The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway was a
Class I railroad
In the United States, railroad carriers are designated as Class I, II, or III, according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportation Board in 1992. With annual adjustments for inflation, the 2019 thresholds were US$5 ...
formed in 1869 in
Virginia from several smaller Virginia railroads begun in the 19th century. Led by industrialist
Collis P. Huntington
Collis Potter Huntington (October 22, 1821 – August 13, 1900) was an American industrialist and railway magnate. He was one of the Big Four of western railroading (along with Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker) who invested i ...
, it reached from Virginia's capital city of
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, Californi ...
to the
Ohio River by 1873, where the railroad town (and later city) of
Huntington, West Virginia, was named for him.
Tapping the
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when dead ...
reserves of
West Virginia, the C&O's
Peninsula Extension to new
coal pier A coal pier is a transloading facility designed for the transfer of coal between rail and ship.
The typical facility for loading ships consists of a holding area and a system of conveyors for transferring the coal to dockside and loading it into t ...
s on the harbor of
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...
resulted in the creation of the new
City of Newport News
Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...
. Coal revenues also led the forging of a rail link to the Midwest, eventually reaching
Columbus
Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to:
* Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer
* Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio
Columbus may also refer to:
Places ...
,
Cincinnati and
Toledo in
Ohio and
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
.
By the early 1960s the C&O was headquartered in
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
. In 1972, under the leadership of
Cyrus Eaton
Cyrus Stephen Eaton Sr. (December 27, 1883 – May 9, 1979) was a Canadian-American investment banker, businessman and philanthropist, with a career that spanned seventy years.
For decades Eaton was one of the most powerful financiers in the ...
, it became part of the
Chessie System
Chessie System, Inc. was a holding company that owned the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O), the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), the Western Maryland Railway (WM), and Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad (B&OCT). Trains operated under ...
, along with the
Baltimore and Ohio
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...
and
Western Maryland Railway
The Western Maryland Railway was an American Class I railroad (1852–1983) which operated in Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It was primarily a coal hauling and freight railroad, with a small passenger train operation.
The WM bec ...
. The Chessie System was later combined with the Seaboard Coast Line and Louisville and Nashville, both the primary components of the
Family Lines System
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...
, to become a key portion of
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
(CSXT) in the 1980s.
C&O's passenger services ended in 1971 with the formation of
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada. ...
. Today
Amtrak's tri-weekly ''Cardinal'' passenger train follows the historic and scenic route of the C&O through the
New River Gorge
The New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is a unit of the United States National Park Service (NPS) designed to protect and maintain the New River Gorge in southern West Virginia in the Appalachian Mountains. Established in 1978 as a na ...
in one of the more rugged sections of the Mountain State. The rails of the former C&O also continue to transport intermodal and freight traffic, as well as West Virginia
bituminous coal
Bituminous coal, or black coal, is a type of coal containing a tar-like substance called bitumen or asphalt. Its coloration can be black or sometimes dark brown; often there are well-defined bands of bright and dull material within the seams. It ...
east to Hampton Roads and west to the Great Lakes as part of CSXT, a
Fortune 500
The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by '' Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along ...
company which was one of seven
Class I railroad
In the United States, railroad carriers are designated as Class I, II, or III, according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportation Board in 1992. With annual adjustments for inflation, the 2019 thresholds were US$5 ...
s operating in North America at the beginning of the 21st century.
At the end of 1970 C&O operated 5067 miles (8 155 km) of road on 10219 miles (16 446 km) of track, not including WM or B&O and its subsidiaries.
History
Formation, Crozet, and crossing the Blue Ridge Mountains
The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway traced its origin to the
Louisa Railroad
The Virginia Central Railroad was an early railroad in the U.S. state of Virginia that operated between 1850 and 1868 from Richmond, Virginia, Richmond westward for to Covington, Virginia, Covington. Chartered in 1836 as the Louisa Railroad by ...
of
Louisa County, Virginia
Louisa County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 37,596. The county seat is Louisa.
History
Prior to colonial settlement, the area comprising Louisa County was occupied by sever ...
, begun in 1836, and the
James River & Kanawha Canal Company, also in Virginia, begun in 1785.
The first train ran on December 20, 1837.
Originally a feeder line to connect with the predecessor of the
Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad
The Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad was a railroad connecting Richmond, Virginia, to Washington, D.C. The track is now the RF&P Subdivision of the CSX Transportation system; the original corporation is no longer a railroad compa ...
