The Chesapeake and Albemarle Railroad

While the Chesapeake and Albemarle Railroad has its roots dating back to the Southern Railway, its trackage, prior to 1974, was owned by the original Norfolk Southern Railway. This line had operations based in eastern North Carolina with lines running as far south as Beaufort and as far north as Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Virginia. The NS also had lines stretching to the west reaching Raleigh, Durham, Fayetteville, and Charlotte.

The Norfolk Southern Railway had its beginnings dating back to 1881 (it was originally chartered on January 20, 1870 as the Elizabeth City & Norfolk Railroad) when it completed its original main line between Berkley, Virginia and Edenton, North Carolina. By 1883 the railroad had changed its name to the Norfolk Southern Railroad to better reflect the railroad’s intentions.

As with most railroads of the day, the NS grew predominantly through expansion. Right after reorganizing it acquired the Albemarle and Pantego Railroad (extending it further south into North Carolina); the Norfolk, Virginia Beach and Southern Railroad in 1899 (reaching both Norfolk and Virginia Beach); the Chesapeake Transit Company in 1904; and the Washington and Plymouth Railroad in 1902 (reaching even further south into North Carolina).

Then, on November 24, 1906 the Norfolk & Southern Railway was created when the Norfolk Southern Railroad and Raleigh & Pamlico Sound Railroad (whose main line stretched from Washington, NC west to Raleigh) merged, along with several other small companies. These other railroads included the Virginia and Carolina Coast Railroad; the Pamlico, Oriental and Western Railway; the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad; and the Beaufort and Western Railroad.

In 1910 the new railroad went through another name change and back to the Norfolk Southern Railroad name when it entered receivership in 1908. Over the next several decades the NS added and built branch lines here and there until it eventually reached its final length of over 623 miles with a main line running between Norfolk, Virginia and Charlotte, North Carolina.

The railroad again, and for the final time, reorganized in early 1942 as the now well-known (and original) Norfolk Southern Railway. The NS carried on for the next three decades until the Southern Railway purchased it on the first day of 1974 and merged the Carolina and Northwestern Railway into it. Interestingly, when the Southern and Norfolk & Western proposed to merge they needed the Norfolk Southern name. To accomplish this the Southern renamed its Norfolk Southern Railway as the Carolina and Northwestern Railway (the very railroad it had just a few years earlier merged into the NS!).

Below is a current roster of the Chesapeake and Albemarle Railroad:

#2158 - EMD GP7u: Ex-Santa Fe (originally a GP7)

#2190 - EMD GP7u: Ex-Santa Fe (originally a GP7)

#3841 - EMD GP38M-2: Ex-Seaboard Air Line (originally a GP40)

#3842 - EMD GP38M: Ex-Seaboard Air Line (originally a GP40)

Having family living in the area (near Elizabeth City, North Carolina) I have have had a chance to catch this little railroad in action a few times. While their schedule is somewhat sporadic typically you can catch a train running through Elizabeth City at least two or three times a week. As mentioned above the railroad interchanges with three railroads, two of which are Class Is. These include CSX, NS, and shortline Norfolk and Portsmouth Belt Line (NPBL).

For more reading on shortlines like the Chesapeake & Albemarle Railroad consider the book American Shortline Railway Guide from author Ed Lewis. The book has gone through several updated editions to keep up with the ever-changing world of the shortline industry. Today, the publication highlights almost 600 shortlines across the country with general background information about each. If you have any interest in shortlines you will very likely enjoy this book.