What is Old Might be New Again
By Bruce B. Harper
[This article is the result of a number of months of research. It has been submitted for publication in The Arrow, the magazine of the Norfolk & Western Historical Society.]
It was a classic David and Goliath story, but in this case the larger Goliath was in the right.
“David” was the 8-mile-long Virginia Anthracite Coal & Railway Company (VAC&Ry) and “Goliath” was the Tidewater Railway (soon to become the Virginian Railway).
The VAC&Ry construction started in November 1902, to serve the anthracite coal mine at Merrimac and to extend to Blacksburg, home of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute. The line opened to the mine in April of 1903 and was finally completed to Blacksburg in 1904. The first passenger train operated over the line on September 15 and from then on offered four round trips a day from the Norfolk & Western depot in Christiansburg. Because of the slow pace of the train and stops for the mixed trains to switch the coal mine, passengers could get off the train and pick berries along the right of way. This lead to the line being tagged “The Huckleberry” early in its existence.
The 8-mile-long VAC&Ry ran from a connection with the N&W in Christiansburg to its end in Blacksburg. When constructed, it left Christiansburg station on the N&W’s Kingston Branch running south along Crab Creek. It crossed the creek, wrapped around a small knob, and crossed above the N&W tracks. It made a two-mile climb to the northwest out of the Crab Creek drainage to the Blacksburg Road, turned due west then made a hard right to turn north. It was on a gradual downgrade at that point. After it crossed Peppers Ferry Rd. it started down a small drainage until it neared Lick Run (now shown as Slate Branch). As it approached the stream, it went into a curve to the left, crossed a small stream on a small bridge, then began to loop to the right. The line crossed Lick Run on a bridge and eventually curved to the left, crossing another small bridge, and returning to its northward path. It followed Lick Run, climbing to about MP 5, where it reached Merrimac Mine and the large tipple constructed there. The line continued to follow the stream drainage, meandering north and east until it made a turn to the north and ran on a fairly straight tangent to downtown Blacksburg and the station site to the south of Clay Street.
As The Huckleberry was settling into its routine of runs between Christiansburg and Blacksburg, the Tidewater Railway was chartered in Virginia in 1904, with a line stretching from Norfolk to meet up with the Deepwater Railway at the West Virginia state line in Giles County. Soon engineers and surveyors were spreading out across the Commonwealth to map out the best route for the rail line. As the line was laid out, agreements had to be negotiated with the Norfolk & Western, Southern, and Seaboard Air Line among others to cross those rail lines either above, below, or at grade. Little did the Tidewater officials and engineers know that the completion of their railroad would be held up by an 8-mile branch line in Montgomery County.
H. Reid, in “The Virginian Railway,” had a section titled “Fooling Competitors” in which he went on at length about how H. H. Rogers was pulling off a great scheme by connecting two railroads without potential competitors knowing what was up. “Rogers, one suspects, deliberately played cat and mouse with his competitors.” Reid wrote, “the C&O and N&W let it go as coincidence. At least, they never let on to anyone that they suspected the Deepwater and Tidewater were supposed to meet.” He went on with an apocryphal story about surveyors using the N&W for transportation.
“For instance, a large number of anglers hopped out of N&W trains with transit fishing poles at a New River gorge between Bell Springs and Glen Lyn, Va., on a Sunday in February of 1904. You’d think the C&O and N&W would have recognized the men for what they were, Rogers’ surveyors, if for no other reason than February can be a lousy time to fish in icy New River.”
Reid, as it turns out, was a great storyteller since officials of the N&W were well aware that something was up. In a letter dated March 24, 1904, N. D. Maher, general manager of the railroad, filled in President L.E. Johnson about goings on. He first reported that “I beg to advise that a full express car has been ordered to be placed at Salem tomorrow for movement of Tidewater Company’s surveying instruments and supplies from Salem to Brookneal on our Durham line. I have given special instructions to keep a careful watch on all crossings of our Durham line, so as to be able to oppose a grade crossing of that line at any point.”
Maher also reported that “The latest information in regard to surveys of the Tidewater Ry. shows that they have made a location up Toms Creek, crossing the summit about two and one-half miles north-west of Blacksburg; thence down north fork of Roanoke River to the town of LaFayette, which lies a short distance north-east of Elliston.”
“From all the information that can be gathered in regard to this survey, the grades they have secured have not been found satisfactory, and these people are making other trial lines. In an interview recently between Mr. Churchill and Mr. Howard, Engineer for Tidewater people, he made the remark that he thought our grades over Allegheny Mountain were remarkably good.”
