Virginia Central Railroad - Other Uses of The Virginia Central Name

Other Uses of The Virginia Central Name

• Many years after the original Virginia Central became part of the Chesapeake and Ohio in the 1868, another railroad between Fredericksburg and Orange used the name "Virginia Central." The Potomac, Fredericksburg & Piedmont Railroad Company (PF&P RR) operated 38 miles (61 km) of 3 foot gauge railroad between Fredericksburg (with a connection to the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad) and Orange (with a connection to the Orange & Alexandria railroad). It operated as narrow gauge until after World War I. In 1926, the line was standard gauged and the name changed to the Virginia Central Railway. In 1938, the entire line was abandoned except for a one mile segment in Fredericksburg which lasted until 1983.
• In the 1990s, an excursion company headed by Jack Showalter assumed the historic name Virginia Central Railroad, and operated trips on CSX Transportation tracks from a base in Staunton, Virginia. Increased liability insurance requirements forced suspension of the trips and the equipment into storage. In February 2005, preparations were underway to relocate some of the historic rolling stock of the excursion company to the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond, but that plan fell through. The equipment remains in storage in Staunton and up the SVRR line in Verona. Some of the passenger cars were planned to return to limited service on excursion trains planned to operate on the short-line Shenandoah Valley Railroad.

• Virginia Central #40 owned by Jack Showalter is stored on SVRR at Staunton, VA.

• Jack's VC caboose #903107 stored in Staunton.

• Virginia Central's former CPR #1286 stored at Verona, VA.

• Virginia Central #514 passenger car stored in Verona, VA.