the South Side Railroad competed with the James River and Kanawha Canal, connecting Lynchburg with the James River port of Petersburg
Source: Library of Congress, A map of the internal improvements of Virginia (Claudius Crozet, 1848)
the South Side Railroad competed with the James River and Kanawha Canal, connecting Lynchburg with the James River port of Petersburg
Source: Library of Congress, A map of the internal improvements of Virginia (Claudius Crozet, 1848)
The South Side Railroad was chartered in 1846, and connected Petersburg to Lynchburg in 1854. It was built with a 5' gauge, as was the Richmond and Danville Railroad which it intersected at Burkesville and the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad at Lynchburg. The Orange and Alexandria Railroad, which reached Lynchburg in 1860, was built with a 4' 8.5" gauge.1
James M. Bisbee, "The history of the South Side Railroad, 1846-1870," Master thesis, University of Richmond, 1994, https://scholarship.richmond.edu/masters-theses/590/; "Orange & Alexandria," Confederate Railroads, http://www.csa-railroads.com/Orange_and_Alexandria.htm (last checked August 17, 2020)
The western terminus was Lynchburg. When the South Side Railroad first started operations in 1854, trains stopped near Mount Athos. Freight and passengers used James River and Kanawha Canal boats to go upstream to Lynchburg. The canal was forced to lower its rates, once there was competition from the railroad.
the South Side Railroad diverted traffic away from the James River and Kanawha Canal, enhancing business in Petersburg rather than Richmond
Source: Library of Virginia, A map of the rail roads of Virginia (1858)
The railroad completed the "First Crossing of the James" in 1855. Just upstream of it was another bridge that connected to the eastern end of Percival's Island in the James River, where the South Side Railroad ended. A wagon bridge on the western end of the island in Lynchburg linked to the city itself. At a depot on the southern bank of the James River, passengers and freight could transfer to the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad and continue westward to Bristol.
The bridge later became known as Six Mile Bridge, for its distance downstream of Lynchburg. In 1881 the Richmond and Alleghany Railroad built is bridge three miles further downstream, and it became known as Nine Mile Bridge.1
"N015-0352 Norfolk Southern Six Mile Bridge No. 58," National Register of Historic Places nomination form, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, August 28, 1995, https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/015-0352/ (last checked August 18, 2020)
the First Crossing of the James built by the South Side Railroad in 1855 was a wooden bridge burned in 1865, then rebuilt in 1870 as an iron structure that became known as Six Mile Bridge
Source: Virginia Department of Historic Resources, N015-0352 Norfolk Southern Six Mile Bridge No. 58
The eastern terminus 124 miles away was in Petersburg, at a railroad station built in 1854. That structure still survives, and may be the oldest railroad station in Virginia today.1 "The South Side Rail Road and Station in Petersburg," Historic Petersburg Foundation, http://www.historicpetersburg.org/the-south-side-rail-road-and-station-in-petersburg/ (last checked August 16, 2020)br>
The South Side Railroad originally plannned to bypass Farmville. The town ensures it would have a railroad connection by committing to invest $100,000 in the South Side Railroad. Farmville ended up in the middle of a northern loop from Burkeville to Pamplin, with the railroad passing through the center of town.
The crossing over the Appomattox River required constructing a bridge 2,400 feet long and 125 feet high, which opened at the start of 1854. The timber-framed Burr Arch Truss spans of High Bridge rested on 20 brick pierss which were 14' by 27' at the base, sitting on a granite base up to eight feet below ground level. Bricks were manufactured in kilns at the site, using clay from the ribver's floodplain. There were iron balustrades on the outside edge of the walkways located on either side of the track.1
"High Bridge," Visit Farmville, https://visitfarmville.com/high-bridge/; "High Bridge," National Register of Historic Places nomination form, 2008, https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/VLR_to_transfer/PDFNoms/024-0056_High_Bridge_2008_NR_final.pdf (last checked August 16, 2020)
the High Bridge of the South Side Railroad was about 130 feet above the Appamattox River
Source: Library of Congress, Farmville, Va., vicinity. High bridge of the South Side Railroad across the Appomattox (Timothy H. O'Sullivan, April 1865)
The railroad extended east from Petersburg to the James River by purchasing the Appomattox Railroad Company from the City of Petersburg in 1854. That nine-mile railroad had started as the City Point Railroad Company.1 "Abandoned Lynchburg Rails: N&W Island & the Lynchburg Tunnel," A Visual History of Lynchburg, Virginia, http://www.retroweb.com/pre-retroweb/lynchburg/abandonedrails.html; "Historical Chronology of Railroads in Lynchburg," A Visual History of Lynchburg, Virginia, http://www.retroweb.com/lynchburg/railroad_chronology.html; William R. Feeney, "South Side Railroad during the Civil War," Encyclopedia Virginia, Virginia Humanities, October 27, 2015, https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Southside_Railroad (last checked August 16, 2020)
the South Side Railroad connected Petersburg and Lynchburg
Source: New York Public Library, Map of Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio railroad
During the Civil War, Petersburg was the center for supplies coming north to Richmond. In 1863, the South Side Railroad operated one passenger train and one freight train in each direction, daily.1
Letter from William M. Wadley to James A. Seddon, April 15, 1863, in Confederate Railroads, http://www.csa-railroads.com/Essays/Orignial%20Docs/OR/OR%20Series%204,%20Vol.%202,%20Page%20487.htm (last checked August 19, 2020)
The different railroads from the south and west were gradually cut by Union forces that besieged the city in 1864, until the South Side Railroad was the last one still intact.
