Virginia & Kentucky Railroad (V&K)

V&K Stats

Founded/Chartered: 1852
Construction: Limited grading and construction was done, but it appears there were no segments operated.
Length: Approximately 127 miles if it had been constructed/completed
Abbreviation: V&K
Initial Route: Abingdon/Bristol VA to Cumberland Gap KY. Abingdon was considered at first to be the starting point, but eventually Bristol was chosen.
Successors: Bristol Coal & Iron Narrow Gauge Railroad, South Atlantic & Ohio Railway, Virginia & Southwestern Railway, Southern Railway
Cities: Bristol VA, Moccasin Gap VA, Appalachia VA, Big Stone Gap
Today: Norfolk Southern Railway

Virginia & Kentucky History

Abingdon VA or Bristol VA to Cumberland Gap KY

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.

Virginia & Kentucky Railroad’s ‘Big Cut’ by Ron Flanary

Narrative and Photo by Ron Flanary

This cut just west of Dan’lboone, VA is known as “Big Cut.” It was dug out (mostly by hand) by construction crews of the Virginia & Kentucky Railroad before the Civil War.

The line was never built, but the cut was later planned for use by the Charleston, Cincinnati & Chicago (never built), the Bristol Coal and Iron Narrow Gauge Railroad (never built), and finally the South Atlantic & Ohio (built).

It later became the Virginia & Southwestern, then Southern Railway in 1916, and Norfolk Southern in 1982.

This is a CSX trackage rights train, westbound, on October 6, 1990. The east side of the cut ascends at 1.8 percent, and the west side descends at 1.7 percent. The short vertical curve was a graveyard of busted knuckles and pulled drawheads for many years–the bane of existence for many frustrated train crews, particularly engineers, and the brakemen who had to lug the knuckles and replace the broken one (particularly at 3 AM in January at 10 degrees above zero).

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.

Association: Southern Railway Historical Association
Personal maps, timetables, track charts, and memorabilia
Books – Flanary, Lindsey & Oroszi: The Southern Railway; Graybeal: The Railroads of Johnson City; Harshaw: ‘Trains Trestles & Tunnels, Railroads of the Southern Appalachians’; Lindsey: ‘Norfolk Southern 1995 Review’; Poole: ‘A History of Railroading in Western North Carolina’; Reisweber: ‘Southern Railway Power’; Scales: Natural Tunnel, Nature’s Marvel in Stone’; Stout: ‘Southern Railway: Through Passenger Service’; Ward: ‘Southern Railway Varnish 1964-1979’; Webb: ‘The Southern Railway System: An Illustrated History’; Wiley & Wallace: ‘The Southern Railway Handbook’; Withers & Sink: ‘Southern: A Motive Power Pictorial’; Wolfe: Southern Railway Appalachia Division
Magazines – ‘Trains‘ , ‘Classic Trains‘
Websites – Carolana.com – North Carolina Railroads, South Carolina Railroads; Hawkinsrails.net; Johnson’s Depot hosted by StateOfFranklin.net; Multimodalways.org: Norfolk Southern Track Charts; RailFanGuides.us for Johnson City; SteamLocomotive.com; TheDieselShop.us; VirginiaPlaces.org – Railroad History of Virginia

Contact Us

Would enjoy hearing from you if you have questions, suggestions, edits, or content that you are willing to share. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have similar interests in the Southern or Model Railroads.

3Cs Websites

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