Danville & Western

Company History: The D&W was the result of the 1891 reorganization of the Danville & New River Railroad, a 3’ gauge line which also leased the Danville Mocksville & Southwestern Railroad. The D&W ran west from Danville, Virginia to Martinsville and Stuart, a distance of 75 miles. The predecessor was backed by the Richmond & Danville in an effort to keep the B&O out of southern Virginia and the Carolinas and during the 1891 reorganization, R&D backed D&W bonds. In 1894, parent R&D consolidated their many holdings into the Southern Railway System and control of the D&W passed to them (the D&W was one of a handful of narrow gauge lines under the Southern umbrella.) In 1899, the Danville Mocksville & Southwestern was merged into the D&W. The conversion to standard gauge took place in stages between 1900 and 1903. The line from Martinsville to Stuart was pulled up in 1942 but the rest continued to operate under the D&W name into the early diesel years. Ultimately, D&W transitioned to the status of paper railroad, then was absorbed into Southern Railway. The remaining segment is now a busy branch of Norfolk Southern.

Successor/Parent History: The Southern Railway (reporting mark SOU) (also known as Southern Railway Company) was a US class 1 railroad that was based in the Southern United States. It was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined beginning in the 1830s, formally becoming the Southern Railway in 1894.

At the end of 1970 Southern operated 6,026 miles (9,698 km) of railroad, not including its Class I subsidiaries AGS (528 miles or 850 km) CofG (1729 miles) S&A (167 miles) CNOTP (415 miles) GS&F (454 miles) and twelve Class II subsidiaries. That year Southern itself reported 26111 million net ton-miles of revenue freight and 110 million passenger-miles; AGS reported 3854 and 11, CofG 3595 and 17, S&A 140 and 0, CNO&TP 4906 and 0.3, and GS&F 1431 and 0.3

The railroad joined forces with the Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W) in 1982 to form the Norfolk Southern Corporation. The Norfolk Southern Corporation was created in response to the creation of the CSX Corporation (its rail system was later transformed to CSX Transportation in 1986). The Southern Railway was renamed Norfolk Southern Railway in 1990 and continued under that name ever since. Seven years later in 1997 the railroad absorbed the Norfolk and Western Railway, ending the Norfolk and Western's existence as an independent railroad.

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.