South Atlantic & Ohio Railway

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South Atlantic & Ohio Railway

The South Atlantic and Ohio (SA&O) Railroad, an important predecessor to the Southern Railway, was formally established in 1882. It was formed from the reorganization and renaming of the Bristol Coal and Iron Narrow Gauge Railroad, which had been charted in 1876 but failed to complete any construction. Based in Bristol, Virginia, the SA&O was built to access the rich coalfields of Big Stone Gap and beyond, a task originally intended for its predecessor.

Construction efforts under the SA&O name progressed, with the line reaching Gate City by 1887 and Big Stone Gap by 1890. This expansion was notable for traversing the rugged mountain terrain and passing through the geological wonder known as Natural Tunnel. However, financial problems plagued the company, and it went into receivership in 1892. The railroad’s property was foreclosed and sold to bondholders in 1898.

Virginia & Southwestern, George L. Carter

The SA&O was acquired by a syndicate in 1899 and then incorporated as the Virginia and Southwestern Railway. The V&SW, led by George L. Carter, continued to expand the network. He also acquired the Bristol, Elizabethton, and North Carolina Railroad, extending it to Mountain City, As Carter began to make plans for his new venture which eventually became the Clinchfield Railroad, he sold the Virginia & Southwestern to the Southern Railway in 1906. A segment of the original SA&O line from Bristol to Mendota is now preserved as the Mendota Trail, a popular rails-to-trails project.

SA&O Stats

  • Founded: 1882 
  • Operated: 1886 – 1899
  • Abbreviation: SA&O
  • Predecessor: Virginia & Kentucky Railroad, Bristol Coal & Iron Narrow Gauge Railroad
  • Initial Route: Bristol/Abingdon VA to Big Stone Gap to Cumberland Gap VA
  • Final Length: 70 Miles to Appalachia VA
  • Noteworthy: ‘The Natural Tunnel Route’
  • Headquarters: Bristol
  • Cities: Bristol, Hiltons, Mendota, Gate City, Big Stone Gap, Appalachia VA
  • Key Individuals: John M. Bailey and Jonas Wilder
  • Successor: Virginia & Southwestern Railway, Southern Railway
  • Today: Norfolk Southern Railway. The segment from Bristol to Moccasin Gap was abandoned. The eastern segment from Bristol to Mendota is now the Mendota Trail (Rails-to-Trails).

Big Cut on the SA&O by Ron Flanary

Big Cut, VA, February 7, 1989: CSX westbound empty hopper train Extra 8247 West crests the grade on its trip from Erwin, TN to Loyall, KY. Most early railroad builders tried to follow established watershed drainages where possible. In this case, the train has reached the top of the watershed for Little Moccasin Creek, a tributary of the North Fork of the Holston River. It now tips over the divide into the drainage of Troublesome Creek, a tributary of the Clinch River. The route will remain in various tributaries of the Clinch until Oreton, where it will go into the Powell River watershed. All are larger tributaries of the Tennessee River.

South Atlantic & Ohio Railway

“Big Cut” was excavated mostly by hand before the Civil War by the Virginia & Kentucky Railroad, a line that was projected from Abingdon, VA to Cumberland Gap. Except for some grading, cuts and fills in various places, it was never built. It was going to be used by the Charleston, Cincinnati & Chicago (the “Triple C”), but eventually was chosen by the erstwhile Bristol Coal & Iron Narrow Gauge Railroad. Alas, those weren’t completed either, but eventually the South Atlantic & Ohio (later Virginia & Southwestern, Southern Railway and finally NS) used the cut.

Successor to the unfinished “Triple C” was the Ohio River & Charleston, South & Western, Carolina, Clinchfield & Ohio, Clinchfield, which took a totally different a much superior route on the south side of Clinch Mountain (upper right in the photo) to Speers Ferry and then north along the Clinch River.

The grades on both sides of Big Cut are about 1.8 percent. The east approach is free of extreme curvature, but the west side is known as the “Goose Neck.” The winding, sharp reverse curves were necessary to keep the grade (against eastbound loaded coal trains) to 1.8 percent.

There’s always far more to a railroad than just the trains.

Photo and Narrative by Ron Flanary

More Southern Railway information will be added to this page and others in the days ahead. Please let me know if you have any edits that should be made or any content you are willing to share by utilizing the comment form below. Would enjoy hearing from you if you have similar interests in the railroads, the region, or model railroading.

Southern-Railroads.org Sources and Resources

The following are excellent resources for those of you wanting to explore and learn more about the Southern Railway and its predecessors. These sources of information also serve as reference and historical materials for Southern-Railroads.org. Much of the content on the website is verified across multiple sources.

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Appalachian-Railroads.org | Clinchfield.org | Southern-Railroads.org