the Shenandoah Valley Railroad now runs from Pleasant Valley to Staunton (red line)
Source: Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT), Virginia Rail Map (2012)
the Shenandoah Valley Railroad now runs from Pleasant Valley to Staunton (red line)
Source: Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT), Virginia Rail Map (2012)
The modern Shenandoah Valley Railroad connects Pleasant Valley (south of Harrisonburg) and Staunton. It is a "short line" railroad, dedicated to moving local agricultural traffic (primarily corn and soybeans) in the valley to connect with the Norfolk Southern at the north end. In Staunton, the short line connects with the Buckingham Branch Railroad and, through it, with the CSX.1
Today's Shenandoah Valley Railroad is a former part of the Valley Railroad which was built after the Civil War. It was financed in part by the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad, while a rival line called the Shenandoah Valley Railroad was financed initially by the Pennsylvania Railroad.
the Shenandoah Valley Railroad planned - but failed - to connect to Lexington
Source: Library of Congress, Post route map of the states of Virginia and West Virginia (Postmaster General, 1906)
In 1942, the Chesapeake & Western Railroad acquired that part of the Valley Railroad running between Lexington to Harrisonburg. It pulled up the tracks between Lexington and Staunton, but kept running trains north to Harrisonburg and east across the valley to interchage at Elkton with the Norfolk and Western.
The Norfolk and Western, which had financed the Chesapeake & Western Railroad, took control in 1954 without changing the railroad's name. The Norfolk Southern stopped operating south of Pleasant Valley in 1985, then sold off to local interests the track south between Pleasant Valley to Staunton.2
Today, a private consortium owns that stretch between Pleasant Valley (south of Harrisonburg) and Staunton. One of the owners, Houff Corporation, has a transloading facility in Weyers Cave that facilitates transfer of products between trucks and trains.3
Houff Corporation has a transloading facility on the Shenandoah Valley Railroad
Source: ESRI, ArcGIS Online
The Valley Railroad was constructed on the west side of Massanutten Mountain,
while the original Shenandoah Valley Railroad was built through the Page Valley (and ultimately merged with the Norfolk and Western)
Source: Library of Congress, Map showing lines and connections of the Shenandoah Valley and Norfolk & Western Railways (1881)