General

As noted on the introductory page to this site, the Piedmont was primarily a passenger line after the acquisition of the James River line in the early 1900’s. Much of this traffic originated in Washington and, thus, crossed only the section of the Piedmont between Gordonsville and Charlottesville. Automatic train controls were installed between Gordonsville and Clifton Forge around 1909. By 1926, an automatic train control signal system was in operation from Orange to Clifton Forge. CTC was added to this system in the 1940’s allowing the line to handle up to 50 trains a day.

Between Richmond and Gordonsville, the Piedmont Sub was single track Automatic Block Territory, with block control of traffic beginning at least early in the 1900’s. I have a couple of loose pages from the Railroad Gazette that contain a report titled “Block Signaling on Lines of Light Traffic.” The pages are in pretty tough shape and I don’t know the exact date of the issue, but a portion of the Greenbriar sub timetable was included and it had an effective date of November 13, 1904. The first example used in the article is the C&O line from Richmond to Gordonsville. Operations were primarily governed according to the timetable and the rules of superiority with the block system added to those. According to the article, each block station had a single signal located opposite the telegraph office (the station ticket office). The table below lists the block stations.

Table 1. Block stations between Richmond and Gordonsville.
     Table notes:
     1 - Miles from Richmond
     2 - The distance from Richmond makes this Hewlett, but a copy of the July 1, 1921 Employee Timetable lists Hewlett’s callsign as RU.
     At night, only stations marked D.N. are open.

At the time of the article, there were 12 regular trains scheduled between Richmond and Gordonsville each day. Two of those were first class passenger trains and two were second class passenger trains. There were also two third class trains in each direction. According to the article, there were rarely extras run.

Freight Operations

As a primarily passenger line, the Piedmont Sub didn’t generate much freight traffic. Throughout its history, however, a variety of products were shipped and received by customers along the Piedmont Sub. Over the years inbound freight included coal, fertilizer (especially to the two firms in Ellerson), oil (Gordonsville, Louisa, and Mineral), LPG (Melton and Keswick), and lumber and other building supplies. Major outbound traffic, at least since the 1960’s, has included pulpwood, wood chips, crushed stone, vermiculite, and newsprint.

Scheduled Freight Trains: March 1964

According to the March, 1964 Fast Freight Schedules, there were six scheduled freight trains on the Piedmont Sub.

Table 2. Scheduled Freight Trains in March of 1964
     Table notes:
     1 - Days listed are for illustrative purposes. All trains ran daily.

There were no trains directly between Richmond and Potomac Yard. Cars from Potomac Yard bound for Richmond were put on either 893 or 895 and were dropped in Lindsay for pickup and delivery by 794. Cars from Richmond to Potomac Yard were put on 795 and dropped in Lindsay where they were picked up and delivered by 892. These were, for the most part, through trains and they handled general merchandise and some piggyback business.

Scheduled Freight Trains: December 15, 1965

I also have in my records a printout of a 2006 email thread which listed the following freight trains scheduled on the Piedmont Sub as of late 1965.

Table 3. Scheduled Freight Trains in December of 1965
     Table notes:
     1 - Days listed are for illustrative purposes. All trains ran daily.

The only difference between this schedule and the 1964 one was that it lists trains 790 and 791 as routed over the Piedmont. Train 790 was known as the Expediter and train 791 as the Speedwest. They ran between Newport News and Chicago. Both were routed back over the James River line in the mid-1970’s.

Scheduled Freight Trains: Late 1970’s, Early 1980’s

I also have in my files a document (or part of a document) that gives general information about the Piedmont and Washington Subdivisions, including scheduled freight trains. It looks as if it was prepared in conjunction with some railfan event or historical society meeting; three of the six pages list places where photographs of trains could be taken along with an evaluation of how accessible they were. The document isn’t dated, but mentions Bear Island Paper, so it would have to be after that facility was constructed in 1978. Further, the document only covers trains between Richmond and Charlottesville and makes no mention of the Potomac Yard trains.

By the early 1980’s, local traffic had dropped off almost to nothing. In 1984, however, the C&O began running the Virginia Rock Runner, a unit train between the quarry in Verdon and several sites in Tidewater Virginia. In the late 1980's CSX reinstated locals from Charlottesville to near Doswell (the Charlottesville Local) and from Richmond to near Doswell (the Beaverdam Turn). As needed, those trains exchanged cars at Doswell, Verdon, Noel or Beaverdam. In the early 1990’s many of the remaining active sidings (e.g., the lumber yards in Trevilian and Bibb) were removed or taken out of service. This left only the Bear Island paper mill, the quarry in Verdon, the sand loader in Beaver Dam, the vermiculite loader in Louisa, the pulpwood yard in Gordonsville, the Klöckner Pentaplast plastics plant, and the LPG plant in Keswick receiving regular service. Occasional increases in freight traffic occurred, however, when flooding or other disruptions caused the diversion of trains from the James River line over the Piedmont and Mountain Subs. Still, during this time, CSX considered abandoning the Mountain Sub which would, I believe, have led to the eventual abandonment of the Piedmont.