“We have just received information that the Tidewater people may run a line up Stroubles Creek from New River and cross the divide directly at Blacksburg. Stroubles Creek enters New River at the end of Horseshoe Bend below Pepper. The last proposed survey is one that will require a crossing of our road near our low-grade line tunnel; thence up New River, probably on the opposite side from our Low Grade Line, to the mouth of Plumb Creek just east of Radford; thence up Plumb Creek to summit just south of Christiansburg, crossing this summit at Elliott’s Creek; down Elliott’s Creek to the point where it empties into the south fork of Roanoke River at Allegheny Springs; thence follow the south fork of Roanoke River. This route is much longer than the route on which they have been surveying. The summit height is no better than at Blacksburg, but they will have more distance to make that summit. The crossing of the summit south of Christiansburg is near the old Kingston Mines, to which we had a branch.”
The Stroubles Creek route would have taken the rail line on a curving climb on the north side of Price Mountain to reach the plateau where Blacksburg is located. The challenge would then be finding the best way to drop off the east side of town, which was along a steep ridge above the Ellett Valley and the North Fork of the Roanoke River. The Plum Creek/Elliot’s Creek route was considerably longer and would have required two crossings of the New River (the N&W held the east bank from Crab Creek to its crossing to reach Cowan).
The surveyors looked at the bigger picture, seeing the Roanoke River as the best route to the east and Roanoke. On the south side of Price Mountain, Laurel Creek followed a reasonably straight path east toward Merrimac, while across the ridge Wilson Creek cut a path from Yellow Sulphur Springs down to the Ellett Valley and the south fork of the Roanoke River. To cross the ridge while keeping the grades manageable, the surveyors proposed a tunnel to get from the New River to the Roanoke River.
This adopted route put the Virginia Anthracite Coal & Railway Co. and its 8-mile line square in the sights of the Tidewater Railway.
The surveyors and engineers got together with the lawyers to determine the best course of action, as they had done for crossings of other railroads between West Virginia and Norfolk. Once it was determined that the best course was over, under, or crossing at grade, the lawyers worked with the other railroad to come to an agreement about the lines crossing and which company would be responsible for what expenses, both for construction and going forward for operation and maintenance.
In the case of the VAC&Ry line, the engineers and surveyors decided that as the Tidewater line approached the top of the grade approaching Alleghany Tunnel and the crossing of the divide, there would be a conflict with the existing grade of the VAC&Ry. The Tidewater line would be at a lower elevation, but there would only be a difference of 15 feet, which wasn’t adequate clearance. The initial proposal was to parallel the existing VAC&Ry line but slightly to the east, which based on terrain would add enough elevation to increase the height of the crossing to 25.5 feet above the Tidewater subgrade. There would still be two 16-degree curves in the line and a long trestle over the Tidewater line and Lick Creek, plus two additional crossings of the creek. Proposed Change “B” saw a line relocation and overhead bridge as the solution to the VAC&Ry crossing. This plan would require only one trestle to achieve the same height above the Tidewater, in addition to reducing curvature by straightening the line. To achieve this solution, a cut would be necessary to go through the ridge that the existing VAC&Ry line curved around. To sweeten the deal, the Tidewater would pay the VAC&Ry $16,000 to make the changes in Plan “B.” On February 2, 1906, a Memorandum of Agreement was signed covering terms of the crossing of the VAC&Ry and the purchase of a right of way through land owned by the Virginia Anthracite Coal Company.
The two-page document covered the crossing in one paragraph:
The Virginia Anthracite Coal & Railway Company shall relocate and change its line, rebuilding the same substantially on the line shown on the blue-print hereto attached and made part of this agreement, marked “Agreed change in line February 2d, 1906.”, and shall cross the proposed track of the Tidewater Railway Company overhead, with a clear height of 21 feet from top of rail of the Tidewater Railway Company to bottom of the superstructure of the Virginia Anthracite Coal & Railway Company, and with a clear span of 30 feet in width, measured at right angles to the Tidewater track. And the Tidewater Company shall have the right to build its tracks across and occupy the present right of way of the Virginia Anthracite Coal & Railway Company, at the point as shown on said blue-print, on and after November 1st, 1906.
