Atlantic & Danville

Company History: The A&D was established in 1882 and took eight years to complete a line from Portsmouth and West Norfolk, Virginia 200 miles west to connection with a predecessor of the Southern in Danville, plus a couple of short branches. Along the way, they picked up a 50 mile 3’ gauge line from Emporia northeast to the James River port of Claremont.

In 1899, Southern Railway leased the A&D for 50 years, giving Southern their much sought route to Portsmouth and the Norfolk area. The narrow gauge line was abandoned in 1934. The lease expired in 1949 and Southern refused to renew it, instead obtaining trackage rights on the Atlantic Coast Line (which was in much better condition than the A&D) to reach their goals. Atlantic & Danville again became an independent railroad. Traffic was modest with a single train in each direction moving between Portsmouth and Danville per day. Seven or eight diesels were more than enough to keep the 200 mile line running. The company declared bankruptcy in 1960 and was auctioned off two years later to Norfolk & Western. N&W established the new Norfolk Franklin & Danville Railway to operate it.

Successor/Parent History: In 1962, Norfolk & Western bought the assets of the bankrupt Atlantic & Danville Railway at auction and established a new subsidiary, the Norfolk Franklin & Danville to run it. The 203 mile line ran between Portsmouth and Danville, Virginia. The merger of Norfolk & Western and Southern made the NF&D largely superfluous. The western end of the line was abandoned in 1983 and the rest was merged out of existence late that year.

Brief History: The U.S. is a country of 50 states covering a vast swath of North America, with Alaska in the northwest and Hawaii extending the nation’s presence into the Pacific Ocean. Major Atlantic Coast cities are New York, a global finance and culture center, and capital Washington, DC. Midwestern metropolis Chicago is known for influential architecture and on the west coast, Los Angeles' Hollywood is famed for filmmaking.