Brighthope Railway
The Brighthope Railway Engine
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| Locale | Chesterfield, Virginia |
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| Dates of operation | 1877–1889 |
| Successor | Farmville and Powhatan Railroad |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Previous gauge | Standard until 1881, then was narrowed to narrow gauge, 3 ft (914 mm). |
| Headquarters | Richmond, Virginia |
In 1886, Randolph Harrison, of the Virginia department of Agriculture, cited Cumberland Mining Company, stating that the United States had purchased stock in the Brighthope Railway. He continued by citing their assertion that extending the railway into Cumberland would increase the value of farms there because they could sell consumer agricultural products such as fruit, dairy and vegetables to all markets of Virginia. The Brighthope Railway was founded in 1877 by the creditors of the Clover Hill Railroad who bought that railroad when the Clover Hill Railroad went bankrupt. The Brighthope Railway continued in the role of the Clover Hill Railroad, hauling coal from the Clover Hill Pitts at Winterpock, Virginia. In addition to coal, the Bright Hope Railway transported timber and agricultural products and had passenger service. The Bright Hope Railway was narrowed from standard gauge to narrow gauge and rerouted in 1881. In 1889 the Bright Hope Railway was sold in foreclosure for $200,000 to the Farmville and Powhatan Railroad, which became the main line of the Tidewater and Western Railroad. The line survived until 1917 when it was pulled up and sent to France for the World War I effort.
The Brighthope Railway was a standard gauge railway to Osborne Landing when it was created. In 1881, sand and silt from the Dutch Gap Canal made the Osborne Landing dock unreachable by boat. The Railway was narrowed to narrow gauge and routed to Bermuda Hundred, the newer docks which could harbor coastal colliers. It was lengthened four miles at the western end to reach the Appomattox at Epps Falls in the Piedmont. The Railway has a bridge over the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad and the Swift Creek Rail Bridge.
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