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Lindsay to Strathmore
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The VAL connected the C&O’s Piedmont Sub to the Rivanna Sub of the James River Line. The connection with the Piedmont Sub was at Lindsay and the connection with the James River Line was at Strathmore. The VAL was the brain child of George Stevens, president of the C&O from 1900 to 1920 and was built in 1907-1909. The line was purchased by the C&O in 1912. The C&O used the VAL to move loads that were too high or too wide to pass through the tunnels of the Mountain Subdivision west of Charlottesville. In addition, coal for Washington and northern Virginia came down the James River Line, then up the VAL and on through Gordonsville. In the 1950's, a young girl named Ethel Mae Robinson lived along the VAL tracks. She waved at the trains passing so consistently that the trainmen began to look for her as they passed. She so brightened their days that they began buying her presents, a gesture that continued into her teenage years. Mae Robinson DeLong recently emailed me with information about her family. Her father and both of her grandfathers worked for the C&O, as did her husband (see the People of the Piedmont page). The VAL was removed in the 1970’s. Below is a brief summary of the VAL’s history.
| Date | Event |
| April 10, 1906 | The Virginia Air Line Railway was chartered by the Commonwealth of Virginia. |
| October, 1906 | Construction began. |
| October, 1908 | Construction was completed. Operation began under VAL control. |
| July 2, 1909 | The C&O began operating the VAL. |
| July 12, 1912 | The VAL was sold to the C&O. |
| February 21, 1927 | Passenger service reduced to one daily train in each direction. |
| June 1, 1932 | Passenger service replaced by mixed train service. |
| June 23, 1954 | Mixed train service ended. |
| 1971 | The C&O announced that it would abandon the VAL. |
| October 26, 1971 | Fluvanna Board of Supervisors begins a suit to keep the VAL open. |
| March, 1972 | The ICC allows the abandonment to proceed. |
| August 1, 1973 | Last round trip train from Lindsay to Strathmore. |
| 1974 | Environmental Protection Agency placed a one-year delay on the abandonment. |
| January 30, 1975 | ICC formally approves the abandonment plans. |
| November 3, 1975 | The VAL was officially abandoned. |
| August 25, 1978 | Track removal was completed. |
Map |
This map was prepared from C&O valuation drawings.
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Please note that, due to a huge volume of spam coming in on my email account, I’ve had to change my email address. The new address is lzdaily@nospam.piedmontsub.com (but remove the nospam and the dot before piedmontsub.com).
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