A second paragraph addressed the payment in consideration of the line relocation:
The Tidewater Railway Company will pay the Virginia Anthracite Coal & Railway Company $16,000.00 in consideration of the changes so to be made, and of the further agreement herein contained on the part of the said in & Railway Company. Said sum to be paid in pro-rata installments monthly during the progress of the work of the changing the line of said Coal & Railway Company.
The rest of the agreement set terms for the VAC&Ry to haul construction materials from the N&W at Christiansburg to the Tidewater connection at Lick Run for $2.50 per loaded car and the right of way purchase for $1,000 while allowing the Virginia Anthracite Coal Company to mine coal under the property except for the area under the Alleghany Tunnel site.
Per the blueprint, the VAC&Ry would continue in a near straight line from Peppers Ferry Road instead of curving to the left and dropping down the drainage to reach Lick Run. The new line would continue on a bench of the hillside, then enter a cut that ended just above the Tidewater’s proposed line. The line would cross to the opposite hillside on a trestle and continue on a bench on that hillside until it rejoined the existing line just south of Merrimac Mine. The portion of the line from that connection along Lick Run would be abandoned but would later be revived as a connection to the Tidewater.
The Tidewater Railway contracted with “MacArthur Brothers Company, of Chicago, one of the oldest and strongest railroad contracting firms in the United States, … to build the new line, in association with a large number of sub-contractors” per an article in the Roanoke Evening News on Dec. 18, 1905. Work was already in progress all along the line, with MacArthur Bros. taking on the task of completing the Alleghany Tunnel.
With agreement in hand, the VAC&Ry also hired contractors to grade the new roadbed and build the bridge over the Tidewater line. One such contract was with S. F. Lindsey, entered on June 10, 1906, who agreed that “in consideration of the sum of forty-two (42) cents per cubic yard to be paid with the additional price of one cent per cubic yard for all material hauled 800 feet as hereinafter set out the said Contractor hereby agrees and covenants to furnish all labor, tools and explosives to execute, construct and finish in a substantial and workmanlike manner to the satisfaction and acceptance of the Engineer and General Manager of said Company all the work of grading and all other work incidental to and connected with the graduation and completion of the work on the line of the said Company to be approximately a change of grade of about 4800 feet in length.” Per the terms, Lindsey “agrees that the entire work herein specified shall be completed in all its parts on or before the 30th day of September, 1906.” Other contracts were signed for materials to be used in the construction project, and for lumber for the bridge. Work on the line relocation was started not long after the contract was signed, shortly after the agreement was signed between the Tidewater and the VAC&Ry.
Two years later, the work on the Tidewater roadbed was almost complete. The Roanoke Evening News reported on Dec. 12, 1907, that MacArthur Brothers was “nearly through with the contract on the Tidewater railroad. The principal task which is now before them is the finishing of the Alleghany tunnel near the Merrimac mines, and this big undertaking is almost completed. The Alleghany tunnel is 5,739 feet in length, or almost a mile, and all that the contractors have to do now is to clear away about seven hundred feet. This being the last “bench.”
McArthur Bros. expect to have their part of the road ready to turn over to the owners by next April. Their contract included altogether 108 miles, all of which lay west of the city of Roanoke, running to and across the New River to a place called Rock.”
What the Tidewater people didn’t know when it signed the agreement with the VAC&Ry was that they were dealing with a company that was always on the brink of financial ruin. The N&W had a bit of back-and-forth correspondence with the VAC&Ry officials about rental payments for use of a portion of the Kingston Branch and the joint station at Christiansburg, along with a request from the VAC&Ry that the N&W delay submitting First Mortgage Bond coupons due on July 1, 1907, until July 26th, “after which date they will be paid when presented.”
While the work on the Tidewater created the cut over which the VAC&Ry trestle would span, work on the rest of the VAC&Ry line relocation languished.
Per a lawsuit later filed by Lindsey on June 10, 1906, progress on his work on the roadbed was to be reviewed at the first of each month by the VAC&Ry General Manager and the Engineer and Lindsey was to be paid for the estimated amount of material removed and work completed. However, Lindsey stated in his suit against the company that “the said Railroad Company began delaying him in various ways so that he could not make satisfactory progress with the work.” With the contracted completion date approaching, Lindsey wrote a letter to W. J. Payne, Vice-President, and J. R. Wilson, General Manager, on September 26, 1906, about delays from the company and problems it was causing him.
