Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, November 25, 1994 TAG: 9411300020
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-14 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: THOMAS C. FISHER JR.
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Valley Railroad was conceived following the conclusion of the Civil War. It was to operate from Lexington south to a connection with the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad at Salem. Construction also was under way north to Harrisonburg, with connections to Winchester and on to Baltimore. Gen. Robert E. Lee reluctantly was persuaded to become the company's president in 1869, for the section to be constructed from Lexington to Salem. He felt that area had not the resources to complete the venture. But funds were subscribed with construction under way in those counties where the money was pledged. Isolated stone structures were built, and cuts and fills made between Lexington and Salem with long distances between where no construction was undertaken. This is the pattern for the old right of way in the Roanoke Valley.
Beginning on a hillside above the Hollins stockyards, the road bed can be followed west through the settlement of old fields, where it's now the main street, and terminates at the boundary of Hollins College. Just beyond Carvins Creek is evidence of a fill and cut. Then no evidence of the right of way for three miles, while it's crossed twice by Peters Creek Road. At the intersection of Cove Road and Peters Creek Road is a large stone arch presently visible from Peters Creek. On the other side of the hill is the beginning of a cut through the hill, and then at the foot of the hill stone abutments on both banks of Peters Creek. The right of way then follows Embassy Drive, crosses Virginia 419, and is revived on a long fill that terminates at Masons Creek.
Close by the WSLC radio towers is a long fill beginning at the end of Doyle Street, which includes a stone culvert of 100-plus feet in length and a second handsome stone arch, across a branch of Masons Creek. It is similar to the one at Peters Creek, but larger and in better state of preservation. Just beyond the arch, the right of way ends against a large bluff. Remains of a fill also can be discerned on each side of Virginia 311 at Cleveland Avenue.
It's possible the path of the Valley Railroad would be of interest to railroad buffs and local high-school students for the study of local history and geography. But it would hardly be of interest to hikers because of its disjointed construction and a trail that crosses heavy traffic so frequently and otherwise puts hikers in people's back yards.
I feel the energies of those people proposing this rails-to-trails effort could be better spent directed to the legal and physical preservation of the two large stone arches on Peters Creek Road and at the WSLC radio towers. These arches were completed about 1869.
A half-dozen arches of similar construction may be seen along the Old Plank Road south of Lexington, and there's a lone arch on private property just north of Arcadia.
In the spring of 1869, Gen. Lee made a visit to a group of Baltimore merchants in an effort to seek their help in the construction of the Valley Railroad. He failed. But on his return to Lexington, he stopped by the White House where he visited the new president, Gen. Ulysses Grant, and had a private conversation for 30 minutes. Lee passed away the next year, as did the Valley Railroad.
Thomas C. Fisher Jr. of Roanoke is a former Roanoke County School Board member.
by CNB