March 2012 Article

This Month's Article - March 2012

Nelson & Albemarle Railway Track Elevations

After several months of researching track plans and maps made available from the Library of Congress, C&O Historical Society, Library of Virginia, and the US Geological Survey, the initial track elevations of the Nelson & Albemarle Railway kick off a series of articles about the N&A in it's early years. The story starts before the creation of the Nelson & Albemarle in 1903 when wagons carried loads of soapstone products to railroad connections and continues with the creation of the rail line along the former tow path of the James River & Kanawha Canal, the building of the Alberene Railroad, and construction of the street car line between Schuyler and Rockfish using former equipment from the Lynchburg Electric Railway & Light Company (converted to carry freight as well as passengers). While the focus of many articles has been on locomotives, this series will provide a view of the terrain traversed by the N&A and it's predecessors.

Send email to NelsonAlbemarle@comcast.net if you have any comments or questions or wish to contribute to future articles.