About - Contacts

The Nelson & Albemarle Railway Historical Society was founded in 2009 when it was noticed that there were no central repositories for information about the N&A located where collections of data, stories, rosters, or listings were centralized for easy use. While many people were posting data in places, there was no one place that helped the railroad researcher locate anything without having to perform multiple searches across both the internet and their local library (if they were lucky to be in Virginia).

The birth of this website started simple - listing the roster of locomotives - identifying key features of the locomotives and any history of the equipment or soapstone companies. From there the Monthly Articles sprang up - giving me an opportunity as Editor to write about the fascinating world of research of both the soapstone companies, the principal people involved in the railroad and soapstone companies, the railroads interchange with Class 1 Railroads (Souther & Chesapeake and Ohio) as well as the marvelous story of how the shortline railroad came to be - buying new or used equipment, hiring expert machinists to maintain locomotives, and the back story of locomotives purchased used from vendors or other rail lines. Most of this has culminated in the desire to complete a NEW Nelson & Albemarle Railway book, but not in the narrative fashion of author Garth Groff or the matter-of-fact approach of author Richard Prince, but in a straightforward fact-like presentation of what was the N&A and some fanciful thinking about what it might have become had it survived into this century!

My personal interest in the N&A is simple: My Father worked at Schuyler for the Alberene Stone Company in the gang saw building as his first real job. He married my Mother while he held that job. I've collected data about the N&A for years and this site has been started to share, where possible, any and all of the information gathered about the N&A. Every so often I'll make the effort to inform and enlighten those people who have interest in this shortline standard gauge railroad with where to find articles, pamphlets, booklets, books, photographs (some unpublished and heretofore not known as available for prints).

Contributions are welcomed, as your input to where information about the N&A can be found is invaluable. I'm also going to give credit where credit is due: Garth Groff did extensive research and published a great booklet about the N&A. His booklet rekindled my interest in collecting this "where to find the N&A" effort. Garth is employed over at the University of Virginia (my brother Gary works at Darden School of Business there) and while his publication is out-of-print, a copy can be found now and then via auction sites. Garth has planned to retire from the UVA community and now follows other interests around medieval re-enactments and archery (including teaching archery to children). There are other references of the N&A in various periodical publications as well, including Railroad Model Craftsman and Narrow Gauge & Shortline Gazette. You'll see these listed on the "Publications About Nelson & Albemarle" link in the sidebar where we consistently add references with related or of interest publications in the section below on Recent Additions to the NEARHS Library.

DISCLAIMER: As this is a site to publicize WHERE things can be found, any photo use will be by thumbnail and/or not reproducible in any quality (unless permission has been provided). Our goal is to show you the link to where the original can be found (website, publication, book purchased, etc.) - not for anything more than a table of contents on where to locate copies or buy a specific book. There is NO intent to violate anyone's copyrights. As the owner of an original negative with prints of my negative in the Southern Methodist University Library and recently on an auction site, I am very aware of protecting copyright and having proper permission to utilize materials.

Please email any references you might have with permission to use (or original photo with copyright permission to print or use on this site) to: Rob Peters care of nelsonalbemarle@comcast.net or send email direct using this email address:

peters.robert@comcast.net - For MEMBERSHIP: Please email request to participate as a member of the NEARHS.

Welcome to the Nelson & Albemarle Historical Society Website!

Recent Additions to the NEARHS Library:

Virginia Railroads, Volume 1: Railroading in the Old Dominion by William E. Griffin, Jr. & Thomas W. Dixon, Jr.;

Crossties to the Depot - Volume 1: Virginia Railroad Stations compiled and edited by John F. Gilbert;

Virginia Railroads, Volume 2: The Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad by Thomas W. Dixon, Jr.

Historic Photos of Virginia; text and captions by Emily J. and John S. Salmon (photo of Esmont, pg. 46).

The Architecture of Jefferson Country: Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Virginia by K. Edward Lay (photo/plan for Company President's house in Alberene).

West Virginia History - A Quarterly Magazine, Volume XVI, Number 3, April 1955 by State Department of Archives and History, Charleston, West Virginia - Article Canal-Boat Days in Virginia by Marshall Fishwick.

The Canal on the James by T. Gibson Hobbs, Jr.

Yesterday's Trains across the Commonwealth by Dale W. Diacont.

