Railroad Building in Virginia (1827 to 1860) - Virginiahistoryseries.org

Private initiative and State supported
private enterprise resulted in the incredible
development of Virginia’s RR transportation
infrastructure from 1827 – 1860.
But, the fierce competiveness that created
this infrastructure had its limitations.
Interconnectivity between competing
railroads was a rarity. For example, while 6
railroads had terminals at Richmond city, none
provided direct connections to other railroads
from the city. This later became a major
problem for the Confederacy during the Civil
War.