Manassas Gap Railroad

Manassas Gap Railroad

Company type	Private
Industry	Railroad
Founded	1850
Founder	Edward Carrington Marshall (president)
Defunct	1867
Fate	Merged with Orange and Alexandria Railroad to form Orange, Alexandria and Manassas Railroad
Headquarters	Manassas Junction (now Manassas), Virginia , United States
Area served	Virginia, United States
Key people	Edward Carrington Marshall (president)
Products	Rail transport services

The Manassas Gap Railroad (MGRR) operated a route stretching from Mount Jackson, Virginia to the Manassas Junction of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, located in what is now the city of Manassas, Virginia. Established by the Virginia General Assembly in 1850, this narrow gauge railroad featured 90 miles of track—comprising 38 miles of 60 pounds-per-yard T-rail and 52 miles of 52 pounds-per-yard T-rail. Its fleet included nine locomotives and 232 railcars, servicing a total of 20 stations.

Throughout the American Civil War, the Confederate States Army made use of the railroad for transporting troops and conducting raids against the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.

Currently, some incomplete extensions of the railway remain abandoned within Fairfax County.

Founding and early history

Construction commenced in 1851 under the leadership of president Edward Carrington Marshall with financial support from the Virginia Board of Public Works. The project began westward from a junction with the Orange and Alexandria Railroad (O&A) at Tudor Hall in Prince William County, Virginia, then known as Manassas Junction. The line progressed toward Front Royal, Virginia, passing through the Manassas Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains to reach the Shenandoah Valley. By 1854, the railroad had extended to Strasburg, Virginia, and by 1859 it continued southward along the Shenandoah Valley to arrive at Mount Jackson, Virginia.

Initial plans aimed to establish a branch line through Loudoun County, Virginia connecting to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia and linking with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. However, these ambitions were thwarted by financial setbacks and interruptions caused by the Civil War. Additionally, efforts started in 1854 to build an "Independent Line" from Alexandria to Gainesville intended to circumvent the O&A; although grading was completed, construction was halted due to economic difficulties and wartime disruptions. This route was ultimately abandoned after a merger with O&A in 1867 rendered it unnecessary.

Stations on the Manassas Gap Railroad (MGRR)