(RF&P) at what is now
Doswell
Doswell is an unincorporated community in Hanover County in the Central Region of the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. Originally called Hanover Junction, it was located on the Virginia Central Railroad (later, part of the C&O) at a crossing of ...
, by 1850 the Louisa Railroad had won the right in Virginia courts to build southeast (timetable east) to
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, Californi ...
in competition with the RF&P. It also expanded west, reaching
Charlottesville
Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...
. In keeping with its new and larger vision, it was renamed the
Virginia Central Railroad
The Virginia Central Railroad was an early railroad in the U.S. state of Virginia that operated between 1850 and 1868 from Richmond westward for to Covington. Chartered in 1836 as the Louisa Railroad by the Virginia General Assembly, the rai ...
. However, plans to cross the
Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virgin ...
, the first mountain barrier to the west, at
Swift Run Gap
Swift Run Gap is a wind gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains located in the U.S. state of Virginia.
Geography
At an elevation of , it is the site of the mountain crossing of U.S. Highway 33 between the Piedmont region on the eastern side and the Shen ...
proved both financially and technically unfeasible.
The Commonwealth of Virginia, always keen to help with
internal improvements not only owned a portion of Virginia Central stock through the state
Board of Public Works
The Ministry of Works or was one of the Six Ministries under the Department of State Affairs in imperial China.
The Ministry of Works is also commonly translated into English as the or
History
The ministry was established during the Sui dynas ...
, but incorporated and financed the
Blue Ridge Railroad to accomplish the hard and expensive task of crossing the Blue Ridge Mountains. Under the leadership of the great early
civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...
Claudius Crozet
Claude "Claudius" Crozet (December 31, 1789 – January 29, 1864) was a soldier, educator, and civil engineer.
Crozet was born in France and trained as an artillery officer and civil engineer. After the defeat of Napoleon's army, he emigrated ...
, the Blue Ridge RR built over the mountains using four tunnels:
Greenwood Tunnel
The Greenwood Tunnel is a historic railroad tunnel constructed in 1853 by Claudius Crozet during the construction of the Blue Ridge Railroad (1849-1870), Blue Ridge Railroad. The tunnel was the easternmost tunnel in a series of four tunnels used t ...
,
Brookville Tunnel
The Brookville Tunnel (also Brooksville Tunnel) was a historic railroad tunnel engineered by Claudius Crozet during the construction of the Blue Ridge Railroad (1849–1870), Blue Ridge Railroad in the 1850s. The tunnel was part of a series of f ...
, Little Rock Tunnel, and the
Blue Ridge Tunnel
The Blue Ridge Tunnel (also known as the Crozet Tunnel) is a historic railroad tunnel built during the construction of the Blue Ridge Railroad in the 1850s. The tunnel was the westernmost and longest of four tunnels engineered by Claudius Crozet ...
at the top of the pass, then one of the longest tunnels in the world.
At the same time, Virginia Central was building westward from the west foot of the Blue Ridge, crossing the
Shenandoah Valley
The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge ...
(a part of the
Great Appalachian Valley
The Great Appalachian Valley, also called The Great Valley or Great Valley Region, is one of the major landform features of eastern North America. It is a gigantic trough—a chain of valley lowlands—and the central feature of the Appalachian M ...
) and
Great North Mountain, finally reaching the foot of the
Alleghany Mountains
The Allegheny Mountain Range (; also spelled Alleghany or Allegany), informally the Alleghenies, is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada and posed a significant barrier to land travel in less devel ...
(note that in Virginia Alleghany is spelled with an "a") in 1856 at a point known as Jackson's River Station, later to be called
Clifton Forge
Clifton Forge is a town in Alleghany County, Virginia, United States which is part of the greater Roanoke Region. The population was 3,555 at the 2020 census. The Jackson River flows through the town, which as a result was once known as Ja ...
.
To finish its line across the mountainous territory of the Alleghany Plateau (known in old Virginia as the "Transmountaine"), the Commonwealth again chartered a state-subsidized railroad called the
Covington and Ohio Railroad
Covington and Ohio Railroad was part of a planned railroad link between Eastern Virginia and the Ohio River in the 1850s. The mountainous region of the Allegheny Front (eastern side) of the Appalachian Plateau between an existing canal, railroads ...
