| The Southern Freight Station was one block north of this location - the passenger station (Union Station between the B&O and Southern) was a few blocks south of here (now the Harrisonburg-Rockingham County Jail is on that location) it was the end of a branch line from Manassas to Harrisonburg. The B&O originally had trackage rights over this line to connect their line from Winchester to Front Royal with a line from Harrisonburg to Lexington. Orignally that line was supposed to extend to Roanoke, but it was never completed south of Lexington. The trackage rights were extinquished when the B&O sold their line south of Harrisonburg in the 1940s to the Chesapeake Western, a short line which connected with the N&W at Elkton. Originally, the CHW went into West Virginia to carry lumber and a former rock quarry. When the rock quarry closed, the line was abandoned past Bridgewater - now the line ends at a grain facility near Dayton. The N&W bought the Chesapeake Western, but it was never incorporated into the line. Even after the N&W-Southern Merger, the Chesapeake Western remained listed as a separate railroad. Even today, the Norfolk Southern office in Harrisonburg carries the CHW logo rather than the NS logo and CHW was at least up to a couple of years ago still listed as a subsidiary of NS. Not sure why, the line is less than 20 miles long. |