South Branch Valley Railroad

South Branch Valley Railroad

SBVR #6240, an EMD GP9
Reporting mark	SBVR
Locale	West Virginia
Dates of operation	1978–
Predecessor	Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length	52.4 miles (84.3 km)
Headquarters	Moorefield, West Virginia

The South Branch Valley Railroad (reporting mark SBVR) consists of a 52.4 mile (84.33 km) length of railroad in the U.S. state of West Virginia extending north along the South Branch Potomac River from Petersburg to the CSXT mainline at Green Spring adjacent to the Potomac River. At Green Spring, the CSXT mainline connects the SBVR to Cumberland, Maryland to the west and Martinsburg, West Virginia to the east. SBVR has been owned and operated by the West Virginia State Rail Authority (SRA) since it was sold by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad on October 11, 1978. Upon purchasing the B&O's South Branch line, West Virginia became the first state in the United States to both own and operate a commercial freight railroad. In 1985, major flooding of the South Branch Valley destroyed most of the rail line, including all three bridges that crossed the South Branch Potomac River. Despite talk of shutting down the railroad after the flood, reconstruction began two years later.

The West Virginia State Rail Authority, owner and operator of the South Branch Valley Railroad, is headquartered in Moorefield. The SBVR is also the host line for the Potomac Eagle Scenic Railroad stationed in Romney.

While the mainline of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad had already been constructed through Hampshire County in the 1840s along the Potomac River, there existed no rail line linking with the South Branch Potomac River Valley. As early as 1875, a group of Kanawha County businessmen and entrepreneurs formed a company designated the West Virginia Railroad Company. The company's objective was to construct a railroad from the Kentucky border extending across the state to West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. The line's northern terminus was to be designated a location in close proximity to the South Branch along the Maryland border on the Potomac. Green Spring and South Branch Depot were considered as possible locations for the line's terminus. The company quickly obtained the authority to build its railroad across the state, especially because it would provide improved access to the Eastern Panhandle and Eastern Seaboard for southwestern West Virginia. The company, however, folded a few years later.