, authorized by the General Assembly in 1853.
This company completed important grading work on the Alleghany grade and did considerable work on numerous tunnels over the mountains and in the west. It also did a good deal of roadway work around Charleston on the
Kanawha River. Then the
American Civil War intervened, and work was stopped on the westward expansion.
C & O predecessors during the Civil War
During the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policie ...
the
Virginia Central Railroad
The Virginia Central Railroad was an early railroad in the U.S. state of Virginia that operated between 1850 and 1868 from Richmond westward for to Covington. Chartered in 1836 as the Louisa Railroad by the Virginia General Assembly, the rai ...
was one of the Confederacy's most important lines, carrying food from the Shenandoah region to Richmond, and ferrying troops and supplies back and forth as the campaigns surrounded its tracks frequently. It had an important connection with the
Orange and Alexandria Railroad
The Orange and Alexandria Railroad (O&A) was a railroad in Virginia, United States. Chartered in 1848, it eventually extended from Alexandria to Gordonsville, with another section from Charlottesville to Lynchburg. The road played a crucial rol ...
at
Gordonsville, Virginia
Gordonsville is a town in Orange County in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Located about 19 miles northeast of Charlottesville and 65 miles northwest of Richmond, the population was 1,496 at the 2010 census.
The town celebrat ...
. On more than one occasion, the Virginia Central was used in actual tactical operations, transporting troops directly to the battlefield. But, it was a prime target for Federal armies, and by the end of the war had only about five miles (8 km) of track still in operation, and $40 in gold in its treasury.
Collis P. Huntington links Richmond with the Ohio Valley
Following the war, Virginia Central officials, led by company president
Williams Carter Wickham
Williams Carter Wickham (September 21, 1820 – July 23, 1888) was a Virginia lawyer and politician. A plantation owner who served in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly, Wickham also became a delegate to the Virginia Secession Convent ...
, realized that they would have to get capital to rebuild from outside the economically devastated South, and attempted to attract
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
interests, without success. Finally they succeeded in interesting
Collis P. Huntington
Collis Potter Huntington (October 22, 1821 – August 13, 1900) was an American industrialist and railway magnate. He was one of the Big Four of western railroading (along with Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker) who invested i ...
of New York. Huntington was one of the "
Big Four" involved in building the
Central Pacific portion of the
Transcontinental Railroad, which was not yet reaching completion (May 1869). Huntington had a vision of a true transcontinental railroad that would go from sea to sea under one operating management, and decided that the Virginia Central might be the eastern link to this system.
Huntington supplied the Virginians with the money needed to complete the line to the
Ohio River, through what was now the new state of
West Virginia. The old Covington & Ohio's properties were conveyed to them
ote: the name was Railroad at this time ... it will be changed later to Railwayin keeping with its new mission of linking the Tidewater coast of Virginia with the "Western Waters." This was the old dream of the "Great Connection" which had been current in Virginia since Colonial times.
On July 1, 1867, the C&O was completed nine miles (14 km) from
Jackson's River Station to the town of
Covington,
county seat of
Alleghany County. By 1869, it had crossed Alleghany Mountain, using much of the tunneling and roadway work done by the Covington & Ohio before the war, and was running to the great mineral springs resort at
White Sulphur Springs, now in
Greenbrier County, West Virginia. Here,
stagecoach connections were made for Charleston and the navigation on the Kanawha River (and thus
water transportation
Water transportation is the international movement of water over large distances. Methods of transportation fall into three categories:
* Aqueducts, which include pipelines, canals, tunnels and bridges
* Container shipment, which includes trans ...
on the whole Ohio/Mississippi system).
During 1869–1873 the hard work of building through West Virginia was done with large crews working from both ends (as the UP and CP had done from 1863 to 1869 in the transcontinental work): White Sulphur Springs and the new city of
Huntington on the Ohio River. The line was completed at
Hawks Nest, West Virginia
Hawk's Nest, the site of Hawks Nest State Park, is a peak on Gauley Mountain in Ansted, West Virginia, United States, USA. The cliffs at this point rise 585 ft (178 m) above the New River (West Virginia), New River. Located on the James R ...
, in the New River Gorge on January 28, 1873.
The
West Virginia stretch of the C&O was the site of the legendary competition between
John Henry and a steam-powered machine; the competition is said to have taken place in a tunnel south of
Talcott, West Virginia
Talcott (also Rolinsburgh or Rollinsburg) is an unincorporated community in Summers County, West Virginia, United States.
