the New River, Holston & Western Railroad ultimately was 43 miles long, from Narrows to Suiter
Source: ESRI, ArcGIS Online
the New River, Holston & Western Railroad ultimately was 43 miles long, from Narrows to Suiter
Source: ESRI, ArcGIS Online
The Norfolk and Western Railway was built along the New River in Giles County in order to extract coal from the West Virginia and Tazewell County fields. Rail transportation also opened up the timberlands of the region to commercial harvest.
The developers of a tannery at the Narrows built the New River, Holston & Western Railroad to ship bark from white oak and hemlock trees to their facility. In 1900, the General Assembly:1
The first stretch of track was just three miles long, going south from the New River to harvest virgin timber in the Wolf Creek valley. More track was added to reach Rocky Gap in 1912. An additional 14 more miles were built southeast to Suiter in 1914, after lands there were purchased by a major timber owner who supported extension of the railroad. Construction to Suiter made the line 43 miles long, with 12 stations.
The New River, Holston & Western Railroad passed through an area rich in timber but lacking in large deposits of coal or iron that might be shipped by rail. Some manganese and livestock was transported, and around Thanksgiving turkeys were shipped from Giles and Bland counties to Philadelphia. At Rocky Gap, one sawmill completed a narrow-gauge line to bring its products to the New River, Holston & Western Railroad.
The Norfolk and Western Railway purchased the New River, Holston & Western Railroad in 1919, and operated it as the Narrows Branch. The Virginian Railway offered a potential alternative purchaser. That railroad focused on transporting coal to Norfolk; adding small carloads of other types of freight to other destinations would complicate operations without adequate profit.2
The business in Bland County declined as the timber was "mined," without a plan for sustained yield before the creation of Jefferson National Forest. In 1946, the railroad was abandoned and the track was removed. The right-of-way between Narrows and Rocky Gap was reused for State Route 61.3
Between 1946-1986, the railroad bridge provided a one-lane crossing for State Route 61 over Wolf Creek. After the highway was realigned and a replacement highway bridge was completed, the structure was repurposed as a pedestrian bridge for a local park. The steel Pratt "through truss" bridge, one of just five manufactured by the Phoenix Bridge Company that remain in Virginia, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.4
the New River, Holston & Western Railroad built over Wolf Creek at Rocky Gap in 1912, and the bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places 99 years later
Source: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, 010-0072 Wolf Creek Bridge
the 1912 bridge of the New River, Holston & Western Railroad over Wolf Creek is now used just by pedestrians
Source: ESRI, ArcGIS Online
1. "Honaker v. New River, Holston & Western Railroad," Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia, 116 Va. 662, September 7, 1914, https://cite.case.law/va/116/662/ (last checked November 15, 2020)
2. "New River, Holston & Western Railroad," Abandoned, https://abandonedonline.net/location/new-river-holston-western-railroad/; "Railroad," Bland County History Archives, http://www.blandcountyhistoryarchives.org/railroad/web-content/index.html; "Wolf Creek Bridge," National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, November 16, 2010, https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/VLR_to_transfer/PDFNoms/010-0072_Wolf_Creek_Bridge_2010_NRHP_FINAL.pdf (last checked November 15, 2020)
3. "The New River, Holston and Western Railroad," Abandoned, https://www.abandonedrails.com/new-river-holston-and-western-railroad (last checked November 15, 2020)
4. "Wolf Creek Bridge," National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, November 16, 2010, https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/VLR_to_transfer/PDFNoms/010-0072_Wolf_Creek_Bridge_2010_NRHP_FINAL.pdf (last checked November 15, 2020)