Potomac Fredericksburg & Piedmont Railroad (Orange to Unionville, VA)

 railway, abandoned / shut down, historical layer / disappeared object

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Section of the abandoned right-of way of the Potomac, Fredericksburg & Piedmont Railroad (later the Virginia Central Railroad) from crossing of US-522 in Unionville, VA 22567 (just north of the intersection with Virginia Highway 20) westward to Orange, VA. The railroad operated 38 miles of 3-foot gauge railroad between Fredericksburg (with a connection to the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad) and Orange (with a connection to the Orange & Alexandria railroad). The railroad was original begun as the Fredericksburg & Gordonsville (standard gauge), graded during the Civil War, and built after the Civil War from Fredericksburg to Parker. The line lasted a few years but was sold in foreclosure to the Fredericksburg Orange & Charlottesville, which in turn failed in 1874. The existing line was then converted to narrow gauge (3 feet) and extended from Parker to Orange in 1878, and renamed the Potomac Fredericksburg & Piedmont (PF&P). The PF&P ran until after World War I, when it was sold in foreclosure in 1925 and then became the Orange & Frederick Railroad. In 1926 the line was standard gauged and named the Virginia Central Railroad, unrelated to an earlier line that was also called the Virginia Central. It had planned to head east from Fredericksburg in 1930, but the line was never built. The main stem of the Virginia Central was abandoned in 1938, except for short segments at either end in Fredericksburg and Orange. The Fredericksburg stub lasted until 1973; the Orange stub (serving a building materials company) probably lasted into the 1980s. The line roughly parallels Virginia Highway 20 from Orange to Verdiersville. In the Rhoadsville area, it appears the right of way ran across what are now the front yards of homes. East of Verdiersville, the right of way parallels route 621 as far as Parker. Continuing further east the right of way cuts through the Fredericksburg-Spotsylvania National Military Park, and then joined the RF&P on the south side of Fredericksburg. Portions of this outline are approximate, especially in the areas of the Orange County Airport and in the town of Unionville, VA, where the right-of-way has been obliterated by development.

See following links:

www.abandonedrails.com/Orange_to_Fredericksburg

memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/map_item.pl