The railroad's officials complained that the Confederate Quarter Master's Department was unwilling to provide additional locomotives and cars to handle the additional traffic, even though other railroads were unable to use them. The Confedrate government also paid only 25% of the normal fare for the transport of troops and 50% for military supplies.
Confederate officials decided in 1865 that the South Side Railroad would be truncated at Burkeville. From there, trains would run south to Danville rather than west to Lynchburg. Richmond and Danville Railroad trains would run east from Burkeville to Petersburg.
The decision ignored a fundamental difference between the two railroads. The Richmond and Danville Railroad locomotives were heavier, since that line had been built with steeper sections of track climbing over watershed divides. Those heavy engines damaged the lighter track of the South Side Railroad, which had a flatter route. The South Side Railroad's less-powerful locomotives struggled to climb the grades on the stretch of Richmond and Danville Railroad between Burkeville-Danville.
The Confederate Quarter Master's Department also decided that the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad would take control of the western end of the South Side Railroad. The Virginia & Tennessee Railroad would operate all trains from Lynchburg to Burkville, the junction with the Richmond and Danville Railroad. The South Side Railroad objected to the revenue being redirected to the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad. The annual report for 1865 noted:1
"High Bridge," National Register of Historic Places nomination form, 2008, https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/VLR_to_transfer/PDFNoms/024-0056_High_Bridge_2008_NR_final.pdf; "Annual Report of the South Side RR as of October 1, 1865, President's Report," Confederate Railroads, http://www.csa-railroads.com/Essays/Orignial%20Docs/AR/AR,_SS_10-1-65_P.htm (last checked August 18, 2020)
At the end of March, 1865, Union cavalry and infantry moved north from Dinwiddie Court House. On April 1, they overwhelmed the Confederate defense line at Five Forks. General Robert E. Lee recognized that the last railroad connection would be lost, and he would no longer be able to feed his army within the fortifications surrounding Petersburg. When he abandoned that city and its defense line north to the James River, he would also have to accept that the Union Army would capture the Confederate capital at Richmond.
the Confederate defeat at Five Forks on April 1, 1865 ended the defense of the South Side Railroad connection to Petersburg (yellow line)
Source: Library of Congress, Map of Dinwiddie County, Va (1864)
General Grant had the same understanding. He launched a full scale attack on the Petersburg defenses on April 2, to defeat the Confederate's Army of Northern Virginia and seize Petersburg and then Richmond. Lee notified Jefferson Davis on April 2 that Petersburg would be abandoned, and that night the top Confederate officials fled Richmond. They used trains of the Richmond and Danville Railroad to flee to Danville, while Lee's army moved west from Petersburg.1
Brooke S. Blades,"An Archaeological Overview and Assessment of the Five Forks Unit - Petersburg National Battlefield, Virginia," National Park Service, 1999, Chapter One, http://www.heritage.umd.edu/CHRSWeb/NPS/Petersburg/Five%20Forks%20Unit/Chapter%201.htm (last checked August 18, 2020)
Lee intended to reach the Richmond and Danville Railroad at Amelia Court House, then follow that railroad to Danville. However, the rations he expected to get at Amelia had not been shipped from Richmond. He was forced to march to Farmville, where the South Side Railroad had brought food from Lynchburg for his troops. Grant sent forces west along the South Side Railroad. They sought to block any possibility of Lee joining the Confederate force in North Carolina under General Joseph Johnston.