“On July 17th I was compelled to suspend work on the Summit Cut where your road crosses the Tidewater Railroad. In a very short time I will be through with all the other grade work under my contract with the Virginia Anthracite Railway Company, and from the present indications but little progress, if any, is being made on the bridge work across the Tidewater R.R., and in consequence thereof I am being delayed in doing the work covered by my agreement with your company,” Lindsey wrote. He asked that he “be permitted to proceed in some way with this work while I have the men and teams on the ground.” The lack of work on the bridge was hampering Lindsey’s ability to complete his contract and he was concerned about the coming winter months. “From the best information I can get from Mr. Wall, it would seem that it will be some four or five months yet before the bridge will be completed.”
Lindsey got no response to his letter, so he continued to work as best he could, “under the direction of the General Manager and Engineer aforesaid, from the date of the writing of the letter on September 26, 1906, up to and including the 9th day of February, 1907, but after the month of September there was an average diminution in the amount of work that he [Lindsey] was permitted to do.” Even though he was doing the work, Lindsey claimed in his suit that “After November, 1906, said company ceased entirely to make payments” for the work that had been done, despite repeated requests to and contacts with company officials.
On February 9, 1907, Lindsey notified the VAC&Ry management that he was terminating the contract and asked that he be paid what he was due for work done. Lindsey tired of hearing nothing, so on March 29, 1907, he filed a general contractor’s lien in the court in Montgomery County, seeking $3153.39, with interest, from Feb. 9, 1907, for work from May 1906 to and including February 1907. His suit suggested that since the VAC&Ry was unable to pay its debts, it be put into receivership to operate the company and pay its debts.
One of the problems Lindsey ran into was disposal of the material that he was excavating from the cut, “a large portion of which was to be carried across two certain bridges on defendant’s right-of-way, which bridges were to be constructed by the defendant on its right-of-way on or before the last day of June, 1906,” per the suit. One bridge was to cross Lick Creek north of the Tidewater crossing, while the second bridge was “the larger and more important one of the two and spans the right-of-way of the Tidewater Railway Company’s right-of-way, it was not put in place by the last day of June, 1906, nor was it put in within any other reasonable time after said date, and in fact up to the institution of this suit the same has not been erected and put in place, although defendant has been often and earnestly requested so to do both before and many times after the last day of June, 1906.”
In its response, filed with the court by W. J. Payne, Vice President of the VAC&Ry, it was claimed that Lindsey had full knowledge that two bridges were to be built on the new line being constructed, although he would not have known when materials would be available to construct the bridges. The response stated the delay in constructing the bridges was “because of the crowded and congested condition of all the manufacturers and of the great difficulty in getting supplies and materials of any kind.”
The response also cast doubt about Lindsey’s interest in completing the work, because he “abandoned the work altogether for a period of two weeks or more, taking his whole force and outfit to build a railroad to the camp at MacArthur Bros. Company, which would account for the falling off of the estimate in the month of October. Respondent further denies that its engineer, Mr. W. F. Wall, in any way delayed complainant in the prosecution of the work.” However, Mr. J. R. Wilson, General Manager of the VAC&Ry, “was not true and loyal to the trust imposed in him by the Company, but on the contrary was working in his own interest.” The response states that “as soon as the contract was let he [Wilson] was and became a partner [with Lindsey] and directly interested in the prosecution of the work and in the profits.”
Writing further, Payne claims that his company did not ask Lindsey to stop work, but suggested that he discontinue work during bad weather, “but it seems that Mr. Wilson seized the opportunity to inform his partner that no doubt it was a good time to break the contract as the easiest part of the work had been done and the hardest remained to be done.” For that and other reasons, the request was made to dismiss the suit.
The court denied the dismissal and in October 1907 had the matter “referred to William H. Colhoun, a Commissioner in Chancery of this Court, with directions that he make an account of and report to this Court at least ten days before the next term.” Colhoun was to report on “the real estate, franchises, and other property owned by the defendant [VAC&Ry], and the value and annual rental value thereof.” He was also to list “liens thereon in the order of their priority” and “he will report the correct amount of all the work done by the plaintiff for the defendant.”
The legal problems of the VAC&Ry weren’t over. On Oct. 2, 1907, the Virginian Railway filed suit in Montgomery County Chancery Court. Per the contract with the Tidewater Railway (later renamed the Virginian), the railway was to be able to build its tracks across the right of way of the VAC&Ry “on and after November 1st, 1906.” Per the suit, the Virginian had paid the agreed-upon $16,000 and that the VAC&Ry made “representations and assurances to the effect that said money was being used in doing the work necessary in connection with the re-location and change of its line, and that the work thereon was being prosecuted to a completion.” The Virginian claimed that the money was paid “under false and fraudulent assurances” since after the VAC&Ry prompted for the last payment “it ceased work on the proposed re-location and change of its line, and that practically no work has been done thereon since the date of the said last payment. Your complainant has repeatedly requested and notified the Virginia Anthracite Coal and Railway Company to proceed with said work, in order that it may not be delayed in the construction of that portion of its proposed line of railway.”
