Visit to Staunton, Virginia

My wife discovered a quilt shop in Staunton, Va. I have never been there. Any good railfanning in the area ? Thanks

There is a station to watch from in downtown with a restaurant in it. Amtrak, CSX and Buckingham Branch run through. I do not know the amount of traffic. I know 2 Amtrak and when I was there I saw 1 CSX westbound at around 8AM. There are hotels with track views. There used to be a tourist line but that shut down. By the old station, there are old equipment such as cabooses. I happened to use this town as a rest point on one of my trips, so this is about all I know.

To which tourist line do you refer? I'm aware of October fall foliage runs being made for a couple of years over the track between Verona and Pleasant Valley, a point south of Harrisonburg on the Shenandoah Valley Railroad, but those were just specials and not the entire purpose of the railroad, which still operates.

RailVet wrote:To which tourist line do you refer? I'm aware of October fall foliage runs being made for a couple of years over the track between Verona and Pleasant Valley, a point south of Harrisonburg on the Shenandoah Valley Railroad, but those were just specials and not the entire purpose of the railroad, which still operates.

I think that was it. I just read about it once. They owned 2 steam engines and a few diesels.

Is this tourist line a short line ? If so does it still operate ? Does it go through the Staunton Station ?

kevikens wrote:Is this tourist line a short line ? If so does it still operate ? Does it go through the Staunton Station ?

To be honest I don't know. Your best bet for catching a train would be to get a schedule of Amtrak's Cardinal and waiting for that.

To answer everyone's questions and correct misconceptions:

1) The "tourist" line referred to is indeed the Shenandoah Valley Railroad. It is owned by John Smith, the owner of the more better known tourist line, Durbin and Green Valley Railroad in West Virginia. However, it is a mistake to refer to the Shenandoah Valley Railroad as a tourist line, when its primary function is to serve a few freight customers in the area it leases/serves, between Verona (the southern point)and Pleasant Valley (the northern point). It did run passenger excursions briefly, in the fall of 2004 (I believe) and definitely in the fall of 2005, when I took a ride on it at that time (behind their leased GP38, not one of their steamers) as one of the field activities of the 2005 Annual Convention of the B&O Railroad Historical Society, held in Staunton in October. Since that time, I haven't heard or seen anything since about excursions being offered, or what any excursion plans are/may be for the future.

2) The Shenandoah Valley Railroad runs north and south, on the ROW of the old Valley Railroad, part of the aborted effort by the Baltimore and Ohio to run south to Roanoke in the late 19th century. The Valley Railroad got as far as Lexington, but not further. After the US entry into WWII, the line from Staunton to Lexington was bought by the Chesapeake and Western RR from the B&O for a ridiculously cheap price, whereupon they then petitioned the ICC for abandonment and won. The C&W then tore up the rails for a wartime scrap drive, and made money off of the deal.

3) Today, the old Valley Railroad terminates at Staunton with a connection to the old C&O (now CSX), which runs east/west. When the Valley Railroad ran below Staunton to Lexington, it crossed the then-C&O under a small rail viaduct. No excursions run on the C&O/CSX tracks, since the portion that the Shenandoah Valley Railroad leases terminates at Verona, a few miles above Staunton. The station in Staunton is on the C&O/CSX line, and now functions as a restaurant. No Amtrak trains stop there any longer.

hutton_switch wrote:No Amtrak trains stop there any longer.

But Amtrak does stop there 3 times a day. Not at the main station itself but in the town near that station.

Where in Staunton is the Amtrak stop in relation to the Staunton Station, presumably the former C&O now CSX station, the one pictured on a curve with a pedestrian foot bridge over it when you google the station as images ? Or are there two stations in Staunton ? Tthanks again. I hate to be dense about this but I have never been in this area before.

The current station facility is the former telegraph tower from when the Staunton station functioned as a full passenger and freight railroad depot. While the platform still functions as the railroad platform for loading and unloading passengers, the former station buildings are now occupied by restaurants.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Staunton_(Amtrak_station)

My pictures below...


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The restauarant in the former passenger station is The Pullman and the Depot Grille occupies the former freight station.


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Sorry if I confused you, hutton_switch confused me. It is as themallard explained at the same place. It is a very nice area how they refurbished the station.

The Shenandoah Valley Railroad is the contract operator for the line. In the past it has also been operated by at least one other company. I think the line is actually owned by a joint organization of local government and business interests, and the steam locomotives and passenger cars are owned, I believe, by Jack Showalter. The steam locomotives and coaches belong to him, not the SVRR, which used diesels for the runs. October excursions were operated for two years but, despite the popularity, there have been no more runs and I know of no plans to do them again. Considering that it required the agreement of all parties involved (i.e., the owners of the track, the contract operator, and the owner of the coaches), we're lucky they ever took place at all.

Just reading some of the posts... back to the first query... have long do you plan on being in the area?

The rail traffic in the immediate area isn't really impressive, but you will be within 90 minutes of Cass, West Virginia, plus Roanoke and Lynchburg. You probably don't want to dump your wife at the quilt shop and disappear for 6-8 hours, but if you're driving all the way down there, you might plan for a slightly longer schedule, again depending on your wife's patience and understanding.

Rich

RichM wrote: plus Roanoke and Lynchburg.

If you could, go to Roanoke. It is 1-1:30 hours south of Staunton. Amazing NS action and history. The Roanaoke shops is a major service area for NS, the Transportation museum has a great collection of engines such as N&W 611 and 1218. The O. Winston Link Museum showcases his photography of the N&W. There is a hump yard and the old scrap yard where some old CW and N&W engines are. Tons of coal trains and tons of action.