Grant also had the South Side Railroad repaired as his forces chased Lee's army, in order to supply the Federal troops. The US Military Railroad (USMRR) switched the gauge from 5' to 4' 8.5" in order for trains to run uninterrupted from City Point to Burkeville.
The Union cavalry reached the 130-foot high "High Bridge" of the South Side railroad crossing the Appomattox River. The Appomattox River was flowing high and could not be forded easily, so destroying the bridge would trap the Confederates and facilitate the destruction/capture of the remnants of Lee's army. However, the Confederates forced the Union troops to retreat from High Bridge, then used it to march from Amelia Court House to Farmville.
The Confederate rear guard set fire to the wooden superstructure. They managed to destroy three of the 21 spans of the High Bridge on April 7, but left intact a separate low wagon bridge crossing the river. Union troops ripped apart a fourth span to save the majority of the bridge. Using the low wagon bridge, they crossed the river and reached Farmville soon after the Confederates. That blocked movement south, and forced Lee to march westward on the northern side of the Appomattox River.
The Confederate leader expected to get more rations at another South Side Railroad depot, halfway to Lynchburg. The railroad brought supplies as directed, but the Union Army captured the Appomattox depot first and surrounded the Confederate army. After Lee's surrender to General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, Union troops distributed those rations which had not been destroyed and others from their own wagon train to the former Confederate soldiers.1
"The Appomattox Campaign," Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, National Park Service, https://www.nps.gov/apco/learn/education/the-appomattox-campaign.htm; "High Bridge," American Battlefield Trust, https://www.battlefields.org/learn/civil-war/battles/high-bridge; "Annual Report of the South Side RR as of October 1, 1865, Superintendent's Report," Confederate Railroads, http://www.csa-railroads.com/Essays/Orignial%20Docs/AR/AR,_SS_10-1-65_S.htm; "High Bridge," National Register of Historic Places nomination form, 2008, https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/VLR_to_transfer/PDFNoms/024-0056_High_Bridge_2008_NR_final.pdf (last checked August 16, 2020)
the South Side Railroad's High Bridge was repaired after the retreat to Appomattox ended in surrender of the Confederate Army on April 9, 1865
Source: Library of Congress, High Bridge crossing the Appomattox, near Farmville, on South Side Railroad, Va (by Timothy H. O'Sullivan and Alexander Gardner, 1865)
In 1864, most of the railroad depots were destroyed by Union cavalry raids, and much of the track was twisted to make it useless. In the evacuation of Petersburg, most of the remaining assets of the South Side Railroad were destroyed. The company had stockpiled a supply of meat at the Petersburg depot, but it, other stored goods, and tools disappeared. Even the brass was stolen offfrom locomotives stored in the railroad shop in Petersburg.
Two locomotives and several railroad cars were placed on the bridge to the shops, and all were destroyed when the bridge was burned. A locomotive and cars sent to Milepost 14 for wounded men the day before the evacuation were burned. As Lee retreated west, spans of the High Bridge, Farmville bridge, Buffalo bridge, and the two bridges over the James River were burned.1
"Annual Report of the South Side RR as of October 1, 1865, President's Report," Confederate Railroads, http://www.csa-railroads.com/Essays/Orignial%20Docs/AR/AR,_SS_10-1-65_P.htm; "Annual Report of the South Side RR as of October 1, 1865, Superintendent's Report," Confederate Railroads, http://www.csa-railroads.com/Essays/Orignial%20Docs/AR/AR,_SS_10-1-65_S.htm (last checked August 18, 2020)
Union forces reached the South Side Railroad's Appomattox Station before Confederates in April 1865
Source: National Archives, Virginia, Appomattox Station (April, 1865)
After the Civil War, the US Military Railroad controlled the South Side Railroad until returning to the private owners on July 24, 1865.
The South Side Railroad shifted back to the 5' gauge. It immediately started restoration of High Bridge, but passengers and freight had to be carried across the wagon bridge until 1866. Lumber for the reconstruction came from a mill the railroad had acquired in Waverly, 20 miles down the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad.
