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A Guide to the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad Company Records, 1837–1983

Collection Number Mss3 R4152 b FA2
A Collection in the Virginia Historical Society

Contact Information:
Virginia Historical Society
P.O. Box 7311
Richmond, Virginia 23221-0311
USA
Phone: (804) 342-9677
Fax: (804) 355-2399
Email: reference@vahistorical.org
URL: http://www.vahistorical.org

Processed by: Virginia Historical Society Staff
© 2010 By Virginia Historical Society. All rights reserved.

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Preferred Citation
Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad Company Records, 1837–1983 (Mss3 R4152 b FA2), Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, Va.

Provenance
Gift of CSX Corporation, Richmond, Va., through the courtesy of Richard D. Robinson, in 1993.

Descriptive Summary       [back to top of page]

Repository: Virginia Historical Society.

Collection number: Mss3 R4152 b FA2

Collection name: Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad Company Records, 1837–1983.

Size: 9,000 (ca.) items.

Language: English

Abstract: Correspondence, financial and legal materials, diagrams and equipment registers, track maps, historical materials, etc., of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, documenting daily affairs of the company's different divisions, including administrative, financial, personnel, and operations. Also includes materials of related organizations and companies, many of whom were owned or operated by the RF&P.

Scope and Content Information       [back to top of page]

The Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad was chartered in 1834. Among the provisions of the charter was one granting the company a virtual monopoly to build and operate track between Richmond and the nation's capital. Major stockholders included members of the Robinson family of Richmond and Philadelphia and other wealthy Pennsylvanians, as well as the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Construction along the route began immediately. By February 1836 the first train service was offered, departing Richmond and traveling over 20 miles to the South Anna River. The road was extended to Fredericksburg by 1837, and continued its steady northward progression. At the end of constructed rail, passengers were transferred to stagecoaches and transported to a landing first on Potomac Creek and later on Aquia Creek, where steamboats would provide the connection to Washington. With the completion of the line to Aquia Creek in 1842, the stagecoach connection was discontinued. Early on, the RF&P acquired stock in the Washington & Fredericksburg Steamboat Company, later named the Potomac Steamboat Company, in order to ensure the vital and profitable link to Washington.

The RF&P played an active part in the Civil War, with lines and equipment north of Fredericksburg falling into Union Army hands, and lines south of Fredericksburg serving the Confederacy. At the end of the hostilities, the company was faced with massive debts and extensive losses of track and equipment. However, due largely to the support of its northern investors, repairs were quickly undertaken and the company was soon again operational. The last quarter of the nineteenth century and dawn of the twentieth saw a series of mergers and agreements with other railroad lines, the replacement of aging road with double tracking, the construction of passenger and freight stations at Richmond and Washington, and the discontinuance of the steamboat link as a bridge line was erected over the Potomac. While other small lines were consolidated into systems such as the Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line, the RF&P retained its individuality, and its control over 113 miles of track linking Washington and Richmond. With the decrease of passenger demand following World War II and the growth of interstate trucking drawing off freight traffic, the RF&P began to diversify, eventually metamorphasizing into a real estate investment concern. Passenger service came under the control of Amtrack in 1971.

In 1980 the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad merged with the Seaboard Coast Line (the offspring of the merger of the Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Air Line railroads) to form CSX. With this merger, CSX acquired control of 80 percent of the RF&P's common stock. In 1991, CSX and the RF&P merged, and the RF&P's railroading days ended after 156 years of service and tradition.

For further information on the history of the RF&P, researchers may want to consult William E. Griffin's One Hundred and Fifty Years of History Along the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad (Richmond, Va., 1984) and Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad: The Capital Cities Route (Lynchburg, Va., 1994), and John B. Mordecai's A Brief History of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad (Norfolk, Va., 1940).

Organization       [back to top of page]

Previous materials received from the CSX Company were in roughly chronological order, but these materials, dating chiefly from the last quarter of the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries, arrived in no apparent order. Every effort has been made to separate the materials by office of origin, where known, or to group them by function/subject, and to arrange materials within these subdivisions in a logical manner. Researchers are asked to please read the inventory in its entirely and to request materials by folder number.

This collection of papers of the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad Company are arranged into fifteen series and further subdivided by material type where necessary.

Section One: Board of Directors, 1869–1958
Section Two: President's Office, 1861–1952
Section Three: Assistant to the President/Vice President's Office, 1919–1929
Section Four: Treasurer's Office, 1881–1966
Section Five: Secretary's Office, 1887–1949
Section Six: General Counsel's Office, 1857–1947
Section Seven: Auditor's Office, 1870–1940s
Section Eight: Traffic Department, 1939–1971
Section Nine: General Manager/General Superintendent's Office, 1866–1973
Section Ten: Board of Presidents, 1867–1901
Section Eleven: Stockholders, 1878–1979
Section Twelve: Equipment/Construction Materials, 1911–1969
Section Thirteen: Historical Information, 1865–1983
Section Fourteen: Affiliated Organizations, 1837–1964
Section Fifteen: Non Affiliated Organizations and Miscellaneous, 1883–1948

Biographical/Historical Information       [back to top of page]

Chartered in 1834 to provide rail service between Richmond, Va., and Washington, D.C. The Commonwealth of Virginia was a major stockholder from the company's founding. Prospered during the ante-bellum period but suffered serious losses during the Civil War. Northern investment allowed a quick recovery during Reconstruction. Fiercely maintained its independence and control of the vital Richmond-Washington link, despite numerous challengers from and mergers of other railroads in the region. Began to diversify holdings in the second quarter of the twentieth century, divesting itself of its passenger service (to Amtrak, in 1971) and its freight service (to CSX, in 1991) to become a real estate holding and investment company.

