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Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad
From Wikipedia
Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad was formed in 1870 in Virginia from 3 east-west railroads. Organized and led by former Confederate general William Mahone (1826-1895), the 428-mile line linked Norfolk with Bristol, Virginia by way of Suffolk, Petersburg, Lynchburg, and Salem. 1870 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... State nickname: Old Dominion Other U.S. States Capital Richmond Largest city Virginia Beach Governor Mark R. Warner Official languages English Area 110,862 km² (35th) - Land 102,642 km² - Water 8,220 km² (7. ... For other meanings of confederate and confederacy, see confederacy (disambiguation) National Motto Deo Vindice (Latin: Under God our Vindicator) Official language English de facto nationwide Various European and Native American languages regionally Capital Montgomery, Alabama February 4, 1861–May 29, 1861 Richmond, Virginia May 29, 1861–April 9, 1865 Largest... William Mahone (December 1, 1826 – October 8, 1895), was a civil engineer, teacher, soldier, and a member of the Virginia General Assembly and U.S. Congress. ... Norfolk, Virginia, viewed from Portsmouth, across the Elizabeth River Norfolk is a city in the U.S. state of Virginia in the United States of America. ... Location in Virginia Founded -Incorporated {{{incorporated}}} County Independent city Mayor Paul W. Hurley Area - Total - Water 34. ... Location in the state of Virginia Founded -Incorporated 1742 {{{incorporated}}} County Independent city Mayor Bobby L. Ralph Area - Total - Water 1,111. ... Petersburg is an independent city located in Virginia. ... Lynchburg is an independent city located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. ... Salem is an independent city located in Virginia, bordered by the city of Roanoke and Roanoke County. ...
The A,M & O went into receivership after the U.S. Financial Panic of 1873. In 1881, the A,M & O was acquired by other interests who outbid Mahone and renamed it Norfolk and Western. Norfolk & Western Railway was expanded west into the coalfields, and later into a much large system, and 100 years later, was combined with the Southern Railway, another profitable carrier, to form Norfolk Southern Corporation (NS) in 1982. 1881 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...
Norfolk and Western Railway (AAR reporting mark: NW), a US class 1 railroad, was formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. ...
The Southern Railway (AAR designation SOU) was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined since the 1830s. ...
Norfolk Southern Corporation (AAR reporting mark NS) (NYSE: NSC) is a US publicly-traded stock corporation based in Norfolk, Virginia. ...
Today, much of the former Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad remains in service for Norfolk Southern (NS). The Fortune 500 company, headquartered in Norfolk, transports bituminous coal, intermodal shipping containers, automobile parts and completed vehicles, and other commodities in the 21st century global transportation markets. Most of the former A,M & O lines are still part of the NS rail network Norfolk Southern Corporation (AAR reporting mark NS) (NYSE: NSC) is a US publicly-traded stock corporation based in Norfolk, Virginia. ...
Bituminous coal Bituminous coal is a soft coal containing a tar-like substance called bitumen. ...
Intermodal is a term that refers to more than one mode of transport. ...
Table of contents |
Predecessor lines
Three pre-civil war era railroad lines were combined to form the A,M & O. They are listed from east to west:
Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad
The Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad, organized by Dr. Francis Mallory of Norfolk was built between 1853 and 1858 by a young civil engineer named William Mahone (1826-1895). It featured an innovative and durable roadbed through a portion of the Great Dismal Swamp and an arrow-straight 52-mile tangent between Suffolk and Petersburg. Mahone was named its head in 1860. Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad map, circa 1858-1870, issued by William Mahone, President The Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad was built between Norfolk and Petersburg, Virginia and was completed by 1858. ... Norfolk, Virginia, viewed from Portsmouth, across the Elizabeth River Norfolk is a city in the U.S. state of Virginia in the United States of America. ... The term civil engineer refers to an individual who practices civil engineering. ... William Mahone (December 1, 1826 – October 8, 1895), was a civil engineer, teacher, soldier, and a member of the Virginia General Assembly and U.S. Congress. ... Headline text Link title The Great Dismal Swamp is located in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the United States on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. ... Location in the state of Virginia Founded -Incorporated 1742 {{{incorporated}}} County Independent city Mayor Bobby L. Ralph Area - Total - Water 1,111. ... Petersburg is an independent city located in Virginia. ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ...
