Covington and Ohio Railroad

Covington and Ohio Railroad

1852 map showing the planned Covington and Ohio Railroad and the Virginia Central Railroad
Locale	Virginia, United States
Successor	Chesapeake and Ohio Railway

Covington and Ohio Railroad was part of a planned railroad link between eastern Virginia and the Ohio River in the 1850s. The mountainous region of the Allegheny Front (eastern side) of the Appalachian Plateau between an existing canal, railroads and navigable rivers represented a formidable obstacle.

The railroad was never formally incorporated. Instead, it became part of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway in 1868. Under the leadership of Williams Carter Wickham and Collis P. Huntington, it opened to through traffic in 1873.

In the early 21st century, the tracks form a vital portion of the rail network for CSX Transportation as part of a pathway from the bituminous coal mines of West Virginia to the coal piers at Newport News, Virginia.

Beginning in the 18th century, for purposes of shipping goods and passenger transportation, Virginians had long sought a canal or railroad link between the navigable rivers which drain to the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean at the fall line and the Ohio River, which lead to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. As a surveyor, George Washington had mapped out several potential routes, and in 1785, he been an early investor in a canal venture. The James River and Kanawha Canal was the last final effort to do so by canal, and was partially completed. However, after 1830, emerging railroad technology made it increasingly clear that it offered a better solution to providing the desired link.