coach car arrive at fictional "Fairville" in actuality Howardsville, Virginia on the actual C&O James River Line).

pg. 2: no photos - "Soapstone Shortlines by Garth G. Groff, published by the author.  Available from C&OHS Archives, P. O. Box 79, Clifton Forge, VA 24422.  $4.95 plus $1.75 shipping. (pp)  This 52-page booklet is a detailed and interesting account of the soapstone quarries and mills located near the C&O in central Virginia, and the railway operations surrounding these businesses.  Mr. Groff has done excellent historical research and has developed a cogent, well-written story about the soapstone industry and the people who exploited this resource in Virginia.  Most importantly, for our benefit, this includes the railway operations associated with it, which were principally the Nelson & Albemarle Railway and the C&O's Alberene Subdivision, a branch from the James River line, joining the Rivanna Subdivision at Warren, Virginia.  (pp)  The Soapstone Company built the Alberene Railroad in 1897 and leased it to the C&O on completion in 1898; it was then sold to the C&O in 1902 and became the Alberene branch to Esmont and Alberene. (pp) In 1903 the Nelson & Albemarle Railway was incorporated to link the Alberene branch with the new mill at Schuyler, Virginia.  Its other end eventually connected with the Southern Railway's main line at Rockfish.  N&A trains began using the C&O's Alberene branch as early as 1906 with their diminutive saddle-tank locomotives, and the N&A contracted with the C&O to operate their trains 209 and 210 from Warren to Esmont.  Passenger service, always conducted with leased surplus (read 'old') C&O cars was terminated in 1950, and soon thereafter the N&A dieselized.  It was abandoned in August 1962.  The book contains a complete N&A locomotive roster and some interesting photos of this little-known shortline and branchline operation that once supplied the C&O with quite a number of revenue cars.  It is well written, easy to follow, and obviously well researched.  TWD."

pgs. 5-9; cover photo + 6 other photos and 3 track diagrams (great for modeling Esmont and Warren); "THIS MONTH: The Nelson & Albemarle Railroad must have been among the most quaint and picturesque railroad operations of the twentieth century.  Even Lucius Beebe featured it in one of his books, if memory serves correctly.  But hardly a trace remains of the once-bustling backwoods operations.  How many other such shortlines were there around the U.S.?  And more importantly, how many of these are left?  Today's shortline spinoffs may again approach the local color of the past.  We are pleased to present this vignette of bygone days by Charlottesville author Garth G. Groff."

Editor's Note:  This is another great effort from Garth Groff on just one of his many railroad interests.  He has retired in recent years from his position with the University of Virginia and now focuses much of his time and interest on other passions - Archery, and the Sacramento Northern Railroad. 

Photograph by Charles Clegg from photo shoot for 1947 book, Mixed Train Daily (photo is now part of collection found in the California Railroad Museum); "Below is the Nelson & Albemarle's saddle tank No. 9 at Schuyler in the heart of the Blue Ridge country, where it functions as the only common carrier in the land to use this type of motive power in mixed frieght and passenger service."

Segment starting on page 63.  Caption reads: "Nelson & Albemarle 2-6-2T 9 (above) battles the stiff grade in Schuyler Virginia in 1949."  Locomotive Quarterly published by Metaphor of Mount Vernon, New York; Jack W. Farrell, Editor-In-Chief

Page 49 of Chapter Four: Chesapeake & Ohio:  Photo at top of page of Alberene in 1917 from Holsinger Collection in University of Virginia Special Collections Library (showing N&A Combine #10, a former C&O early passenger/freight car); and a photograph of Esmont depot after the demise of the N&A Ry. in the early 1960's at the bottom of the page.  "A complicated little web of lines provided some interesting backwoods railroading in Nelson and Albemarle counties.  The Alberene Railroad was built at the turn of the century to connect the quarries at Alberene with the C&O James River line at Warren (MP 170.2), and the electric-powered Schuyler Railway was built between its namesake point and Rockfish on the Southern Railway.  The Nelson & Albemarle Railway was incorporated in 1903 to connect Schuyler with Guthrie, about midway on the Alberene Railroad.  The Alberene was promoted by the C&O to begin with and was sold to the C&O in 1902.  All lines were eventually operated by the N&A, the Alberene under lease agreement, and the Schuyler Railroad by merger.  The Guthrie to Alberene segment was abandoned in 1936 after the quarries played out; the washout of a bridge in 1948 between Schuyler and Rockfish was that segment's death knell.  The N&A and C&O tracks were removed in 1963.  These photos of ALBERENE (approximate MP 181, where the depot was part of the mill complex) (above) and ESMONT (MP 176.3) (below) offer sharp contrasts over the period from the 1930s to the 1960s depicting the busy industry and the end of the line.  The combine spotted at the Alberene depot is lettered for the N&A and was likely purchased used from dealer in Philadelphia though some passenger cars were leased from the C&O; much of N&A passenger operations were operated with leased C&O equipment."

Pg. 40 & 41 describe the author's participation with the Old Dominion Railway Club on the last day of passenger service on the N&A.  Not much of a description, but noteworthy for operations.  Amazingly, no commentary on any other engine operations around the quarry or mill.

