Richmond and Danville Railroad

Richmond and Danville Railroad

1882 map of the Richmond and Danville Railroad and connections
Locale	Virginia Leased lines in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia
Dates of operation	1847–1894
Successor	Southern Railway
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Previous gauge	5 ft (1,524 mm) American Civil War era 4 ft 9 in (1,448 mm)
Headquarters	Richmond, Virginia

The Richmond and Danville Railroad (R&D) Company was a railroad that operated independently from 1847 until 1894, first in the U.S. state of Virginia and later on 3,300 miles (5,300 km) of track in nine states.

Chartered on March 9, 1847, the railroad completed its 140-mile (230 km) line between Richmond and Danville in 1856. During the American Civil War, the railroad was a vital link between Richmond, the Confederate capital, and the rest of the Confederacy. After the Civil War, the railroad grew to become the 3,300-mile Richmond and Danville Railroad Company System.

Placed in receivership in 1892, the Richmond and Danville Railroad Company was sold in 1894 and conveyed into the new Southern Railway Company in 1896 and 1897.

The new Richmond and Danville Railroad was championed by Whitmell P. Tunstall, a lawyer in Chatham, Virginia who was also a member of the Virginia General Assembly. In 1847, the state of Virginia took a 60% interest in the capital stock of the company, which it would hold until 1871.

Construction on the 144.7-mile (232.9 km) line began in 1849 under the supervision of Col. Andrew Talcott, who was later to become the Richmond and Danville's general manager. By 1850, the new railroad had reached Coalfield Station, near the coal mines in an area known today as Midlothian in western Chesterfield County. There, it competed with the mule-powered Chesterfield Railroad. Lawsuits followed, but the older railroad, the first in Virginia, was quickly supplanted by the competition.

By the end of 1851, the new line had reached Jetersville in Amelia County. Two years later, it was completed to a point near Drakes Branch, and had been graded to South Boston in Halifax County.