It lies along West Virginia Route 3 and the Greenbrier River to the east of the city of Hinton, the county seat of S ...
, near the
Greenbrier River
The Greenbrier River is a tributary of the New River, long,McNeel, William P. "Greenbrier River." ''The West Virginia Encyclopedia''. Ken Sullivan, editor. Charleston, WV: West Virginia Humanities Council. 2006. . in southeastern West Virgin ...
. The C&O's westward expansion was completed at a cost of $23,394,263.69
(over $414 million in 2010 dollars).
Typical of the men who built the C&O during this period was
William Nelson Page
William Nelson Page (January 6, 1854 – March 7, 1932) was an American civil engineer and industrialist. He was active in the Virginias following the U.S. Civil War. Page was widely known as a metallurgical expert by other industry leaders a ...
, a
civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...
who had attended special courses in engineering at the
University of Virginia before he went to work on the railroad. Page directed the location and construction of the
New River Gorge
The New River Gorge National Park and Preserve is a unit of the United States National Park Service (NPS) designed to protect and maintain the New River Gorge in southern West Virginia in the Appalachian Mountains. Established in 1978 as a na ...
Bridge in 1871 and 1872, and of the Mill Creek Canyon bridge in 1874. In 1875 and 1876, he led the surveying party charged with mapping out the route of the double-track railway to extend between
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...
and the
Ohio River via the New River and Kanawha Valleys of West Virginia. Like many men who came to West Virginia with the railroad, Page was struck with both the beauty and potential of the natural resources and is considered one of the more energetic and successful men who helped develop West Virginia's rich
bituminous coal
Bituminous coal, or black coal, is a type of coal containing a tar-like substance called bitumen or asphalt. Its coloration can be black or sometimes dark brown; often there are well-defined bands of bright and dull material within the seams. It ...
fields in the late 19th and early 20th century. Page and his wife
Emma Hayden Gilham
William Nelson Page (January 6, 1854 – March 7, 1932) was an American civil engineer and industrialist. He was active in the Virginias following the U.S. Civil War. Page was widely known as a metallurgical expert by other industry leaders ...
, settled in the tiny mountain hamlet of
Ansted, West Virginia
Ansted is a town in Fayette County in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The population was 1,404 at the 2010 census. It is situated on high bluffs along U.S. Route 60 on a portion of the Midland Trail a National Scenic Byway near Hawks Nest overl ...
, a town located in
Fayette County which was named for British geologist
David T. Ansted
David Thomas Ansted FRS (5 February 181413 May 1880) was an English professor of geology and author of numerous books on geology. His role as a teacher at Addiscombe Military Seminary, where future East India Company army officers were trained ...
, who had mapped much of the region's coal resources in 1853. The palatial
Page Mansion was built on a high bluff overlooking the New River far below, where the C&O occupied both sides of the narrow valley. Between the bridge just below Sewell and the one at Hawks Nest, one track is on the west bank of the New River, and the other on the east bank.
Collis Huntington intended to connect the C&O with his western and mid-western holdings, but had much other railroad construction to finance and he stopped the line at the Ohio and over the next few years did little to improve its rough construction or develop traffic. The only connection to the West was by packet boats operating on the Ohio River. Because the great mineral resources of the region hadn't been fully realized yet, the C&O suffered through the bad times brought on by the
Financial Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered an economic depression in Europe and North America that lasted from 1873 to 1877 or 1879 in France and in Britain. In Britain, the Panic started two decades of stagnation known as the " ...
, and went into receivership in 1878. Williams C. Wickham was named as its Receiver. When reorganized, it was renamed The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Company.
West Virginia coal development and Newport News piers
Shortly after the end of the Civil War, Collis P. Huntington and his associates began buying up land in
Warwick County, Virginia
Warwick County was a county in Southeast Virginia that was created from Warwick River Shire, one of eight created in the Virginia Colony in 1634. It became the City of Newport News on July 16, 1952. Located on the Virginia Peninsula on the nort ...
. During the ten years from 1878 to 1888, C&O's coal resources began to be developed and shipped eastward. Transportation began of southern West Virginia coal to
Newport News
Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Unit ...
where it was loaded on coast-wise shipping and transported to the Northeast became a staple of the C&O's business at this time.