In 2004, CSX leased the former C&O lines from Richmond to Clifton Forge to the Buckingham Branch Railroad. Currently, the Buckingham Branch runs the local service on the Piedmont Sub. Five days a week the BBRR runs turns between Staunton and Gordonsville, Doswell and Richmond, and Doswell and Gordonsville. CSX also runs westbound empties over the line.

A C&O local, led by GP9 5981, rounds the wye at Gordonsville sometime in 1967. Following C&O practice for locals, there was a caboose on both ends of the train, even though there are only two cars between them. It was a desire to model trains in Gordonsville that led me to model the Piedmont Sub. (Photographer Norman Blackwood. From a slide in the collection of Larry Z. Daily.)

	C&O caboose 903112 crosses the diamond in Doswell on the rear of what I’m guessing is a train of empty hoppers. Sam Bone caught the action on July 13, 1984. (Photographer Sam Bone. From a slide in the collection of Larry Z. Daily.)
	SD50 8574 leads an ore train from Potomac Yard through Gordonsville on August 19, 1984. (Photographer Mark Demaline. From a slide in the collection of Larry Z. Daily.)
	[NEW] Though the traffic generated on the Piedmont Sub may have been somewhat limited, almost any type of car could be seen in the through trains. For instance, in this February 7, 1987 shot, we see a P&LE coil car passing through Louisa. (Sam Bone photograph. From a slide in the collection of Larry Z. Daily.)

A CSX local passes the Mineral depot on December 29, 1995. CSX 6459 is a GP40-2 and is (I believe) paired with road slug 2308 (a former GP-30) in this photo. (Photographer Wade Massie. From a slide in the collection of Larry Z. Daily.)

	These June, 2010 photos show some of the current operations on the Piedmont Sub. In the top photo a Buckingham Branch local passes the former C&O freighthouse in Gordonsville. The bottom photo shows a CSX train of empty coal hoppers at the same location.

Passenger Operations

	Al Chione caught L1 Hudson number 492 between runs at Ivy City sometime in 1949. (Al Chione. From a slide in the collection of Larry Z. Daily.)
	It’s May of 1950 and L1 Hudson number 493 is in charge of the George Washington at Alexandria, Virginia. (Photographer unknown. From a slide in the collection of Larry Z. Daily.)
	It’s July of 1961 and one of the C&O’s RDC’s is in Charlottesville yard. The next year, the RDC’s left the Piedmont Sub. (Photographer unknown. From a slide in the collection of Larry Z. Daily.)
	RDC 9062 is at Richmond in February of 1963. I wasn’t quite sure what it was coupled up to, but Steve Yevich identified it as Baggage Trailer #551. It was one of three passenger/baggage trailers that were originally built to be used with the Brill cars on the James River Line. After that service ended, #551 had it’s seats removed and was paired with an RDC between Norfolk and Richmond. By the time of this photo, the RDC’s no longer worked the Piedmont Sub. (Photographer unknown. From a slide in the collection of Larry Z. Daily.)
	This photo shows #41 the George Washington crossing the RF&P at Doswell in September, 1966. (Photographer unknown. From a slide in the collection of Larry Z. Daily.)
	[NEW] C&O E8 4001 is pulling a train of what looks to me to be all head-end cars at Charlottesville. There was no date on this image, but I’m guessing early- to mid-1960’s. (Photographer unknown. From a negative in the collection of Larry Z. Daily.)
	It’s February of 1967 and C&O E8 4006 and mate are receiving some servicing during a pause in Charlottesville. Both units are still in the tri-color paint scheme, but if you look closely you can see that a panel has been replaced on the trailing unit. (Photographer unknown. From a slide in the collection of Larry Z. Daily.)
	Amtrak’s train 50 The George Washington pauses in Charlottesville on Christmas Eve in 1972. (Photographer unknown. From a slide in the collection of Larry Z. Daily.)
	Ten years after the previous photo, Amtrak’s train 50 passes through Gordonsville led by F40PH 217. (May 24, 1982 photograph by George W. Hamlin. From a slide in the collection of Larry Z. Daily.)

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