Station	Distance
Manassas Junction
Gainesville, Virginia
Thoroughfare, Virginia
Broad Run, Virginia
The Plains, Virginia
Rectortown, Virginia
Piedmont, Virginia
Markham, Virginia
Linden, Virginia
Happy Creek, Virginia	? miles
Front Royal, Virginia
Riverton, Virginia	? miles
Buckton, Virginia
Waterlick, Virginia	? miles
Strasburg, Virginia
Toms Brook, Virginia
Woodstock, Virginia
Edinburg, Virginia American Civil War The commencement of the American Civil War brought construction to a standstill and inflicted considerable harm on the railroad infrastructure. 1861 During the Great Train Raid of 1861, the Manassas Gap Railroad was instrumental when Colonel Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson of the Virginia militia captured 67 locomotives and 386 railcars from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Much of this rolling stock was transferred onto Confederate lines. Jackson employed smaller engines compatible with the Winchester and Potomac Railroad tracks, moving them by horse-drawn wagons to link up with the Manassas Gap Railroad at Strasburg. In the summer of 1861, the Manassas Gap Railroad made history as the first railroad in the United States to transport troops directly to a significant battle. Brigadier General Stonewall Jackson’s brigade marched from Winchester, Virginia to Piedmont Station at Delaplane, Virginia, where they boarded trains headed for Manassas Junction to participate in the First Battle of Manassas. A Confederate hospital was set up at Mt. Jackson to treat wounded soldiers brought by rail from battlefields in Northern Virginia. This 500-bed medical facility was overseen by Dr. Andrew Russell Meem, with a Confederate cemetery situated across the railroad tracks nearby. 1862 At the start of 1862, much of the Baltimore & Ohio rolling stock and rails captured and stored in Winchester were distributed among various Confederate railroads, including the Centreville Military Railroad. By spring, Union forces had taken control of the western portions of both the Manassas Gap Railroad and the Winchester and Potomac Railroad, intending to incorporate these lines into Major General George B. McClellan's operational plan. His objective was to establish a rail connection between Winchester and Strasburg, thereby forming a strategic loop linking Washington, D.C., with the Shenandoah Valley through either B&O or O&A railroads. On May 23, 1862, Confederate cavalry led by Colonel Turner Ashby and Colonel Thomas T. Munford disrupted Union rail supply lines by tearing up tracks and destroying bridges toward Strasburg and Thoroughfare Gap, hindering Union logistics during the 1862 Valley Campaign. 1864 The Battle of Tom's Brook, fought on October 9, 1864, took place largely along the Manassas Gap Railroad corridor. As part of Sheridan's 1864 Valley Campaign, this cavalry clash decisively established Union dominance over Confederate cavalry forces in the Shenandoah Valley. Post Bellum Following the Civil War, control of the O&A passed to the B&O Railroad, which in 1867 acquired the Manassas Gap Railroad as well. These lines were consolidated into the Orange, Alexandria and Manassas Railroad. Restoration efforts and new track construction extended service up the Shenandoah Valley reaching Harrisonburg by 1868. Tudor Hall was renamed Manassas and formally incorporated in 1873. The B&O expanded its network from its east-west mainline at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, passing through Winchester and Strasburg southward beyond Harrisonburg toward Lexington. However, financial difficulties prevented completion of plans to extend to Salem, where connection with the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad (V&T)—part of William Mahone's Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad (AM&O)—was intended by 1870. The AM&O covered approximately across southern Virginia from Norfolk to Bristol. In 1881, B&O’s ambitions for southern expansion ceased when the expanding Richmond and Danville Railroad acquired the Virginia Midland Railroad—the successor entity to O&A and Manassas Gap Railroads formerly under B&O control. That same year, Philadelphia investors purchased the AM&O (which had been in receivership since the mid-1870s) along with its competitor, the Shenandoah Valley Railroad. This acquisition completed the long-sought rail connection near Salem. The junction fostered growth in Roanoke, Virginia (once known as Big Lick), which was developed by the newly formed Norfolk and Western Railway into a major railroad hub northeast of Salem. Modern era By 1896, the majority of the original Manassas Gap Railroad had been integrated into the Southern Railway network, which later became part of the Norfolk Southern Railway following a merger in 1982. Interstate 66 closely follows the railroad’s original alignment between its crossing at Sudley Road (Virginia State Route 234 Business) northwest of Manassas and its endpoint at Interstate 81 near Front Royal, intersecting the rail line twice. Additionally, the railroad runs alongside Virginia State Route 55, with multiple crossings along its course. Both the rail line and these highways pass through the Bull Run Mountains via Thoroughfare Gap, close to historical landmarks such as Beverley Mill and Broad Run. The segment from Strasburg to Manassas remains operational as a freight corridor under Norfolk Southern's designation as the B-Line, experiencing significant traffic volumes between Front Royal and Manassas. Since Norfolk Southern’s acquisition of the Lurgan Branch from Conrail in 1999, the B-Line east of Front Royal has functioned as a crucial bypass for Washington District traffic, allowing trains to avoid Washington, D.C. This line primarily handles intermodal and manifest freight services, with coal unit trains increasing in frequency beginning in late 2018. The original spur extending south from Strasburg to Mt. Jackson is currently inactive; the final northbound service from Woodstock occurred in 2007, while southbound operations from Mt. Jackson ceased in 2014. Due to a decline in industrial demand, Norfolk Southern discontinued maintenance on the roughly 38.5-mile stretch between Strasburg and Broadway in 2016. This portion has since become overgrown and is awaiting official abandonment procedures. A coalition known as the Shenandoah Rail Trail Partnership—composed of public agencies, private entities, and nonprofit groups—is working to transform this corridor into a multi-use trail. In September 2023, Virginia’s revised state budget designated up to $35 million for acquiring approximately 50 miles of right-of-way and bridges from Norfolk Southern to advance the Shenandoah Rail Trail initiative. References Black, Robert C. The Railroads of the Confederacy. The University of North Carolina Press, 1952. Johnston II, Angus James, Virginia Railroads in the Civil War, University of North Carolina Press for the Virginia Historical Society, 1961. Shriver, Ernest, Stealing Railroad Engines, from Tales from McClure's War: Being True Stories of Camp and Battlefield, Doubleday & McClure Co., 1898. External links Virginia Railroad Cities The Unfinished Manassas Gap Railroad Piedmont Railroad history