The suit continued to say that construction on the Virginian across Virginia was nearing completion and “the grades established by your complainant are such that it would be impossible to make any change in its location at that point” and any delays in completion of the crossing of the Virginia Anthracite Coal and Railway Company would cause for the Virginian Railway a “delay putting into operation its entire line of road.”
The request to the court was to require the VAC&Ry to execute the terms of the contract of February 2nd, 1906, to grant the Virginian “a perpetual crossing of its right of way at the point designated in said contract” and to restrain the VAC&Ry from interfering with the Virginian’s right to cross the VAC&Ry line.
On October 3, 1907, the attorney for the Virginian Railway asked the clerk of the Montgomery County Circuit Court (where chancery cases were heard) to issue notice to the Virginia Anthracite Coal & Railway Company that “on the 10th day of October, 1907, at ten (10) o’clock A.M. at the Court Room of the Circuit Court of Montgomery County move said Court or the Judge thereof for an injunction against the Virginia Anthracite Coal and Railway Company.”
The case was heard by Judge William Walter Moffett on October 12 and a determination was issued in favor of the Virginian based on the contract of February 2, 1906. The decree issued stated that “the defendant [sic] Company has not made suitable and appropriate provisions for handling its traffic at this time” but was “allowed a period of sixty days from the 15th day of October, 1907, in which to re-locate and change its lines.” At the end of that period, the Virginian would “have the right to grade its line across the present located line of the Virginia Anthracite Coal & Railway Company, and lay its tracks thereon and occupy the same in the terms and provisions of said contract.”
The VAC&Ry was given a small out from that order, should it not have completed the work, with an additional 30 days to “change and re-locate its said line, provided that the said Virginia Anthracite Coal & Railway Company shall accomodate the grade of its line to the grade of the line of the Virginian Railway Company.” The VAC&Ry was to pay all expenses to change the grade of its existing line to match that of the Virginian, and “shall put in the necessary crossings at its expense, and shall maintain such watchmen and observe such precautions as may be necessary to insure the safety of traffic on the line of the Virginian Railway Company.”
It was also ordered that "this cause be continued until the next term of Court" which wasn't until the following year.
Little work was done to remedy the situation and the VAC&Ry continued to operate its original line across the Virginian right of way. In December, the Virginian gave the VAC&Ry “due notice that this must stop December 15th, but granted them three days after that date to set their track in shape. This has not been done, and last night officials of the Tidewater notified the local road that after midnight tonight the track would be taken up and further use of it would be impossible.” per an article in the Roanoke Times, datelined Blacksburg, on December 20, 1907. There was great concern, the report noted, that “six hundred V.P.I. students, thirty members of the faculty, and others who leave here for the holidays the last of this week are confronted with the possibility of having to either walk to Christiansburg or ride the eight miles in hacks over a muddy road.” The article also said “None of the railroad officials will say just what plan is contemplated by either road, but it is generally understood that the Anthracite has applied for an injunction to be served on the Tidewater either tonight or tomorrow morning, restraining them from interfering with the short line in the discharge of its duties as a common carrier, and on the ground that it will interfere with the carrying of the United States mail.”
By whatever means, the VAC&Ry prevailed, as reported the next day in the Roanoke Times. “The engineers of the Tidewater, however were notified not to interfere with the operation of trains of the Virginia Anthracite Company, at least for the present, and therefore those who want to get from Blacksburg to Christiansburg to go home for the holidays, will have no trouble in doing so.”
The January deadline passed without notice and the VAC&Ry continued to operate between Blacksburg and Christiansburg as work slowly progressed all along the Virginian. The Panic of 1907 put a lot of work on hold, but according to a newspaper report in late December, “Athough the force has been reduced, McArthur Bros. have pushed the work” on the mile-long Alleghany tunnel just east of Merrimac. The panic shut down the Merrimac Mines, and caused money to be tight on the small road. In a letter on January 4, 1908, W. J. Payne, President of the VAC&Ry, offered to sell the railway to the N&W for $225,000. He claimed “All of the piers have been built and the plate girders are on the ground. Some excavation work is yet to be done.” on the cutoff to cross over the Virginian. The N&W declined the offer. There was less urgency from the Virginian, which had reduced work forces grading parts of the line while work continued on several large viaducts east of Roanoke.