South Side Railroad
The oldest predecessor was the City Point Railroad a 9-mile line to Petersburg completed in 1838. In 1854, it became part of the South Side Railroad. The South Side Railroad was the middle section of the A,M & O, stretching 132 miles from City Point (part of today's City of Hopewell) to Lynchburg in 1854. 1838 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... City Point is the name of two places in the United States: City Point, Virginia an extinct town now a portion of Hopewell, Virginia City Point, Wisconsin a town located in Jackson County, Wisconsin This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share... Waterfront at City Point, Virginia (now Hopewell) in 1865 Hopewell is an independent city in the state of Virginia. ... Lynchburg is an independent city located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. ...
Virginia and Tennessee Railroad
The Virginia and Tennessee Railroad extended 204 miles from Lynchburg to Bristol. It made important westward connections which reached New Orleans, Louisiana before the war began in 1861. Lynchburg is an independent city located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. ... Location in Virginia Founded -Incorporated {{{incorporated}}} County Independent city Mayor Paul W. Hurley Area - Total - Water 34. ... City nickname: The Crescent City, The Big Easy, The City that Care Forgot Location of New Orleans Country State Parish United States Louisiana Orleans Parish Mayor C. Ray Nagin Area –Land –Water 350. ...
William Mahone and the American Civil War
All three railroads were severely damaged during the American Civil War (1861-1865). After Virginia seceded in April, 1861, William Mahone used the N & P to deliver a small force to Norfolk to secure the Gosport Navy Yard, an important resource for the Confederacy. After Union leaders declined a request to surrender possession, he used a N & P train and other deception to bluff them into thinking large numbers of rebel troops were arriving, causing them to abandon the shipyard with no loss of life. He accepted a commission in the Confederate Army and during the remainder of 1861 and until May of 1862, also continued as head of the N & P. Mahone was relieved of N & P duties in 1862 as he took on increasing responsibilities with the Confederate Army. He was active in many campaigns and was an able leader during the war, best-known as the hero of the Battle of the Crater in 1864 where he rallied troops and foiled an initial Union success during the Siege of Petersburg. The American Civil War was fought in the United States from 1861 until 1865 between the United States – forces coming mostly from the 23 northern states of the Union – and the newly-formed Confederate States of America, which consisted of 11 southern states that had declared their secession. ... Aerial View of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard, is a U.S. Navy facility in Portsmouth, Virginia, for building, remodeling, and repairing the Navys ships. ... Battle of the Crater Conflict American Civil War Date July 30, 1864 Place Petersburg, Virginia Result Confederate victory The Battle of the Crater was a battle of the American Civil War, part of the Siege of Petersburg. ... The Siege of Petersburg (June 15, 1864 – April 2, 1865) was a ten-month long siege of Petersburg, Virginia, during the American Civil War. ...
Post-war, rebuilding and linking
After the end of hostilities, defeated Confederate General Robert E. Lee advised his generals to go back to work rebuilding. William Mahone did just that. He returned to his old job and quickly set about repairing the N&P. Meanwhile, the managers of the South Side Railroad and Virginia and Tennessee Railroad also worked hard to restore service and rebuild bridges, stations, and rolling stock. The war had demonstrated the need to consolidate resources and connections, and the stockholders of the South Side Railroad elected Mahone as president of their road also before the end of 1865. Robert Edward Lee, as a U.S. Army Colonel before the war Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a career army officer and the most successful general of the Confederate forces during the American Civil War. ...
It was known that the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and other northern interests were trying to develop connections in the Shenandoah Valley which would favor Baltimore over Norfolk and other Virginia ports. Mahone could see that the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad was the key to western connections for the other two roads and he became a driving force in the linkage of N&P, South Side Railroad and the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad. He was president of all 3 by the end of 1867. However, the V&T board was opposed to consolidation which was favored by the other two roads. Rumors indicated that the B&O would expand its Valley line southward to meet the V&T near Salem, Virginia. (Ultimately, the B&O did reach as far as up the valley as Lexington, Virginia, only 50 miles short of reaching Salem.) 1867 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...
Salem is an independent city located in Virginia, bordered by the city of Roanoke and Roanoke County. ...
Lexington is an independent city within the confines of Rockbridge County in the state of Virginia. ...
When Mahone could not persuade the V&T board, he took another route to force consolidation and worked diligently in lobbying the Virginia General Assembly, a part-owner of all 3 roads, to gain the legislation necessary to combine them into a single entity, and expand westward. The Virginia General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Virginia. ...
