THE (UNOFFICIAL) MANASSAS GAP RAILROAD HISTORIC SITE
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Welcome to the Unofficial Manassas Gap Railroad Site. Here you will find information and photos on the Manassas Gap, and its successors Southern Railway and Norfolk Southern. Rather than follow Murphys Law (see below), this site has gone back to the original roots. I knew this as a sleepy backwater branch, in my younger years, whose RS-3 powered train ran Manassas to Harrisonburg one day, returning the next. The glory days on the line appeared to be over. Originally planned as a mainline railroad across northern Virginia, the railroad was been wrecked by the Civil War, then merged with the O&A before being broken up. The Strasburg Jct to Harrisonburg segment was leased and operated by B&O for thirty years, before being brought into the Southern Railway system. Southern Railway operated the Manassas Gap Railroad as an agricultural feeder line as they were otherwise occupied. Strasburg yard closed with the end of steam operations, then reopened in 1974. Trains #87/88 operated Manassas to Strasburg. Trains #89/90 operated Strasburg to Harrisonburg. The friendly yet professional crews, operated over questionable rail, in a low key style of operation. Every train was different, a variation of grain, LP gas, forest and light manufacturing products. This changed again with the Norfolk Southern merger. Today the Manassas to Riverton Junction section is a busy mountain mainline, a vital part of the Piedmont Corridor. West of the junction there have been many changes also. Strasburg Yard has closed. The segment from Harrisonburg to Mt. Jackson is now operated by Chesapeake Western. The line is rail banked from Mt. Jackson to Edinburg. Operations between Edinburg and Riverton Junction today is performed at night only. But relax now and enjoy a look at the many variations of the Manassas Gap Railroad
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HARRISONBURG BRANCH
RIVERTON JUNCTION TO STRASBURG
Photos (clockwise from the upper left): The motive power off train #90 works eastward across the South Fork of the Shenandoah River at Riverton Junction on an early Saturday morning. Needed at Manassas for weekend work train assignments the power will return Monday on train #87. - Train #88 slows as it rolls through Riverton VA. It will stop ahead at Riverton Jct and pick up cars left on the N&W interchange. - SR train #87 climbs upgrade at Waterlick VA, one of the few places along this segment where one could see an entire train at one time. - Train #87 rounds a curve near the bridge over the North Fork of the Shenandoah River. - Train #88 rolls east across the North Forth of the Shenandoah River near Strasburg VA. - Train #87 rounds a curve near the bridge over the North Fork of the Shenandoah River. - Train #87 rounds the curve and slows as it approaches the Strasburg yard limits.
STRASBURG YARD
Photos (clockwise from the upper left): Crew change at Strasburg Yard. Motive power is sorted out according to tonnage needs and maintenance requirements. Southern Railway tended to use the newest and best motive power on the Harrisonburg branch, simply because if something broke down on one was nearby to help. - The crew of #87 pauses at the yard office on its way to tack the caboose on the rear of its consist. - GP38 2743 leads train #87 as it pulls past the caboose of last evening's train #90. - The crew of train #87 has come and gone leaving the almost new GP38-2 5216 on the head end of train #89. Soon the crew will show up and be on their way. - Train #89 uses the spur leading into Shenandoah Valley Press to switch around an inbound carload of LP gas. - GP38-2 5011 spots cars on the "Dairy Track" at Strasburg Junction before returning to Manassas as train #88.
SOUTHERN RAILWAY MOTIVE POWER AT STRASBURG
Photos (clockwise from the upper left): Former Central of Georgia GP35s could be distinquished two ways. The easiest method was by road number, with the GP35 retaining CofG three digit numbers. Secondly, the CofG units rode on Blomberg trucks instead of Southern's models which featured AAR Type B models from retired Alco RS-2s and RS3s. - The GP38 was the "usual" locomotive model seen on the Harrisonburg branch. Still variations could be spotted as SR altered the filter and dynamic brake blister area into order to replace the oil bath air filter with paper air filters. GP38 2812 features the small 1700 gallon fuel tank which allowed these locomotives to work on light rail. - This view of sister GP38 2814 also shows how the fuel tank was offset on the long hood to equally distribute weight between all four axles. - GP38-2 5167 was part of a nine unit order in 1975 which featured snow plows and slotted battery box covers, (allowing the battery terminals to be cleaned as the units cycled through locomotive washers). - The class unit of the EMD GP38-2 model stands for its photograph at Strasburg. The GP38-2 came to be the most numerous second-generation model on the SR roster. - The General Electric model B23-7 were just as reliable as the EMD GP38-2 and were commonly seen on the Harrisonburg branch. In this view the 3972 lays over between assignments at Strasburg.
