the Louisa Railroad built west from a junction (now Dowswell) with the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad
Source: Library of Congress, A map of the internal improvements of Virginia (by Claudius Crozet, 1848)
the Louisa Railroad built west from a junction (now Dowswell) with the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad
Source: Library of Congress, A map of the internal improvements of Virginia (by Claudius Crozet, 1848)
The Louisa Railroad received its charter on February 18, 1836. It built west from the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad at Hanover Junction. Track reached Louisa Court House in 1838 and Gordonsville in 1840.
the Louisa Railroad relied upon the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad to reach Richmond between 1838-1850
Source: Library of Congress, Hanover County (by Jedediah Hotchkiss, 1867)
In 1850 it was extended in two directions and renamed the Virginia Central. On the west end, it reached Charlottesville. At Hanover Junction, new track was built parallel to the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad south to Richmond.2
C. Coleman McGehee, "I've been working on the railroad: the saga of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad Company," Masters Thesis, University of Richmond, 1992, p.8, https://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1748&context=masters-theses; Fairfax Harrison, A History of the Legal Development of the Railroad System of Southern Railway Company, 1901, p.12, https://books.google.com/books?id=0IkjAQAAMAAJ (last checked July 2, 2020)
even during the Civil War, the Virgnia Central was still called the Louisa Railroad by some
Source: Library of Congress, Henrico County, Virginia (by E. Hergesheimer, 1862)
After the original Blue Ridge Tunnel was abandoned in 1944, a project to convert it into a naturas gas storage facility failed. The abandoned tunnel was converted into a recreational magnet, and a trail through it opened in 2020.
The Rivanna Trails Foundation and the Three Notched Trail Planning Group have envisioned a rcreational trail that would connect Charlottesville to the Blue Ridge Tunnel. The proposed trail would run parallel to the former Virginia Central track, which is "live track" still being used by the Buckingham Branch Railroad.
The Commonwealth of Virginia agreed to purchase that track from CSX as part of the Transforming Rail in Virginia initiative announced in 2019. Advocates for the trail were hopeful that a multi-modal plan for adding Amtrak service between Richmond and Staunton would include the trail.2 "White Paper: Rails-With-Trails in Virginia - Benefits, Liability Protections & Suggested Policies," May 2021, Three Notched Trail Planning Group, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lt5vt_TnH1dRacNytulu3PRMyI2TGrd4/view (last checked October 30, 2021)
the Virginia Central hired enslaved people to contruct the railroad
Source: Smithsonian Institution, Bond for the hire of enslaved man named Harry by the Virginia Central Railroad
there was no railroad on the Peninsula until the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad built from Richmond to Newport News in 1882
Source: Library of Congress, Central Virginia
the Lousia Railroad was renamed Virginia Central in 1850, and built track from Hanover Junction to Richmond
Source: Library of Congress, Thirty five miles around Richmond, Va (by Jedediah Hotchkiss, 1867)
the Virginia Central and the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac (RF&P) railroads crossed at Hanover Junction (now Doswell)
Source: Library of Congress, Central Virginia (1864)
the Virginia Central connected Richmond to Gordonsville, Charlottesville, and Staunton in 1858
Source: Library of Virginia, A map of the rail roads of Virginia
the Virginia Central had not reached Covington when the Civil War started
Source: Library of Congress, A map of the state of Virginia (by Lewis Von Buchholtz, L. V., Herman Böÿe, Benjamin Tanner, 1859)
prior to the Civil War, the Virginia Central was operating west to Covington
Source: Library of Congress, The theatre of war or the stage as set for the opening scenes of 1861
the Virginia Central planned to go further west, across the Allegheny Front
Source: Library of Congress, General map of the Orange & Alexandria Rail Road and its connections north, south, and west
the Virginia Central and the Orange and Alexandria railroads shared track between Gordonsville-Charlottesville
Source: Library of Congress, Central Virginia: showing Lieut. Gen'l. U.S. Grant's campaign and marches of the armies under his command in 1864-5 (US War Department. Engineer Bureau, between 1864 and 1869)
the Virginia Central (yellow) ultimately built track parallel to the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad (red) north to Hanover Junction (now Doswell)
Source: Library of Congress, Map of the neighbourhood of Richmond and Petersburg, Virginia (by A. C. Cooke and Henry James, 1864)
portal for the original Blue Ridge Tunnel
Source: WVPT, The Blue Ridge Tunnel
the Louisa Railroad connected Doswell to Gordonsville in 1848
Source: Library of Congress, A map of the internal improvements of Virginia (Claudius Crozet, 1848)
the Virginia Central Railroad connected Richmond to the Jackson River in 1861
Source: Library of Congress, Lloyd's American railroad map (1861)