| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
| Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad | |
|---|---|
| C&O corporate logo | |
| Reporting marks | CO |
| Locale | Chicago, IL- Washington, DC |
| Years of operation | – 1972 |
| Track gauge | 4' 8.5" |
| Headquarters | Cleveland, Ohio |
The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) was a Class 1 railroad formed from many smaller railroads begun in the 19th century. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, in 1972, it became part of the Chessie System, which was the creation of Hays T. Watkins, Jr. , then president and chief executive officer of the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, along with the Baltimore and Ohio and Western Maryland Railroad . In 1980, the Chessie system combined with the Seaboard System Railroad to form CSX Transportation, one of seven Class 1 railroads operating in North America at the beginning of the 21st century.
The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway traces its origin to the Louisa Railroad of Louisa County, Virginia, begun in 1836Events January Book by Maria Monk claims that she was sexually exploited in a Canadian convent February 3 United States Whig Party holds its first convention in Albany, New York. February 23 The siege of the Alamo begins in San Antonio, Texas. February 24, and the James River & Kanawha Canal Company , also begun in Virginia in 1785Events January 1st The first issue of the Daily Universal Register later known as The Times is published in London. January 7 Frenchman Jean-Pierre Blanchard and American John Jeffries travel from Dover, England to Calais, France in a hydrogen gas balloon. The C&O of the 1950sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s Years: 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 Events and trends Technology United States tests the first fusion bomb. and 1960sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s Years: 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 Events and trends The 1960s was a turbulent decade of change around at its height before the first modern merger, was the product of about 150 smaller lines that had been incorporated into the system over time.
By 1850Events January 4 The first American ice-skating club is formed ( Philadelphia, Pennsylvania). January 29 Henry Clay introduces the Compromise of 1850 to the United States Congress February 28 University of Utah opens in Salt Lake City, Utah March 7 United the Louisa Railroad had been built east to RichmondRichmond is the capital of Virginia, a state (officially the Commonwealth of Virginia of the United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 197,790. Like all Virginia municipalities incorporated as cities it is an inde and west to Charlottesville, and in keeping with its new and larger vision, was renamed Virginia Central. The Commonwealth of Virginia, always keen to help with "internal improvements" not only owned a portion of Virginia Central stock, but incorporated and financed the Blue Ridge Railroad to accomplish the hard and expensive task of crossing the first mountain barrier to the west. Under the leadership of the great early civil engineer Claudius Crozet, the Blue Ridge RR built over the mountains, using four tunnels, including the 4,263-foot Blue Ridge Tunnel at the top of the pass, then one of the longest tunnels in the world.
While the Blue Ridge was being breached, Virginia Central was building westward from the west foot of the mountains, across the Great Valley of Virginia (The Shenandoah Valley), and the Shenandoah range (Great North Mountain), reaching a point known as Jackson's River Station, at the foot of the Alleghany Mountains (note that in Virginia Alleghany is spelled with an "a"), in 1856. This is the site that would be called Clifton Forge later.
To finish its line across the mountainous territory of the Alleghany Plateau (known in old Virginia as the "Transmountaine"), the Commonwealth again chartered a state-subsidized railroad called the Covington & Ohio . This company completed important grading work on the Alleghany grade and did considerable work on numerous tunnels over the mountains and in the west. It also did a good deal of roadway work around Charleston on the Kanawha River. Then the War Between the States intervened, and work was stopped on the westward expansion.