The Roanoke Evening News, on January 6, 1908, carried this small story on page 7 about the two railroads:
Will Resume Work Shortly.
Blacksburg, Va., Jan. 4. -- Special. Concerning the difficulty now pending between the Virginian and the Virginia Anthracite railways, an account of which was published in this correspondence last week, an official of the latter road gives out the following statement for publication today:
“The difficulty was not due to the road being crippled for want of funds, but the work on the crossing, owing to the delay on the Tidewater tunnel, was not pushed until just prior to the recent financial panic, which put a stop to this work, as it did to many projects. Work will be pushed as soon as the financial condition of the country will permit. With the general resumption of industrial activity now taking place, there should be no difficulty about this.”
The good news for the Virginian was in January, when a page 1 story in the Evening News on the 24th announced
BIG TUNNEL COMPLETED
The big tunnel of the Tidewater Railroad at the Merrimac mines, which was included in the contract of MacArthur Bros., has been completed, the last rock being removed from the big hole yesterday.
The completion of the bore through the mountain was just one step, actual track laying by Virginian forces would come later. An article in the Roanoke Evening News on January 22, 1908, reported on the Virginian progress, “East of Roanoke, the work waits on the construction of four large steel viaducts. These are being pushed to completion, and when they are ready for use, it will take only a very short time for the remainder of the road to be placed in condition for operation.”
There was no change in operation of the VAC&Ry company despite the long passing of the January 13, 1908, deadline to alter its tracks. Over a year after S. F. Lindsey stopped work on his grading contract for the new line and filed suit against the VAC&Ry, an article in the Roanoke Evening News on June 20, 1908, mentioned that William J. Payne, president of the railroad, was in the area looking after his properties. It was reported:
“The unfinished grading on the cutoff over the Virginia railway was on yesterday let to L. Harman & Co. These contractors will put on a day and night force immediately and rush the work to completion.
The contract for the erection of the steel viaduct will be let in a few days.”
The Virginian pushed the issue and was back in court that summer. An agreement was reached on July 16, 1908, that opened the way for the Virginian to complete its trackwork across the VAC&Ry right of way. The VAC&Ry had asked for an extension of time to complete its new overhead crossing, which was granted with a stipulation -- they would “have the right to cross the line of the Virginian Company at the point of crossing with a drawbridge” that the railroad was allowed to “maintain and operate, until October 1, 1908.” At that time, the railroad “shall take down said drawbridge and remove any trestle bents put up in connection with said drawbridge and its track and other structures” and if it failed to do so within 10 days, the Virginian could remove any structure and “the Anthracite Company shall, upon demand, pay to the Virginian Company the cost of such removal.”
Also, per the agreement, “the Virginian company has the right to, and will, at 7:00 o’clock A.M., on Tuesday July 21, 1908, begin the grading of its line across and through the embankment and roadbed of the Anthracite Company, at the said point of crossing.”
The drawbridge was required due to the 15-foot differential between the Anthracite track and the Virginian right of way. The agreement required that the VAC&Ry company provide a watchman “for the protection of the parties hereto.” It also stated, “The said drawbridge shall normally be kept raised, leaving the tracks of the Virginian Company clear, and shall only be lowered when a train of the Anthracite Company is about to pass over same.”
Use of the bridge did not start out on auspicious terms. The Roanoke Times reported on July 28, 1908,
Accident on Anthracite Road.
Christiansburg, July 27.—Special. —The Virginian railroad crosses the Anthracite near Merrimac, and as the Anthracite has never finished its bridge under which the Virginian is to run, a draw bridge has been put in temporarily.
The Anthracite ran its first train over this bridge yesterday, and besides the regular train they had a box-car in front of the engine, and on this car were Guy F. Ellett, Geo. W. Walters and J. W. Walters, officers of the road and W. C. Ellett and R. T. Ellett, brothers of G. F. Ellett.
When the box car reached the draw bridge it jumped the track and the Ellett men thinking they were in great danger, jumped from the car. G. F. Ellett had his ankle sprained, and R. T. Ellett had his leg broken about three inches below the knee, and W. C. Ellett, who lost one of his legs in an automobile accident a year ago, had his leg injured.
