……how fast a month has passed!
This month, Chester Railroads…….a quiz…..courtesy of the Chester Shopper Dec
2020……...
1. Downtown Chester was originally a stop along the Manchester-Petersburg
Turnpike and two railroads intersected there. a north/south line and an
east/west line…..can you name them?
2. What was the Brighthope Railway and what eventually happened to it?
3. What railroad, which ran through Chester, ended up in France?
4. What Chester area Civil War battle was fought to protect the railroad?
ANSWERS
1. The Richmond& Petersburg RR ran north/south. The Clover Hill RR ran
east/west.
The Richmond and Petersburg was merged in to the ACL in 1900. The Clover Hill
RR operated for 36 years, bringing the coal from the Clover hill Pits in
Winterpock to Cheater, where it was delivered to other locations.
2. The Brighthope RR was founded in 1877 by the creditors who bought the Clover
hill RR. It continued to carry coal and added passengers. In 1899 it went into
forclosure and was purchased by the Farmville & Powhatan RR, which had been
built in anticipation of a resort at Lithia Springs in Farmville. The idea for
the resort was eventually abandoned. Then, the railroad carried bottled mineral
water from the springs. The railroad ran from Farmville to Bermuda Hundred.t
3. The Farmville & Powhatn RR went bankrupt in 1905 and gave way to the newly
formed Tidewater & Western RR. This survived until 1917 when it closed due to
lack od business. The rails, ties and many of its cars where sold to the French
government for use during the war…..shipped to France from Bermuda Hundred.
4. The Battle of Chester Station was fought May 10, 1864 and was a failed
attempt of the Army of the James to cut the rail link between Confederate
forces. The results were inconclusive and the rail link remained unsevered.
Hope you enjoyed this……as I said, this was in the periodical Chester Shopper in
December 2020…….my nurse, who lives in Chester, saved it for me.
Peter