In 1881, C&O's new
Peninsula Extension was completed from
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, Californi ...
through the new
Church Hill Tunnel
Church Hill Tunnel is an old Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) tunnel, built in the early 1870s, which extends approximately under the Church Hill district of Richmond, Virginia, United States. On October 2, 1925, the tunnel collapsed on a wo ...
and down the
Virginia Peninsula through
Williamsburg to reach
coal pier A coal pier is a transloading facility designed for the transfer of coal between rail and ship.
The typical facility for loading ships consists of a holding area and a system of conveyors for transferring the coal to dockside and loading it into t ...
s located on the harbor
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...
, the East Coast of the United States' largest
ice-free port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...
. The Peninsula Subdivision featured gentle grades through
coastal plain
A coastal plain is flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and a piedmont area. Some of the largest coastal plains are in Alaska and the southeastern United States. The Gulf Co ...
s of the
Tidewater region of Virginia
Tidewater refers to the north Atlantic coastal plain region of the United States of America.
Definition
Culturally, the Tidewater region usually includes the low-lying plains of southeast Virginia, northeastern North Carolina, southern Mary ...
, dropping only about 30 feet in elevation, from Richmond (54 feet above sea-level) to Newport News (at 15 feet above sea-level).
Collis P. Huntington helped develop the tiny unincorporated community at Newport New Point into a new
independent city
An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province).
Historical precursors
In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...
with the coal and other railroad business and the development of
Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company.
In 1883–84 the failure of the railroad to repay a loan led to the failure of the finance company
Fisk & Hatch and the Newark Savings Institution (which held much of its money with Fisk & Hatch).
Morgan and Vanderbilt take control
In 1888 Huntington lost control of the C&O in a reorganization without foreclosure that saw his majority interest lost to the interests of
J.P. Morgan
JP may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''JP'' (album), 2001, by American singer Jesse Powell
* ''Jp'' (magazine), an American Jeep magazine
* ''Jönköpings-Posten'', a Swedish newspaper
* Judas Priest, an English heavy metal band
* ''Jurassic Par ...
and
William K. Vanderbilt. In those days before US
antitrust law
Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust ...
s were created, many smaller railroads which appeared to be in competition with each other were essentially under common control. Even the leaders of large
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
(PRR) and
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Midw ...
(NYC), ostensibly bitter rivals, had secretly entered into a "community of interests" pact.
Morgan and Vanderbilt had
Melville E. Ingalls
Melville Ezra Ingalls (1842–1914), commonly abbreviated M. E. Ingalls, was a Massachusetts state legislator who went on to become president of the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (the Big Four Railroad).
Career
Ingalls was ...
installed as president.
Ingalls was, at the time, also President of the Vanderbilt's
Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (The "Big Four System"), and held both presidencies concurrently for the next decade. Ingalls installed George W. Stevens as general manager and effective head of the C&O.
The C&O gains a water level route along the James River across Virginia
In 1889 the
Richmond and Allegheny Railroad company, which had been built along the tow-path of the defunct
James River and Kanawha Canal, was merged into the C&O, giving it a down grade "water level" line from
Clifton Forge
Clifton Forge is a town in Alleghany County, Virginia, United States which is part of the greater Roanoke Region. The population was 3,555 at the 2020 census. The Jackson River flows through the town, which as a result was once known as Ja ...
to Richmond, avoiding the heavy grades of North Mountain and the Blue Ridge on the original Virginia Central route. On this line, trains descend nearly 1,000 feet in elevation to Richmond (54 feet elevation) following the path of the river.
This "
James River
The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Chesape ...
Line" became the principal artery of eastbound coal transportation down to the present day.
Ingalls and Stevens completely rebuilt the C&O to "modern" standards with ballasted roadbed, enlarged and lined tunnels, steel bridges, and heavier steel rails, as well as new, larger, cars and locomotives.
In 1888, the C&O built the Cincinnati Division, from
Huntington, West Virginia, down the south bank of the Ohio River in
Kentucky and across the river at Cincinnati, connecting with the
Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad ("Big Four") and other Midwestern Railroads.
Great Lakes shipping, Chicago
From 1900 to 1920 most of the C&O's lines tapping the rich
bituminous coal
Bituminous coal, or black coal, is a type of coal containing a tar-like substance called bitumen or asphalt. Its coloration can be black or sometimes dark brown; often there are well-defined bands of bright and dull material within the seams. It ...
fields of southern
West Virginia and eastern Kentucky were built, and the C&O as it was known throughout the rest of the 20th Century was essentially in place.