The October 1 deadline passed, and the drawbridge remained in operation. An article in the Roanoke Times on October 13, 1908, reported on good farming conditions in Montgomery County, but
The railroad situation has not materially improved. A small force has been at work on the Virginian which runs midway of the county but the long tunnel was finished early last spring and the heavy grading is completed. Track has been laid and when the ballasting has been done and the station built the road will be practically complete. It is promised that passenger trains will be in operation by January 1st.
The future of the Virginia Anthracite, the short line between Blacksburg and Christiansburg, crossing the Virginian road half way between the two places, is still uncertain. Reports are that it will be acquired either by the Norfolk & Western or the Virginian, if it has not been already. It will be valuable to either road as it does a good freight and passenger business and the possibilities in the extension of the road from Blacksburg through a section of country now without a railroad and to coal fields now undeveloped, are immense. The Merrimac Mines, owned by practically the same company have been shut down since last winter. Employment has been given during the summer to a number of men in the construction of the cutoff, where the short line and the Anthracite road intersect and this is still under way.
The Virginian completed its line in the east and the Roanoke Times reported on January 6, 1909, “The Virginian Railway sent the first through train from Roanoke to Norfolk last night. The long bridge over Roanoke River was completed yesterday, making an uninterrupted line from Norfolk to Rich Creek, seventy-seven miles west of Roanoke.” The drawbridge was finally removed the next month when the overhead crossing of the VAC&Ry was completed and put into operation on February 22. This was the first good news for the small railroad, which went into receivership on January 18, 1909.
The bankruptcy was not unexpected. There was speculation in the press late in the summer of 1908 about the railroad. The Roanoke Evening News in a front-page article on August 7 carried the large headline “DOES VIRGINIAN WANT ANTHRACITE”. The article said,
An interesting report has been received here to the effect that the owners of the Virginian Railway are negotiating for the purchase of the Virginia Anthracite Road which runs from Christiansburg to Blacksburg, and which transports to Norfolk and Western connections the coal which is known as Virginia anthracite.” The story continued “A gentleman who lives in Roanoke and who is in close touch with the interests of the Virginian (Mr. Rogers’ enterprise) declares that he has heard nothing of any such negotiations and does not believe that there can be any such negotiations and does not believe that there can be any foundation for such a report.
While nothing panned out from that speculation, it was a foreshadowing of what was to come. The VAC&Ry (and related Merrimac Mines) always operated on a shoestring and in early 1909 the string broke. The Roanoke Evening News on January 20, 1909, carried the story on page 1 that the “RAILROAD AND COAL CO. IN HANDS OF RECEIVER.” The article said “An application has been granted from the Virginia Trust Company for the appointment of receivers for the Virginia Anthracite Coal and Railroad Company and the Virginia Anthracite Coal Company, properties valued at several millions of dollars.” The action was filed in Richmond City Chancery Court, where the offices of the coal and railroad companies were located. The receivers were directed to continue to operate the railroad. However, liens against the company from employees and contractors mounted up and in April 1911, the court ordered that the company be sold at auction. That auction was held on the steps of the courthouse in Christiansburg on June 11, with the Norfolk & Western the only serious bidder. A letter to L. E. Johnson about the auction mentioned a suspected ringer brought in to drive up the bid. The N&W declined to get involved and the auction failed. It was rescheduled for August 29 and at that time the N&W purchased the railroad for $100,000. The Virginia Anthracite Coal and Railway Company eventually became the Blacksburg Branch of the N&W and was operated into Blacksburg until the 1960s, when it was cut back to a point just north of the road crossing of VA 114, Peppers Ferry Road.
The only other action involving the line was the re-use of the northern portion of the original line to provide a connecting track between the Virginian and the N&W to move coal and freight to Blacksburg. An eastbound leading switch at Merrimac lead to the line as it climbed to the relocated line of the VAC&Ry.