STRASBURG TO HARRISONBURG
Photos (clockwise from the upper left): Train #89 crosses a highway overpass near Fishers Hill. The counterpart train #90 returned after dark. - A few miles to the south train #89 crosses the bridge at Toms Brook. These structures are serving in their second location, several of them relocated as a result of the the double tracking of the SR mainline. A fatality occurred here in the forties when a sleeping brakeman was roused out of his bunk as his train slowed. He stepped out to protect the train....into thin air, as the caboose was in the middle of the bridge. - Back on solid ground train #89 rolls southward past the Purina Feed mill at Mauretown. - B23-7 3983 has a work train in hand near the site of the wye track and former station in Harrisonburg. - Train #89 passes the old mill and buildings which front on Main Street in Broadway. - Train #89 tiptoes across the high bridge at Narrow Passage. A railroad accident in the 19th century brought down the entire structure during the passage of a cattle extra. One steer was left standing on top a pier, with no way to get it down except by rifle.
Today the Manassas Gap is a vital part of the Norfolk Southern Piedmont Corridor. For many knowledgeable rail enthusiasts it is also known as a part of the old Southern Railway, whose Manassas to Harrisonburg line was home for SR steam specials. Its return to main line status is ironic as the Manassas Gap Railroad was originally intended as an east-west trunk line linking Alexandria VA with the Ohio River. As part of this route a survey was published in 1855 linking Alexandria with Piedmont VA, west of the present day Keyser WV. Here the Manassas Gap RR would have competed for passenger traffic for Washington with a route 75 miles shorter than B&O and coal business off the Georges Creek Mining District.
Several events incurred to delay the project. A financial panic in 1857 brought work to a halt, then in 1860 the company beset by high track use charges by the Orange & Alexandria RR decided to first proceed with it's own independent line between Gainesville and Alexandria. Finally the Civil War wrecked to company for good, beginning a slide into the Southern Railway System.
This site will trace the route of the 1855 survey and visit these sites in present day settings. You can use your imagination to add the tracks to these places which would have been located along the route of the never-completed Manassas Gap Railroad. In the footnotes, for those who have a further interest, you will the find the exact location of points on the line.
Photos l to r: Looking southeast at Niveveh Junction, the passenger and freight lines split here with the freight working towards us. - In the second view The Manassas Gap would have crossed the Valley Turnpike running r.to l. along the stream as it headed west. - With the Manassas Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance the railroad would have followed the stream running l. to. r., in our final view to a point where it gains a low grade crossing into the drainage of Hogue Creek.
Photos l to r: The Manassas Gap would have worked r.to l. across this view into Hoop Petticoat Gap as it headed west. - The gate in the middle photo marks the top of Lockharts Gap. The Manassas Gap Railroad would have dug a cut here to keep the descent westward to an easy grade. - In our last view, near the site of the tunnel located at Darby’s Nose the Manassas Gap Railroad would have occupied the opposite bank of the Cacapon River as it worked west, r.to l. across the photograph.
Photos l to r: The snow covered dirt road on the approximate alignment of the Manassas Gap Railroad as it ascends westward to a short tunnel under Spring Gap Mountain. - The second shot was taken on the west side of Spring Gap. The Manassas Gap Railroad would have followed this stream downward, high on the ridge iun the background in order to ease the grade, to a crossing of the Little Cacapon River then west again up Hopkins Lick Run to a gap in Town Hill Ridge. - From this spot the railroad followed Mine Hollow Run down to the South Fork of the Potomac River. It would have crossed the river in our last photo to the right at the bend in the river.
Photos l to r: A cut in Middle Ridge in the middle distance would have lessened the railroad grade as ot worked out of the center of our first photograph, before then swinging to the right in order to continue westward. - Crossing Pattersons Creek, the Manassas Gap followed Cabin Run, which appears in our center photo, westward to a tunnel site under Knobly Mountain. - From this tunnel the Manassas Gap would have dropped down Limestone Hollow to emerge to the right of our final view, along side the B&O Railroad. The Manassas Gap Railroad would have paralleled the B&O westward to Piedmont.
Time conspired to alter these plans. The Manassas Gap Railroad was wrecked by the Civil War with it's rails passing into the Southern Railway, which was controlled by outside interests, at the end of the 19th century. The entire 171 mile line Alexandria to Piedmont route is feasible from an engineering stand point, although the length of the route mandated that it would have been split into two operating divisions. The half-way point for the Alexandria to Piedmont line is near Hoop Petticoat Gap. This is the point where the passenger line via Winchester rejoined the freight low grade route via Stephens City. It may have been necessary for the Manassas Gap Railroad to located a division point for crew change. The rest...as they say...is history.
Although by 1855 the rails had reached as far westward as Strasburg VA, the 120 mile Piedmont Extension began several miles to the east at Riverton VA[1] with a bridge over the North Fork of the Shenandoah River located adjacent to the Winchester & Front Royal Turnpike Co. This was done in order the utilize a gap in Guard Hill to reach the northward flowing Crooked Run. At the village of Nineveh[2] on the Warren/Frederick County line, a junction was formed as the low grade mainline worked to the northwest up Stephens Run, while the steeply graded passenger line followed Crooked Run northward to Winchester. This passenger line climbs out of Crooked Run and struck out cross-country on a survey to the west of the present day Papermill Road, then closing on that route as it neared town. From the south side of Winchester the passenger line worked westward to rejoin the mainline. From Ninevah the Manassas Gap mainline followed Crooked Run to a crossing of the Valley Turnpike on the south side of Stephens City. The route swung north on the west side of Stephens City, then over into the drainage of Opequon Creek[3] west of Bartonsville. This watercourse was followed north-westward through the
village of Opequon to the head springs, then over into a stream leading to Hoop Petticoat Gap[4].