All Mine and Otelia's
Mahone was finally successful, and in 1870, the Atlantic, Mississippi & Ohio Railroad (AM&O) was organized as a new line comprised of the 3 railroads he headed, extending 408 miles in Virginia from Norfolk to Bristol. The former general and and his wife Otelia (a character in her own right) moved to Lynchburg, where the A,M & O established headquarters and shops. The letters A, M & O were said to stand for "All Mine and Otelia's." Instead of utilizing northern financial interests, in addition to the state's investment, Mahone obtained the needed funded through bonded indebtedness from across the ocean through a British financial agent. 1870 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Otelia Voinard Butler Mahone (August 1, 1837-February 21, 1911) was a nurse and the wife of Confederate Major General William Mahone, who was a civil engineer, teacher, railroad builder, and Senator in the United States Congress. ...
The A, M & O did well for several years. The 3 former railroads initially each became divisions, and the former South Side Railroad was later consolidated with the former N&P into a single division. Unfortunately for Mahone's dreams, before much expansion could take place, the A,M & O fell on hard times in the financial panic of 1873 which negatively impacted almost all of the railroads.
After several years of operating under receiverships, Mahone had a falling out with his agent, who claimed a breach of integrity. There are some historical indications that this may have resulted from miscommunication, interference by Mahone's many enemies, or both. In any event, the foreign bondholders requested other receivers be appointed, and one of his lieutenants, Henry Fink, was named. In early 1881, the A,M & O was sold at public auction. Mahone forces had gathered what he thought would be sufficient funds to place a winning bid, but they were outbid by a surprise entry of a principal of a Philadelphia-based financial company, a previously unidentified competitor. The new owners renamed it Norfolk and Western, possibly utilizing an earlier name proposed by citizens of Norfolk in the pre-war efforts to secure rail service. Norfolk and Western Railway (AAR reporting mark: NW), a US class 1 railroad, was formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. ...
Mahone was able to arrange for a portion of the State's proceeds of the A, M & O sale to help found a school to prepare teachers to help educate black children and former slaves. The Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute near Petersburg was forerunner of Virginia State College, which expanded to become Virginia State University. A leader of the Readjuster Party, after leaving the railroad business, he became even more active in Virginia's politics and served as a Senator in the U.S. Congress from 1881-1887. The word slaves has several meanings and usages: People who are owned by others, and live to serve them without pay. ...
Petersburg is an independent city located in Virginia. ...
Virginia State University, located in Ettrick, Virginia (near Petersburg, in the Richmond area), was founded on March 6, 1882. ...
The Readjuster Party was a political faction formed in Virginia in the late 1870s during the turbulent period following the American Civil War. ...
The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States of America. ...
Whatever became of the former A,M & O ?
The new owners were E.W. Clark and Co., a private banking firm in Philadelphia which already owned a controlling interest in the Shenandoah Valley Railroad. The latter was expanding south from Hagerstown, Maryland and seeking a potential connection. Under the common ownership, the link was established between Lynchburg and Salem on the old A,M & O at the tiny community of Big Lick on the Roanoke River, which soon became the city of Roanoke and a major office and shops location of the N&W. It became known as the "Magic City." Hagerstown is a city located in Washington County, Maryland. ... panoramic view of Roanoke, Virginia from 1907 Roanoke (The Star City of the South) is an independent city located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. ...
While Mahone's vision for the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio railroad was western trade and the transportation business, the new owners were focused on their investments in the rich, largely untapped coal reserves of southwestern Virginia and southern West Virginia. They knew older anthracite coal fields in northwestern New Jersey, souther New York, and northern Pennsylvania were playing out. Under their auspices, the former A, M & O was greatly expanded as the N & W into the coal fields and beyond and became a system larger and far more wealthy than Mahone probably had ever dreamed. Coal is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground either by underground mining, open-pit mining or strip mining. ...
In the mid 20th century, N&W merged with long-time rival Virginian Railway in the Pocahontas coal region and grew even more in size and profitability by mergers with other rail carriers including Nickel Plate Road and Wabash in adjacent areas to form a system serving 14 states and a province of Canada between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mississippi River and Great Lakes with more than 7,000 miles of trackage The Virginian Railway (AAR reporting mark VGN) was a Class 1 railroad located in Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. ...
Categories: Defunct railroad companies of the United States | Illinois railroads | Indiana railroads | Missouri railroads | New York railroads | Ohio railroads | Pennsylvania railroads ...
Categories: Rail stubs | Defunct railroad companies of the United States | Illinois railroads | Indiana railroads | Ohio railroads ...