The importance of all this history became apparent in 2021 with the announcement of a study of the long-proposed extension of Amtrak passenger service to the New River Valley. Christiansburg had always been assumed to be the next terminus of the Northeast Regional service, to the point that the town of Christiansburg purchased land off N. Franklin St. adjacent to the N&W main line as a potential station location. The announcement in May 2021 that the Commonwealth was negotiating with Norfolk Southern to purchase 28.5 miles of right-of-way and tracks of the former Virginian from the Salem Crossovers west of Roanoke to Merrimac (Christiansburg). The Virginia Rail Passenger Authority completed the New River Valley Passenger Rail Station Feasibility Study in the summer of 2022 to examine station locations to construct a new passenger rail platform in the New River Valley. Five potential locations were identified: Ellet, Merrimac, North Franklin East, and New River Valley Mall North and West (NRV-N and NRV-W). As a result of the study, “North Franklin East was dismissed due to fatal flaws related to railroad operations. Ellett and Merrimac were dismissed due to significant negative major concept design differences.” The sites around New River Valley Mall (now Uptown Christiansburg) are on the existing trackage of the Blacksburg Branch, accessed from the westbound N&W main, via a leading switch, just east of the former passenger station in Christiansburg.
The NRV stations are proposed to be located at or adjacent to the mall. Per the study, “The NRV-N and NRV-W alternatives required a railroad track connection between the Virginian Line and the Blacksburg Branch. For purposes of the Study, 0.5 mile of track shown in Figure 3.6 was proposed to connect the NRV-N and NRV-W stations to the passenger rail service along the Virginian Line. It is anticipated that the rail operations would be served by push-pull trains along the lines and would not require a wye turn around to serve the stations. This connection will allow trains from the higher elevation Blacksburg Branch to descend to the Virginian Line leaving the station and ascend to the station on approach. Both the Virginian Line and the Blacksburg Branch are in rock cut sections through the entire length of this connecting track. Significant rock excavation will be required to construct this length of track.” The illustration shows a new track coming off the Virginian westbound and curving to the south to connect with the end of the existing Blacksburg Branch tail track for the Corning spur. With push-pull operation, the still-existing roadbed from the original VAC&Ry line could be used to make this connection. It would require a new bridge to cross Slate Branch, but the rest of the roadbed is still there. Time will tell if this is discovered, and the change made to plans to connect the two lines.
What is a chancery cause?
According to Black’s Law Dictionary, a chancery cause is a case of equity where “Justice is administered according to fairness as contrasted with the strictly formulated rules of common law.” In layman’s terms, a chancery case was one that could not be readily decided by existing written laws. A judge, not a jury, determines the outcome of the case. These types of court documents are useful when researching genealogical information and land or estate divisions and may contain correspondence, lists of heirs, or vital statistics, among other items. Cases in chancery often address estate and business disputes, debt, the resolution of land disputes, and divorce.
A chancery case began with the bill of complaint, explaining the background of the action, followed by an answer from the parties being sued. Court appointed commissioners decided a fair and equitable settlement of the case based on the evidence presented and reported their findings to the court. The court’s decision or final decree was the last step in the proceedings of a chancery case. Cases in chancery could be heard in any court.
The earliest extant Virginia court records are those of the county courts. The end of primogeniture in Virginia in 1786 and the creation of general inheritance laws caused an increase in chancery cases; as a result, additional courts were created in which cases could be heard, including District Courts (1789–1808), Superior Courts of Chancery (1802–1831), Circuit Superior Courts of Law and Chancery (1831–1851), and Circuit Courts (1852–present).
Prior to 1832, chancery cases are generally found in the county court and the Superior Court of Chancery. After its formation in 1831, the Superior Court of Law and Chancery heard the majority of the chancery cases, although some were still heard in the county court. With the creation of the Circuit Court in 1852, chancery cases were heard in that court and in the county court up to 1870. After 1870, chancery cases were heard exclusively in the circuit court. For information, consult Thomas J. Headlee, The Virginia State Court System (1969).
Library of Virginia
https://www.lva.virginia.gov/chancery/faq.htm
Orange shows proposed track to connect the NRV-N and NRV-W stations to the passenger rail service along the Virginian Line from the New River Valley Passenger Rail Station Feasibility Study.
Merrimac looking east toward the Allegany Tunnel. The overhead bridge is the Blacksburg Branch. The original line of the Virginia Anthracite Coal & Railway Co. crossed about where the photographer is standing.
Looking northeast from the approximate location of the original VAC&Ry track, which continued up the gravel road across the track. At one time, track was laid on that old right of way to provide a connecting track between the Virginian and the N&W Blacksburg Branch. The new Huckleberry Trail bridge is in the background.
Original VAC&Ry line looking north with relocated line to the right.
Plans “A” and “B” for the crossing of the Virginian (initially Tidewater) by the VAC&Ry. North is to the right in the image. (Original can be ordered from the Norfolk and Western Historical Society, Drawing HS-D04603.)
The location of the original VAC&Ry. line in red.