Hill City Trolleys: Street Railways of Lynchburg, Virginia by Harold E. Cox

Architecture In Virginia - Esmont, Albemarle County by Wayne Nelson (part of the series accomplished by the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia) - Spring 1992

Heartbeats of Nelson by Paul Saunders - 2007

O. Winston Link - Life Along The Line by Tony Reevy - 2011

The Classic Eastern American Railroad Routes by Brian Solomon - 2011

Extra South, 2nd Edition by H. Reid with foreword by Manly Wade Wellman - 1986 (with Extra South New Photo Section and photo of N&A Ry. #10 on page 132)

Tidewater Triangle by Robert J. Yanosey - 1988

Chesapeake & Ohio Railway: A Concise History and Fact Book by Thomas W. Dixon, Jr. of The Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society - 2012 (includes information on Alberene Subdivision)

Off the Track in Ivy - The Wreck of the Old Dominion Express by Garth G. Groff - 1992

Locomotive Quarterly, Volume XVIII, Number 4, Summer 1995 by Metaphor of Mount Vernon New York; Jack W. Farrell, Editor-In-Chief

The Search for Steam by Joe G. Collias - 1972

Short-Line Odyssey: Small Railroads in the Northeast from the '40's to the '70's (The Railroading Series, Volume 3): Photographs and Texts by William S. Young - 1980

Railroad Stories featuring "The Soapstone Limited" (short story): A Pulp Magazine from November 1935

All Aboard: American Train Journeys II - Volume 4: Steam Short Lines of the South from Columbia River Entertainment - 1997 (film)

Magazine of Albemarle Count History, Volume 71 - 2013 from Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society - 2013 (feature story on the making of the motion picture, "Virginia")

Illustrated History of General Electric Locomotives by O. M. Kerr - 1979

Centennial Treasury of General Electric Locomotives, Volume 1 by O. M. Kerr - 1981

Centennial Treasury of General Electric Locomotives, Volume 2 by O. M. Kerr - 1981

Images of Rail: Richmond Railroads by Jeff Hawkins - 2010

Greetings from Charlottesville, Virginia and Albemarle County by Samuel Pyeatt Menefee - 2009

H. K. Porter Company - Light Locomotives (catalog reprint) from Periscope Film, LLC - 2010

Train Shed Cyclopedia #6 - Passenger Locomotives from the 1930 Locomotive Cyclopedia by Newton K. Gregg, Publisher - 1973

Train Shed Cyclopedia #2 - Switching & Freight Locomotives from the 1930 Locomotive Cyclopedia by Newton K. Gregg, Publisher - 1972

Virginia Railway Depots by Donald R. Traser through the Old Dominion Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society - 1998

Nelson & Albemarle Railway - Alberene Stone Co. in The Short Line: The Journal of Shortline & Industrial Railroads, Volume 6, Number 1; TSL #31 - January/February 1978

Chesapeake & Ohio Railway: Depots, Towers, and Other Structures 1860-1950 by Thomas W. Dixon, Jr. - 2016

Locomotive Quarterly, Volume XII, Number 3, Summer 1989 by Metaphor of Mount Vernon New York; Jack W. Farrell, Editor-In-Chief

Locomotive Quarterly, Volume XXVIII, Number 2, Winter 2004-5 by Metaphor of Mount Vernon New York; Jack W. Farrell, Editor-In-Chief

Legal History of the Virginia Midland Railway Co., and of the Companies which built its Lines of Road 1881 (2017 printing by Schuler Books) by Charles Minor Blackford of Lynchburg, Virginia; J. P. Bell & Company Printers

Bulletin #119 October 1968 by The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society, Inc., Baker Library, Harvard Business Society, Boston, Massachusetts

SPV's Comprehensive Railroad Atlas of North America - Appalachia & Piedmont 2004 by Mike Walker; published in England by Stuart Andrews, Canterbury Kent, UK d/b/a SPV; with incorrect map of the Nelson & Albemarle Railway on page 46 (VA-4-Charlottesville) showing Boiling Springs on incorrect segment of line. From Schuyler to Esmont, Station Stops are Ruffin, Damon, Melvale, Guthrie, and arrive at Esmont.

The Great Railroad War - United States Railway Operations During World War 1 by Rudolph L. Daniels, Ph.D. with foreword by Frank Wilner from The Garbely Publishing Company - 2017

The Toledo, Port Clinton and Lakeside Railway by George W. Hilton published by Montevallo Historical Press 1997

Some Vernacular Railroad Photographs by Jeff Brouws & Wendy Burton. W. W. Norton & Company New York & London 2013

Soil Map - Virginia Buckingham; Base Map enlarged and redrawn from U.S. Geological Survey Sheet of 1892 by U.S. Department of Agriculture Bureau of Soils with Survey of 1902

The Slate & Willis's River Atlas - Rediscovering Historic Waterways in the Heart of Virginia by W. E. Trout, III and Peter C. Runge for The Virginia Canals and Navigations Society - Third Edition 2018

Your Help Needed: Do you have photographs of the Nelson & Albemarle Railway or the soapstone works? We're always looking for previously unpublished photographs by known railway photographers (and not so known amateur photographers)! See photos below that were recently added to the archive.

Join in! ----- The Nelson County Historical Society is a great place to learn about the history of the community around the Nelson & Albemarle Railway stomping grounds of Schuyler, Virginia. Membership is only $15 and Lifetime membership is $200. (Family membership is $20). Send your money to the society at: Nelson County Historical Society, PO Box 474, Lovingston, Virginia 22949.