The gap gave the railroad passage around Little North Mountain. The junction with the Winchester passenger line rejoined the mainline east of the gap. Nearly 60 years later the Winchester & Western Railroad used this same route, abet with sharper curvature as a route west. Hoop Petticoat Run was followed to it's confluence with Hogue Creek, which the Manassas Gap Railroad crossed to head directly west to Lockharts Gap[5] in Great North Mountain. A cut in the gap eased the railroad grade which does not fall away at the same rate. Instead the roadbed crossed to the east of the Northwestern Turnpike as both approached Back Creek. The rail line used Bowling Green Ridge to cross Back Creek at some height over the water to Little Albin Run. This waterway was followed in a westerly direction around Little Timber Ridge through a cut into the watershed of Isaacs Creek. The railroad then turns southward along the side of the ridge to recross the Northwestern Turnpike on a fill to work west alongside the roadway to a cut on the summit[6] of Timber Ridge. Entering Hampshire County, paralleling and south of the Northwestern Turnpike, the Manassas Gap Railroad cut across a plateau formed by the upper reaches of Sleepy Creek. By using a small run the railroad rounds Bear Garden Mountain to emerge into the bottomlands of the Capon River, south of the present day Capon Bridge. The right of way turns north along the east bank of the Cacapon River passing Darby's Nose.
In our contemporary times the Cacapon valley is still an isolated region, yet in 1855 it was recognized the river formed a gradeless passage for the Manassas Gap. A few miles to the north of Darby's Nose the
railroad planned a tunnel[7] in order to avoid a bend in the river. Near the confluence of the Cacapon and North Rivers a settled pig iron manufacturing and farming region was reached. The Manassas Gap used this area to swing around Castle Rock Mountain, turning southward a few miles up the North River, then
heading westward up Crooked Run to Spring Gap[8]. A short tunnel of a few hundred feet would have been necessary under Spring Gap Mountain, with the railroad descending Dug Hill Run to the Little Cacapon valley. Nearing the bottom the right of way swings southwest to cross the Little Cacapon River at
some height above the waters, then strike the confluence of Hopkins Lick Run. Hopkins Lick Run forms a natural gap in Town Hill Ridge and South Branch Mountain as the railroad right of way ascends to its summit[9], from which is reached by a cut, Mine Hollow Run. Mine Hollow is followed by the Manassas
Gap survey line down to the South Branch Potomac River.
The east bank of the river is followed to the village of Glassner. Glassner no longer exits but was located a few miles north of Milleson's Mill WV. At Glassner the Manassas Gap Railroad planned to bridge the
South Branch River then continue southward along the west bank of the South Branch Potomac River to the confluence of Abernathy Run. The railroad turns west to follow Abernathy Run through a gap in River Mountain to the village of Springfield. The Manassas Gap survey continues in a northwest direction following Abernathy Run to it's headwaters near the present Hampshire/Mineral County line.[10] From the Mineral County line the local highway continued north to Frankfort, today known as Fort Ashby. The right of way for the Manassas Gap Railroad swung around to the west using cut and fill construction in the high hollows of Middle Ridge. Middle Ridge separated the drainage of the South Branch Potomac River from the drainage of Patterson Creek. The railroad survey continued west on an easy descent into the Patterson Creek watershed. This waterway was followed southward to the confluence of the creek and Cabin Run. The Manassas gap turned west to along Cabin Run, first westward, then Turning southward along the east escarpment of Knobly Mountain. Cabin Run was followed to near the present day site of Fountains WV. Here the railroad turned west into a hollow and a tunnel to be constructed under Knobly Mountain.[11]
Knobly Mountain Tunnel would have presented the Manassas Gap Railroad with its most serious engineering challenge. Still it was easily within the contemporary capabilities. The bore would have most likely been constructed with a descending grade from the east portal to keep grades to within moderate
levels, and most likely would have been a helper district. The west bore of the tunnel would have been in Limestone Hollow[12] on the eastern side of present day Keyser WV. The railroad survey descended to work around the north end of
New Creek Mountain and meeting the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad near Paddytown, today know as Keyser[13]. Both routes paralleled each other westward to Piedmont. Here the Manassas Gap Railroad would have offered an alternate to coal traffic off the George's Creek Mining District.
Footnotes: Latitude, longitude and elevation of specific locations on the proposed right of way of the unfinished western end of the
Manassas Gap Railroad from River Station (Riverton) to Piedmont VA.