In 1910 C&O merged the
Chicago, Cincinnati & Louisville Railroad into its system. This line had been built diagonally across the state of
Indiana from
Cincinnati to
Hammond in the preceding decade. This gave the C&O a direct line from Cincinnati to the great railroad hub of
Chicago.
Also in 1910, C&O interests bought control of the
Kanawha and Michigan (K&M) and
Hocking Valley Railway
The Hocking Valley Railway was a railroad in the U.S. state of Ohio, with a main line from Toledo to Athens and Pomeroy via Columbus. It also had several branches to the coal mines of the Hocking Valley near Athens. The company became part of ...
(HV) lines in Ohio, with a view to connecting with the
Great Lakes through
Columbus
Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to:
* Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer
* Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio
Columbus may also refer to:
Places ...
. Eventually antitrust laws forced C&O to abandon its K&M interests, but it was allowed to retain the Hocking Valley, which operated about in
Ohio, including a direct line from Columbus to the port of
Toledo, and numerous branches southeast of Columbus in the Hocking Coal Fields. But there was no direct connection with the C&O's mainline, now hauling previously undreamed-of quantities of coal. To get its coal up to Toledo and into Great Lakes shipping, C&O contracted with its rival
Norfolk & Western
The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precisi ...
to carry trains from
Kenova,. W. Va. to Columbus. N&W, however, limited this business and the arrangement was never satisfactory.
C&O gained access to the Hocking Valley by building a new line directly from a point a few miles from its huge and growing terminal at
Russell, Ky., to Columbus between 1917 and 1926. It crossed the
Ohio River at
Limeville, Ky. (
Sciotoville, Ohio
Sciotoville is a neighborhood in the city of Portsmouth in Scioto County, Ohio. It is located at the intersection of U.S. 52 and State Route 335 between the village of New Boston and Wheelersburg in Scioto County along the northern bank of the ...
), on the
Sciotoville Bridge
The Sciotoville Bridge is a steel continuous truss bridge carrying railway tracks belonging to CSX Transportation across the Ohio River between Siloam - a junction located north of Limeville, Kentucky and east of South Shore, Kentucky - and Sciot ...
.
With the connection at Columbus complete, C&O soon was sending more of its high quality metallurgical and steam coal west than east, and in 1930 it merged the Hocking Valley into its system.
Miles (kilometres) of road operated at year end: C&O 2635 (4241), HV 349 (562), PM 2305 (3710) in 1925; C&O 3076 (4950), PM 1949 (3137) in 1944; C&O 5067 (8155) in 1970.
Passenger Operations and the "Chessie" Cat mascot
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway never spent lavishly on streamlined passenger trains, or passenger service in general, opting to put most of its resources into moving coal and freight in general. However, it did have a number of well known passenger trains including the
''George Washington'', ''
Fast Flying Virginian
The ''Fast Flying Virginian'' (''FFV'') was a named passenger train of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway.
The ''FFV'' was inaugurated on May 11, 1889, and ran until May 12, 1968; this was the longest running C&O named passenger train. The train ope ...
'', ''
Sportsman'', ''Pere Marquette'', and ''
Resort Special''. While the
''George Washington'' was the railroad's flagship, the ''Sportsman'' (which connected Washington, D.C., and Newport News) and the ''Resort Special'' were also well-traveled trains on the system. Much of the reason for the popularity of C&O's passenger trains was because of
Chessie, the sleeping kitten, one of the most successful and fondly remembered marketing campaigns ever developed. Chessie was so popular when she debuted in 1933 that the C&O could not keep enough merchandise in stock.
Chessie sported two kittens, Nip and Tuck. During World War II, Chessie's "husband" — Peake — (creating the name "Chessie Peak", as in Chesapeake) was shown with a bandage on his paw as a war veteran returning from military service.
While the kitten was created by the Austrian artist Guido Grünewald, the success of Chessie as a marketing tool is often credited to Lionel Probert, at the time an assistant to the C&O president.