Brief history of the Forney engines and their subsequent careers - 0-4-4T Forney, by Donald R. Hensley, Jr. (of Taplines.com fame); pages 14-16

N&A #1:  Found on pg. 227 shown as TTX (Trailer-Train) - Hamburg Div. (South Carolina) as #2 GE 44 ton (30856, 12-50) Ex-Hamburg, Industries, #2, Ex-Georgia Marble #1, with detail on history but still active in 2002 in SC (unfortunately, though some exist, there is no photo shown).  N&A #2:  Found on pg. 10,  Alabama Carbonate #2 at Gantts Quarry (Sylacauga) Alabama, Ex-Georgia Marble #2 shown as active in 2002 (and again, though some exist, there is no photo included in this book).  N&A #3:  We've visited the 25-ton GE 31778 from N&A that ended up in Green Bay, Wisconsin and is still active at Great Lakes Calcium facility there after having been in Woodville, Ohio at GLC.  The good news is #3 is still operating daily in performance of switching duties.

 An invaluable reference guide to industrial use locomotives there is also an errata version kept on the internet at http://www.sonic.net/~jayreed/.  Purchase price is $25.95 with $5.00 standard shipping/$10.00 priority shipping.  Recommend calling to order (no secure web ordering) at:  707-539-1051 at these times only:  11:00AM EST to 7:00PM EST (shown in Eastern times, but Jay is on West Coast).

Page 121; Ruth McQuarry Ragland personal history including mention of her Father working for the Soapstone works in Schuyler.  Includes a PHOTOGRAPH of locomotive #10 with Combine directly behind and person on front step of engine.  Caption reads: "Nelson-Albemarle train, 1920.  Hauled workers, school children and soapstone."

AV-04-081 available from ChessieShop.com for $13.95 - drawings include way buildings, small structures, and coal bins.

"History is a collection of family stories!" - Peter Jennings; Chapter 3 - The Soapstone Vein (page 65) with Nelson & Albemarle Railway featured on pages 82-83.

Index at front of book provides accurate information by railway.  There is a collection of photos provided but only a select set of ones.  There is a photograph of N&A #7, the former "Hutchcraft" purchased from the Proctor Coal Company and sold to SI&E when #'s 9 and 10 were purchased by the N&A in 1920.  Best collection of accurate data and Tom Lawson is to be commended for the efforts that went into this compilation.

Excellent resource with EXTREME detail for general knowledge of build data:  $33.00 USD w/free shipping avail Taplines.biz through eBay listing

Page 138 of the reprinted catalog shows the "Double Ender" Six-Driving Wheels Side-Tanks Locomotive, Class 2-C-2-SS.  Alberene Stone purchased c/n 3107 from Porter in 1920 (code name RELVAR) with 14x20 cylinders and standard gauge, enclosed cab.

A primer on the railroads of Virginia; with the C&O segment starting on page 7 and Nelson & Albemarle mentioned on page 14 along with photo of #11 from the TLC Collection. "The Alberene Branch ran from Warren to Esmont thence to Guthrie and Alberene, mainly to tap soapstone resources.  It was abandoned from Guthrie to Alberene in 1936 and the balance to Warren in the 1960s.  It connected with the Nelson & Albemarle short line at Esmont.  An N&A saddle-tank 2-4-2 is seen here at Schuyler in 1950.  N&A trains operated over the Alberene branch as well, to Warren. (TLC Collection)."  If you are a fan of trains in Virginia, this is the primer to have that explains how railroading came to the state and evolved in major railroad lines.

"Warren was also the junction where a six-mile branch to the nearby community of Esmont diverged from the Rivanna Subdivision, followed a grade alongside Ballinger Creek, and made connections with the "saddle-tank" emire of the long-since abandoned Nelson and Albemarle Railroad.  Serving the needs of quarry operations in nearby Schuyler (of Walton's Mountain fame), the Nelson and Albemarle meandered its way west to the community of Rockfish where it also interchanged traffic with the Southern Railway.  Part of the old grade of the Nelson and Albemarle remains readily visible in several places from Virginia Route 6.

 (Continued) When Old Dominion Soapstone was merged into the Virginia Alberene Corporation in February 1917, the little locomotive retained its number '2' and continued on in service until December 1, 1931.  In April 1935, Virginia Alberene Corp. was sold to the Alberene Stone Corporation in Schuyler, Virginia.  Although the ownership had changed, the engine continued to retain its number '2' and remained out-of-service on the quarry property.  According to Virginia Blue Ridge Railway documents, the engine was sold to the VBR in June of 1942, where it was given the road number '4'. "The VBR used No. 4 for less than a year-and-a-half to haul ballast trains as the railroad upgraded its roadbed to accommodate the increase in traffic from the aplite plants and the Southern Mineral Products facility.  The onset of World War II brought even further carloadings to the Virginia Blue Ridge and brought great prosperity to the railroad.  In the best 'I-Think-I-Can' imagery, tiny No. 4 was the locomotive that made the resurgence of the VBR possible during the first dark days of World War II, and for this reason, she should be recognized as an important part of the VBR's history.  1st No. 4's story does not end here, though. After her ballast train assignment was completed, the VBR sold the engine in December 1943 to Leas & McVitty, Inc., a tanning extract manufacturer in Buena Vista, Virginia.  She was used at the company extract plant until being taken out of service in the late-1950's.  In 1962, she was sold to Charles Watson, who displayed the engine for years in front of a motel in Marion, Virginia.  It was eventually purchased by private collector, Will Harris, who moved it to his property in Goshen, Virginia where it survives (minus its distinctive saddletank) today."