A temporary trestle replaced the four spans of the High Bridge burned during Lee's retreat to Appomattox. A steel Fink truss was completed by the South Side Railroad in 1869. Later, after the South Side Railroad had become part of became part of the Norfolk and Western Railroad, the bridge was replaced:1
Nancy Heltman, "High Bridge - A Different Perspective," Virginia State Parks blog, April 16, 2015, https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/blog/high-bridge-a-different-perspective-5516; "High Bridge," Stone Sentinels, https://stonesentinels.com/less-known/high-bridge/; "Annual Report of the South Side RR as of October 1, 1865, Superintendent's Report," Confederate Railroads, http://www.csa-railroads.com/Essays/Orignial%20Docs/AR/AR,_SS_10-1-65_S.htm; "High Bridge," National Register of Historic Places nomination form, 2008, https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/VLR_to_transfer/PDFNoms/024-0056_High_Bridge_2008_NR_final.pdf; "N015-0352 Norfolk Southern Six Mile Bridge No. 58," National Register of Historic Places nomination form, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, August 28, 1995, https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/015-0352/ (last checked August 18, 2020)
The 1914 bridge built by the Virginia Bridge and Iron Company carried two tracks. The steel structure rested on 21 metal support piers; the brick piers built in 1853-1854 were not considered to provide adequate support. Some were dismantled and the bricks recycled durng World War I.1
"High Bridge," National Register of Historic Places nomination form, 2008, https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/VLR_to_transfer/PDFNoms/024-0056_High_Bridge_2008_NR_final.pdf (last checked August 16, 2020)
The "First Crossing" bridge over the James River was rebuilt by February, 1866. Until then, trains once again stopped east of Lynchburg and canal boats were used to complete the trip. After a flood destroyed it in 1870, the piers were doubled in height to about 40 feet and wrought iron Fink Trusses were use to build the new bridge.1
"N015-0352 Norfolk Southern Six Mile Bridge No. 58," National Register of Historic Places nomination form, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, August 28, 1995, https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/015-0352/ (last checked August 18, 2020)
The South Side Railroad, like others in Virginia after the Civil War, struggled to get funding to rebuild their infrastructure. Freight and passenger traffic was low, generating little revenue. In 1870 William Mahone managed to merge the Virginia & Tennessee, Southside, and the Norfolk & Petersburg railroads into the Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad. That brought an end to the independent existence of the South Side Railroad.
In 1881 the Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad became part of the Norfolk and Western Railroad. In 1982, it became part of today's Norfolk Southern.
The Percival Island railyard was abandoned in the mid-1990's and donated to the City of Lynchburg, which converted the old South Side property into a pedestrial trail and park along the waterfront.1 "Abandoned Lynchburg Rails: N&W Island & the Lynchburg Tunnel," A Visual History of Lynchburg, Virginia, http://www.retroweb.com/pre-retroweb/lynchburg/abandonedrails.html; "Historical Chronology of Railroads in Lynchburg," A Visual History of Lynchburg, Virginia, http://www.retroweb.com/lynchburg/railroad_chronology.html (last checked December 30, 2018)
Most of the South Side Railroad route is still in use, except for the track between Burkeville and Pamplin City. The Norfolk and Western Railroad built new track south of Farmville, in ____. The last freight train crossed High Bridge in 2005.
a portion of the route of the original South Side Railroad (green dashed line) has been abandoned
Source: Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, Virginia Rail Map (2019)
In 2006, Norfolk Southern donated High Bridge and 31 miles of right-of-way to the state of Virginia. The Department of Conservation and Recreation created High Bridge Trail State Park, which opened to the public in phases starting in 2008. In 2012, the restored High Bridge segment opened, completing the 31-mile trail-to-trail conversion. Of the original 20 brick piers of the 1854 bridge, 13 still remain next to the steel supports of the 1914 structure. The trail was built on spans crossing 21 steel trestle towers erected in 1914.1
"High Bridge," Visit Farmville, https://visitfarmville.com/high-bridge/; "Near Farmville, a historic railroad bridge gets a facelift," News and Advance, February 29, 2012, https://newsadvance.com/news/local/near-farmville-a-historic-railroad-bridge-gets-a-facelift/article_4e2579ec-fe8d-5b67-b00d-3c4490448e21.html; "High Bridge," National Register of Historic Places nomination form, 2008, https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/VLR_to_transfer/PDFNoms/024-0056_High_Bridge_2008_NR_final.pdf (last checked August 16, 2020)
In 2020, the state purchased 30 acres on the western end of the trail to expand the park. Norfolk Southern sold land and a mile of track which it had retained at Pamplin in 2006 for storing rail cars and equipment. The town focused its revitalization efforts on becoming an anchor for the trail, and the purchase of the "last mile" of the abandoned track facilitated that process.1
"Land Acquisition Expands High Bridge Trail State Park," Southside Messenger, August 6, 2020, https://southsidemessenger.com/land-acquisition-expands-high-bridge-trail-state-park/ (last checked August 17, 2020)