Length 6,270 km Elevation of the source 450 m Average discharge Saint Louis¹: 5,500 m³/s Vicksburg²: 16,800 m³/s Baton Rouge³: 12,800 m³/s Area watershed 2,980,000 km² Origin Lake Itasca Mouth Gulf of Mexico Basin countries United States (98. ...
The Great Lakes from space The Great Lakes are a group of five large lakes on or near the United States-Canadian border. ...
100 years later after its name was changed from A,M & O, the N & W was combined with the Southern Railway, another profitable carrier, to form Norfolk Southern Corporation (NS) in 1982. The Southern Railway (AAR designation SOU) was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined since the 1830s. ...
Norfolk Southern Corporation (AAR reporting mark NS) (NYSE: NSC) is a US publicly-traded stock corporation based in Norfolk, Virginia. ...
Today, much of the former Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad remains in service for Norfolk Southern, a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia. The modern railroad transports bituminous coal, intermodal shipping containers, automobile parts and completed vehicles, and other commodities in the 21st century global transportation markets. Mahone's trackbed through the Great Dismal Swamp, the 52 mile tangent, and much of the rest of the A,M & O route are still in service. The Fortune 500 is a ranking of the top 500 United States corporations as measured by gross revenue. ...
Norfolk, Virginia, viewed from Portsmouth, across the Elizabeth River Norfolk is a city in the U.S. state of Virginia in the United States of America. ...
Bituminous coal Bituminous coal is a soft coal containing a tar-like substance called bitumen. ...
Intermodal is a term that refers to more than one mode of transport. ...
References
Books
- Blake, Nelson Morehouse, PhD. (1935) William Mahone of Virginia; Soldier and Political Insurgent, Garrett and Massie Publishers; Richmond, VA
- Dixon, Thomas W, Jr., (1994) Appalachian Coal Mines & Railroads. Lynchburg, Virginia: TLC Publishing Inc. ISBN 1-883089-08-5
- Huddleston, Eugene L, Ph.D. (2002) Appalachian Conquest, Lynchburg, Virginia: TLC Publishing Inc. ISBN 1-883089-79-4
- Lambie, Joseph T. (1954) From Mine to Market: The History of Coal Transportation on the Norfolk and Western Railway New York: New York University Press
- Lewis, Lloyd D. (1992) The Virginian Era. Lynchburg, Virginia: TLC Publishing Inc.
- Lewis, Lloyd D. (1994) Norfolk & Western and Virginian Railways in Color by H. Reid. Lynchburg, Virginia: TLC Publishing Inc. ISBN 1-883089-09-3
- Prince, Richard E. (1980) Norfolk & Western Railway, Pocahontas Coal Carrier, R.E. Prince; Millard, NE
- Reid, H. (1961). The Virginian Railway (1st ed.). Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing Co.
- Reisweber, Kurt (1995) Virginian Rails 1953-1993 (1st ed.) Old Line Graphics. ISBN 1-879314-11-8
- Striplin, E. F. Pat. (1981) The Norfolk & Western : a history Roanoke, Va. : Norfolk and Western Railway Co. ISBN 0963325469
- Traser, Donald R. (1998) Virginia Railway Depots. Old Dominion Chapter, National Railway Historical Society. ISBN 0-9669906-0-9
- Wiley, Aubrey and Wallace, Conley (1985}. The Norfolk and Western Railway Handbook. Lynchburg, Virginia: W-W Publications.
Websites
- Mahones of Virginia: The Mahone Family Heritage
- official site, Library of Virginia, William Mahone page
External links
- Norfolk & Western Historical Society
- Virginia Museum of Transportation
- Mark Twain and Henry Huttleston Rogers in Virginia featuring excerpts from their trips together to the 1907 Jamestown Exposition and the 1909 Dedication of the Virginian Railway
- West Virginia Coal Mines site
- Virginian Railway (VGN) Enthusiasts non-profit group of preservationists, authors, photographers, historians, modelers, and railfans
- listing of Virginian Railway authors and their works
- Mullens West Virginia Caboose Museuma community project with photos
- Victoria Virginia's new home for Virginian railway Caboose 342 a community project with photos
- Lynchburg Virginia's project to save the oldest extant Virginian Railway Caboose # 64 a community project with photos
- preserving the Virginian Railway Passenger Station at Roanoke Virginia a community project with photos (requires a pdf file viewer)
- Winding Gulf MSN GroupA group focused on one of the VGN and N&W's most productive coalfields, with information about many coal camps, family histories, maps, photos and links
- Norfolk Southern Corp website