Van Sweringen era – Pere Marquette Railway
The next significant change for C&O came in 1923 when the great Cleveland financiers, the
Van Sweringen brothers (O. P. and M. J. Van Sweringen), bought a controlling interest in the line as part of their expansion of the
Nickel Plate Road
The New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad , abbreviated NYC&St.L, was a railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. Commonly referred to as the "Nickel Plate Road", the railroad served parts of the states of New York, Pennsylv ...
(NKP) system. Eventually they controlled the NKP, C&O,
Pere Marquette Railroad (in
Michigan and
Ontario), and
Erie
Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...
railroads. They managed to control this huge (for the time) system by a maze of holding companies and interlocking directorships. This house of cards tumbled when the
Great Depression began and the Van Sweringen companies collapsed.
However, the C&O was a strong line. Despite the fact that in the early 1930s over 50% of American railroads went into receivership, it not only avoided bankruptcy, but took the occasion of cheap labor and materials to again completely rebuild itself. During these hard economic times, C&O was boring new tunnels, adding double track, rebuilding bridges, upgrading the weight of its rail, and rebuilding its roadbed, all with money from its principal commodity of haulage: coal. Even during the
Great Depression, coal was something that had to be used everywhere, and C&O was sitting astride some of the best
bituminous
Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...
seams in the country.
Because of this great upgrading and building program, C&O was in prime condition to carry the monumental loads needed during
World War II. During the War it transported men and material in unimagined quantities as the U. S. used the
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's ...
Port of Embarkation as a principal departure point for the European Theater. The invasion of North Africa was loaded there. Of course, in addition to fueling the ships of the
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
and the merchant marine, coal was also needed in ever increasing quantities by war industries. C&O was ready with a powerful, well organized, well maintained railway powered by the largest and most modern locomotives.
Post World War II – Robert R. Young
By the end of the
World War II, C&O was poised to help America during its great growth during the decades following, and at mid-century was truly a line of national importance. It became more so, at least in the public eye through
Robert Ralph Young
Robert Ralph Young (February 14, 1897 – January 25, 1958) was an American financier and industrialist. He is best known for leading the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway and the New York Central Railroad during and after World War II. He was a b ...
, its mercurial chairman, and his
Alleghany Corporation
Alleghany Corporation is an American investment holding company originally created by the railroad entrepreneurs Oris and Mantis Van Sweringen as a holding company for their railroad interests. It was incorporated in 1929 and reincorporated ...
.
Young got control of the C&O through the remnants of the Van Sweringen companies, in 1942, and for the next decade he became "''the gadfly of the rails''," as he challenged old methods of financing and operating railroads. He regarded himself as a crusader against the mismanagement of railroads by banking interests. Young's most famous advertisement slogan was ''"A hog can cross the country without changing trains – but you can't."''
Nicknamed "Rail Road Young", R.R. Young inaugurated many forward looking advances in technology that have ramifications to the present. He changed the C&O's herald (logo) to "''C&O for Progress''" to embody his ideas that C&O would lead the industry to a new day. He installed a well-staffed research and development department that came up with ideas for passenger service that are thought to be futuristic even now, and for freight service that would challenge the growth of trucking. Young eventually gave up his C&O position to become Chairman of the
New York Central (NYC). However, Young was unable to accomplish results he had promised stockholders at the NYC. A lifelong victim of
depression, he committed suicide in 1958.
During the Young era and following, C&O was headed by
Walter J. Tuohy, under whose control the "''For Progress''" theme continued, though in a more muted way after the departure of Young. During this time, C&O installed the first large computer system in railroading, developed larger and better freight cars of all types, switched (reluctantly) from steam to diesel motive power, and diversified its traffic, which had already occurred in 1947 when it merged into the system the old
Pere Marquette Railway
The Pere Marquette Railway operated in the Great Lakes region of the United States and southern parts of Ontario in Canada. It had trackage in the states of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and the Canadian province of Ontario. Its primary connec ...
(PM) of Michigan and Ontario, Canada, which had been controlled by the C&O since Van Sweringen days. The PM's huge automotive industry traffic, taking raw materials in and finished vehicle out, gave C&O some protection from the swings in the coal trade, putting merchandise traffic at 50% of the company's haulage.
Chessie System, CSX
C&O continued to be one of the more profitable and financially sound railways in the United States, and in 1963, under the guidance of
Cyrus S. Eaton
Cyrus Stephen Eaton Sr. (December 27, 1883 – May 9, 1979) was a Canadian-American investment banker, businessman and philanthropist, with a career that spanned seventy years.
