What is Virginia Blue Ridge Railway?
The '''Virginia Blue Ridge Railway''' (VBR) is a historic intrastate [[short line railroad]]. It operated in central [[Virginia]] in the 20th century. ==History== The company was incorporated in 1914. Construction was started in 1915. The VBR went between [[Tye River, Virginia|Tye River Depot]] in [[Nelson County, Virginia|Nelson County]] to [[Massies Mill, Virginia|Massies Mill]]. It met up with the [[Southern Railway (US)|Southern Railway]] in Massies Mill. The railroad followed the course of the Tye and Piney Rivers for several miles. It eventually enters the mountains. It was initially built to haul [[chestnut]] for lumber out of the heavily-timbered Piney River area to local mills until [[World War I]]. The [[chestnut blight]] wiped out much of the timbered areas. The railroad later served several quarries in the area where [[titanium dioxide]] and [[aplite]] were mined.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr012.htm |title=Archived copy |access-date=2012-12-19 |archive-date=2013-01-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117042716/http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr012.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> It passed through the communities of Roses Mill, Piney River, Canopy, Lowesville, and Buffalo Mine.<ref> http://www.abandonedrails.com/article.asp?id=71</ref> The line was abandoned in 1980. In the early 21st century, part of the roadbed was being developed as a [[Rail trail|rails-to-trails]] project, the [[Blue Ridge Railway Trail]]. ==References== {{reflist}} * [http://www.cstone.net/users/nelsonco/RailTrail/VABRTrail.htm Brief history and information on the trail project] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080119004553/http://www.cstone.net/users/nelsonco/RailTrail/VABRTrail.htm |date=2008-01-19 }} * [http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr012.htm Brief history and some photos] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117042716/http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr012.htm |date=2013-01-17 }} {{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Virginia Blue Ridge Railway}} [[Categ