the Chesapeake Western serviced poultry plants, dairies, food processors, and local industries around Harrisonburg and Elkton
Source: Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT), Virginia Railroad Map (2018)
the Chesapeake Western serviced poultry plants, dairies, food processors, and local industries around Harrisonburg and Elkton
Source: Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT), Virginia
Railroad Map (2018)
The Chesapeake Western Railway ended up carrying primarily agricultural products within the Shenandoah Valley around Harrisonburg, and became known colloquially as the "Crooked and Weedy."
The original plans for the railroad were much grander.
The first concept, in 1871, was to build a narrow gauge railroad stretching from Washington, DC to Cincinnati, Ohio called the Washington, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad. Like many other proposals during Reconstruction, this grand visions for an ambitious southern railroad failed to attract enough capital from northern states or England, and only a little amount of roadbed grading was completed.
The next vision, in 1892, was to link the Shenandoah Valley with the railroad junction at Gordonsville. The Chesapeake, Shendun, & Western Railroad would transport coal from West Virginia to the east side of the Blue Ridge.
Railroad promoters planned to go west from Harrisonburg and cross the Allegheny Front into the West Virginia coal fields at North River Gap.
the Chesapeake Western Railway was constructed to North River Gap at the base of Narrow Back Mountain in western Augusta County
Source: ESRI, ArcGIS Online
The railroad would go east and cross the Blue Ridge at Powell's Gap, between Hawksbill Creek on the west side of the mountain and Roach River on the east side.1
The elevation of Powell Gap is 2,306 feet, a significant increase from Elkton's 971 feet. A railroad up Hawsbill Creek could also cut through the Blue Ridge at Simmon's Gap, which is only 2,244 feet high. The potential of hauling copper ore from the Hightop Copper Company, with its operations at 3,000 feet on Hightop Mountain, may have made the Powell Gap route more attractive despite the extra 62 feet in elevation compared to Simmon's Gap.
US Route 33 was built through Swift Run Gap, which has an elevation of 2,365 feet. That route offered a shorter path though the Blue Ridge. Cars and trucks on the highway can climb a steeper grade than locomotives on railroad tracks.2
the Chesapeake Western Railway planned to cross the Blue Ridge at Powell Gap, rather than Simmon's Gap or Swift Run Gap
Source: ESRI, ArcGIS Online
There were two north-south railroads in the Shenandoah Valley when the east-west Chesapeake, Shendun, & Western Railroad was proposed in 1892. When the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad controlled the Manassas Gap Railroad and the Valley Railroad, it had extended tracks south from Winchester to Front Royal and from Harrisonburg to Lexington by 1883. Its north-south line ran through the valley west of Massanutten Mountain.
The Norfolk and Western (N&W) Railroad had a separate line, east of Massanutten Mountain. The Norfolk and Western acquired the Shenandoah Valley Railroad, initially begun by the Pennsylvania Railroad as a competitor to the Baltimore and Ohio. The Norfolk and Western completed it all the way south to a connection with the former Virginia and Tennessee (V&T) Railroad at Big Lick, which the railroad renamed Roanoke.3
The only east-west line in 1892 was the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, which went through the Blue Ridge Tunnel between Waynesboro and Charlottesville. The plans of the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire (AL&H) Railroad to cross the Blue Ridge west of Leesburg had failed.
before 1896, there was no direct railroad connection between Harrisonburg and Elkton
Source: Library of Congress, Map showing the West Virginia Midland Railway and its connections (G.W. & C.B. Colton & Co., 1883)
The Chesapeake, Shendun, & Western Railroad proposed in 1892 was renamed the Chesapeake and Western Rail Road in 1895. The "Western" in the name reflected plans to reach the West Virginia coal fields. The "Chesapeake" in the name reflected plans to connect with the Chesapeake and Ohio at Gordonsville, which would carry the coal to Newport News.4
By 1896, track had been laid so trains could run between Bridgewater through Harrisonburg to Elkton. The Chesapeake and Western Rail Road connected with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Harrisonburg and the Norfolk and Western Railroad at Elkton. Operating costs were high; trains crossing the foothills of Massanutten Mountain had to climb a 2% grade.
The Chesapeake and Western Rail Road was renamed in 1900 to the Tidewater & West Virginia Railroad. In 1901, W.E.D. Stokes bought it along with 50,000 acres of land in western Augusta County. He renamed it the Chesapeake Western Railway.
Stokes extended the line 13 miles west past Bridgewater to North River Gap between Lookout and Narrow Back mountains. Narrow gauge railroads brought timber from the west to a site named Stokesville at the base of Narrow Back Mountain. The Imperial Extract Works at Stokesville produced the tanning fluids used to convert cowhides into leather from the bark. The Chesapeake & Western Railroad built shops and a turntable to keep the steam engines in a state of good repair.
in 1905, the Chesapeake Western Railway transported coal and other items, but most freight was related to forest products
Source: Annual Report of the State Corporation Commission of Virginia - Volume 2 (1905), Chesapeake Western Railway (p.148)
The sawmill closed in 1909, and the few commercial quantities of coal available there were mined out only a few years later.5
The Chesapeake Western might have lived up to its name if W.E.D. Stokes had accepted a purchase offer from Henry H. Rogers. After failing to acquire the Chesapeake Western, Rogers proceeded to build the Virginian Railway. He connected West Virginia coal fields with Sewalls Point at Norfolk.6
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Southern Railroad (which had acquired the old Manassas Gap and the Valley Railroad) had built a Union Station at Harrisonburg, but they refused W.E.D. Stokes's request for the Chesapeake & Western to join them. Stokes proceeded to construct an overly-elaborate station in town using white brick, though passenger traffic was low.
The station was designed to impress to visitors that the Chesapeake & Western was a high-quality railroad. It was repaired and restored for use as the depot after fires in 1949 and 1980. A fire in 1982 resulted in closure of the building. The railroad sold the building in 2005. New owners restored the old depot for residential and commercial use in 2016.7
The western tip of the "western extension" to Stokesville was shut down in 1930, after most of the standing timber had been harvested. Trains could reach Mt. Solon only until 1935, when the end of the line was moved further east to Bridgewater. The railroad considered a proposal in 1938 to scrap the line and ship the rails to Japan. Instead, the Norfolk and Western financed a sale to Don Thomas, the General Manager of the Chesapeake Western. That kept the Chesapeake Western railroad as an independent business, feeding traffic into the Norfolk and Western system at Elkton.
The new owner expanded south by purchasing the old Valley Railroad track from Harrisonburg to Lexington. The Staunton-Lexington section was abandoned, but the Chesapeake Western Railroad ran trains from Elkton/Harrisonburg to Staunton. At Staunton, cars could be interchanged with the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) railroad, providing an alternative to interchanging with the Norfolk & Western at Elkton.
The Norfolk and Western purchased the Chesapeake Western in 1954, ending its status as an independent railroad.
Since then, the railroad has abandoned the rest of the western extension, going west from Pleasant Hill to Bridgewater. The Norfolk & Western no longer runs north of Mount Jackson on the old Valley Railroad track towards Front Royal. The former Valley Railroad track going south of Pleasant Hill towards Staunton was sold to an independent shortline, which now interchanges most cars with the CSX in Staunton.
Most freight brought over the former Chesapeake Western line from Elkton today is feed imported to Harrisonburg from the Midwest. The railroad brings poultry food to supply the farmers raising chickens and turkeys, and poultry processors around Harrisonburg/Dayton export some of their products by rail. The old "Crooked and Weedy" is a "chicken feed" line today.8