For decades Eaton was one of the most powerful financiers in the ...
, helped start the modern merger era by "affiliating" with the
Baltimore & Ohio
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...
. The two lines' services, personnel, motive power and rolling stock, and facilities were gradually integrated. Under the leadership of
Hays T. Watkins, in 1973
Chessie System
Chessie System, Inc. was a holding company that owned the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O), the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), the Western Maryland Railway (WM), and Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad (B&OCT). Trains operated under ...
was created as a holding company for the C&O, B&O and
Western Maryland Railway
The Western Maryland Railway was an American Class I railroad (1852–1983) which operated in Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It was primarily a coal hauling and freight railroad, with a small passenger train operation.
The WM bec ...
. In effect, C&O formally adopted a nickname that had been used colloquially for the railroad for several years, after the
mascot kitten used in ads since 1933.
Under Watkins' leadership, Chessie System then merged with
Seaboard Coast Line Industries
Seaboard Coast Line Industries, Inc., incorporated in Delaware on May 9, 1969, was a railroad holding company that owned the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, its subsidiary Louisville and Nashville Railroad, and several smaller carriers. Its railroa ...
, holding company for
Seaboard Coast Line Railroad
The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad was a Class I railroad company operating in the Southeastern United States beginning in 1967. Its passenger operations were taken over by Amtrak in 1971. Eventually, the railroad was merged with its affiliate li ...
and several other great railroads of the Southeast (including
Louisville and Nashville Railroad,
Clinchfield Railroad
The Clinchfield Railroad was an operating and holding company for the Carolina, Clinchfield and Ohio Railway . The line ran from the coalfields of Virginia and Elkhorn City, Kentucky, to the textile mills of South Carolina. The 35-mile segment ...
and others) to form
CSX Corporation
CSX Corporation is an American holding company focused on rail transportation and real estate in North America, among other industries. The company was established in 1980 as part of the Chessie System and Seaboard Coast Line Industries merger ...
, with Chessie and SCL as its leading subsidiaries. Watkins became CEO of the merged company.
Over the next five years, the CSX railroads began consolidating into one mega-railroad. The process began when SCL merged its railroads into the
Seaboard System Railroad in 1982.
Western Maryland was merged into B&O on May 1, 1983. B&O was merged into C&O on April 30, 1987. Seaboard changed its name to
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
on July 1, 1986. Finally, C&O merged into CSX Transportation on Aug. 31, 1987. After acquiring 42% of
Conrail
Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busi ...
in 1999, CSX became one of four major railroad systems left in the country.
See also
*
C&O desk
The C&O desk is one of six desks ever used in the Oval Office by a sitting President of the United States. The C&O Desk was used in the executive office by only George H. W. Bush, making it one of two Oval Office desks to be used by only on ...
, donated to the White House
*
List of Chesapeake and Ohio locomotives
*
''George Washington'', the C&O's premier passenger train from 1932 to 1971
*
Charles T. Hinde
Charles T. Hinde (July 12, 1832 – March 10, 1915) was an American industrialist, tycoon, riverboat captain, businessman, and entrepreneur. He managed many businesses and invested in numerous business ventures over the course of his life. H ...
, Successful businessman and riverboat captain.
*
Greenbrier River Trail
The Greenbrier River Trail (GRT), is a lineal state park comprising a rail trail between North Caldwell and Cass in eastern West Virginia.
The GRT route and its contours were originally engineered by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, serving a ...
References
Further reading
*
External links
Chesapeake and Ohio Historical SocietyChesapeake and Ohio Railway Heritage CenterSteam Operations of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway at Hinton, West Virginia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chesapeake Ohio Railway
Predecessors of CSX Transportation
Former Class I railroads in the United States
Standard gauge railways in the United States
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
American companies established in 1878
Railway companies established in 1878
Railway companies disestablished in 1987
Defunct Maryland railroads
Defunct Ohio railroads
Defunct Virginia railroads
Defunct West Virginia railroads
Defunct Washington, D.C., railroads
Defunct Illinois railroads
Defunct Indiana railroads
Defunct Kentucky railroads
Defunct Michigan railroads
Defunct Missouri railroads
Defunct Ontario railways
Railroads in the Chicago metropolitan area
Companies based in Cleveland
Defunct companies based in Ohio
Coal mining in Appalachia
James River (Virginia)
Rail transportation in Cincinnati