Join in! ---- The Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society is another great place to learn about the history surrounding the area served by the Nelson & Albemarle Railway (Esmont, Alberene). Membership is $40 for individuals annually. Join up at the sites membership page: http://albemarlehistory.org/index.php/membership

Join in! ---- The Friends of Esmont is a place where the promotion of Esmont is paramount to the members. It is hosted by former Esmont resident, Peggy (Purvis) Denby and with Purvis as her maiden name, the connection to Esmont is huge! Send email to: PeggyPurvisDenby@FriendsOfEsmont.com to receive an email in return or visit the site to submit a form with your Name and Email. Peggy can also be reached at (404) 680-6122 as noted on the website, but don't let the Atlanta area code fool you - she moved back to the Albemarle area in March 2018! See http://www.friendsofesmont.com for more information.

Please write to NelsonAlbemarle@comcast.net if you have memorabilia you'd like to sell or donate!

Contacts — List page from Classic Sites

Ever gotten a great photograph that you didn't have anywhere to use?

We recently purchased a negative of the GE c/n30856 locomotive (N&A #1) switching freight at Esmont with depot in photo and pulp car, hopper, 3 boxcars, another hopper, and caboose.

Halfway down train at switch stand is N&A employee ready to act when train is in or out of cut.

Wish we had the name of this photographer from this photo taken at Esmont in 1953 prior to the addition of yellow stripes to the ends of the locomotive..

Or an even better photograph of Locomotive #10 with a view not seen before?

This photo is courtesy of Janice Brown of Falls Church, Virginia who graciously allowed it's use for our website. The young lady and young gentleman on the younger brother and sister of the photographer, James M. Brown who is Janice's father. Photo likely taken in 1943 while his father Obed O. Brown was working at the Schuyler mill.

It's rare to see the detail on the front of a locomotive as most photographers took their photo's of side or 3/4 views and few (if any) took views that were straight on from front or back). We hope to have an article from Janice in the future on her family ties to the Schuyler plant and the N&A.

If you're wondering about our Nelson & Albemarle Railway book, it's expected to be published in 2021. It is a long-drawn out process to prepare a book of any nature, but this one is also being formatted as both an internet-based book and publication in a soft-cover fashion. We continue to search for missing key details on the track and building layout at Rockfish in the era 1905 to 1930.

Cover - Photo of #9 with boxcar and combine from California Railroad Museum (a Charles Clegg photograph from the Mixed Train Daily series) - dependent on rights to use

Inside - Detailed map of Nelson & Albemarle (to be prepared from multiple sources including plats, valuation maps, diagrams from COHS, topographical maps, etc.) Note: This map has been created, but there is a notable gap in the track diagram for the Rockfish, Virginia area which has kept this map from being completed. We continue to look for that detail as we move forward to publish this book.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1 - Origin of the N&A; predecessors Schuyler Railway, Alberene Railroad, Lease of the C&O Alberene Subdivision

Chapter 2 - Soapstone Company histories; (Albemarle, Virginia, Alberene + others such as Old Dominion that merged)

Chapter 3 - Nelson & Albemarle Railway - how it began, leases, where it ran, topical discussions on why and where

Chapter 4 - Depots, Yard(s), Sidings, Interchanges, Timetables

Chapter 5 - Steam Locomotives (1, 2; Old Dominion 1, 2; the mystery of 3; 4; 5 & 6; 7; the mystery of 8 and how it got on the N&A Stock Certificate; 9 & 10; 11; 12, 14, 15.)

Chapter 6 - Diesel Locomotives (1, 2, 3 and their subsequent histories)

Chapter 7 - Misc. Powered Equipment & Rosters (4-wheel Sheffield Velocipede bought from Fairbanks-Morse Company model="Maude" which name it kept and Plymouth critter acquired from merger)

Chapter 8 - Mixed Train Service (great chapter for photographs, but also to showcase the requirement of mixed trains to serve needs)

Chapter 8A - Passenger Service, Equipment, + Caboose(s) including 1 former RF&P (passenger only trains, equipment 'borrowed' from

the C&O, end of passenger service, caboose as passenger service)

Chapter 8B - Freight Service, Equipment + off line equipment such as freight dollys, soapstone dollys for gang saws, etc.; (boxcar

Chapter 9 - Photographers (Charles Clegg, August Thieme, H. Reid, etc.), Motion Picture Photographer (only 1 known - August Thieme), and Authors (Archie Robertson, Lucius Beebe, Richard Prince, Garth Groff, Mallory Hope Ferrell)s from NYC, etc.; hoppers, ballast car, flat cars to service quarries and gang saws;

Chapter 10 - Publications, etc. on N&A (the web site detail here)

Chapter 11 - The N&A what if and what is (what if the N&A had continued to exist; what is left of the N&A today and how Soapstone is again in a revival period)

Inside back - Fanciful map of the sightseeing along the route, plus the industries other than soapstone served by the line including school 'bus' service.