The Tidewater Railway System was built in 1904 as an intrastate highway by William Nelson Page and Henry Huttleson Rogers in order to connect the Hampton Roads area with the coal mining regions and railroads of West Virginia. In 1907, Tidewater Railway was renamed the Virginia Railway Company. Known for its success and use of modern technologies, the Virginia Railway company became known as the "Richest Little Railroad in the World." Eventually, the Virginia Railway Company merged with the Norfolk and Western Railway in 1959. Today, the lines of the Virginia Railway Company operate under Norfolk and Western's successor, Norfolk and Southern.
From the guide to the Tidewater/Virginia Railway Company Records, 1905-1906, (Special Collections, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va.)