Index Terms       [back to top of page]

Acca Yard (Richmond, Va.)
Alexandria and Fredericksburg Railroad.
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company.
Byrd Street Station (Richmond, Va.)
Call, Norman, 1880–1959.
Connection Railroad.
Daniel, Peter Vivian, 1818–1889.
Duke, William Dabney, 1873–1951.
Eskew, Garnet Laidlaw, b. 1894.
Freight handling facilities.
Jackson Shrine (Guinea, Va.)
Leake, William Josiah, 1843–1908.
Mordecai, John B. (John Brooke), 1878–1963.
Myers, Edmund Trewbridge Dana, 1830–1905.
Ould, Robert, 1820–1882.
Pennsylvania Railroad Company.
Pennsylvania Railroad.
Potomac, Fredericksburg and Piedmont Railroad.
Potomac Railroad Company.
Potomac Steam Boat Company (Fredericksburg, Va.)
Potomac Yard (Alexandria, Va.)
Prince, Richard E.
Railroad and state.
Railroad law.
Railroads -- Construction.
Railroads -- Employees.
Railroads -- Finance.
Railroads -- South Carolina -- History.
Railroads -- Virginia -- History.
Richmond (Va.) -- Social life and customs.
Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad -- History.
Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad -- Officials and employees.
Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac and Connection Company.
Richmond Terminal Company.
Richmond-Washington Line.
Shipment of goods -- History.
Steamboats -- Virginia -- History.
Transportation -- History.
Virginia. Militia. Richmond Light Infantry Blues.
Virginia-Carolina Railroad.
Washington and Fredericksburg Steamboat Company.
Washington Southern Railway Company.
Washington Terminal (Washington, D.C.)
Washington Terminal Company.
Washington-Southern Railway.
White, William Henry, 1847–1920.
Winston, James Blair, 1830–1907.

Guide

Section 1. The Board of Directors, 1869–1958 (ca. 1,000 items).       [back to top of page]

The charter of 1834 established the office of President and a Board of Directors, to be elected annually by the stockholders, to govern the affairs of the RF&P. Throughout the company's history, at least one director has served as a representative of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a major stockholder. The President and Directors met throughout the year to conduct company business, with a subgroup, the Executive Committee, handling business between meetings.

This section includes the correspondence and minutes from various periods during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Box 1

Section 2. The President's Office, 1861–1952 (ca. 70 items).       [back to top of page]

Subject to the control of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee, the President had general charge, control, and management of all the business and operations of the Company, and over all its officers, agents, and employees.

This section is composed primarily of letterbooks of RF&P President William H. White (1907–1920). Also included are letterbooks and loose correspondence of presidents Peter V. Daniel, Jr. (1860–1871), Edmund T. D. Myers (1889–1905), and William Josiah Leake (1905–1906).

Box 1, cont.

Box 2

Box 3

Box 4

Box 5

Section 3. The Assistant to the President/Vice President's Office, 1910–1929 (ca. 15 items).       [back to top of page]

William D. Duke served as the first Assistant to the President from 1906 until 1917, when he was replaced by Norman Call. In 1920 the position was renamed Vice President, and Call served under this title until he became president in 1932. At that time the position of Vice President ceased to exist. The position of Assistant to the President was re-established in 1950.

William Duke's correspondence, written on the combined letterhead of the RF&P and the Washington Southern Railway, consists of notices to agents of changes in rates and in the shipping and transport of special materials. Norman Call's loose correspondence, 1920, chiefly concerns the possibility of the RF&P's purchase of the Potomac, Fredericksburg, and Piedmont Railroad, a narrow-gage road running from Fredericksburg to Orange, Va.

Box 5, cont.

Section 4. The Treasurer's Office, 1881–1966 (ca. 750 items).       [back to top of page]

The Treasurer, with the assistance of the Accounting Department, oversaw all of the company's financial transactions, from billing to the payment of stock dividends. James B. Winston was Treasurer from 1862 until 1904, with only the later half of his tenure reflected here. William D. Duke replaced him in 1904, serving until 1910.

In this listing, the Treasurer's Office records also incorporate the records of the offices of Assistant Treasurer, Accounting, and the Paymaster, and include a variety of annual financial reports. Of particular interest is the Confederate debt statement by RF&P President Peter V. Daniel.

Box 6

Box 7

Box 8

Box 9

Box 10

Box 11

Box 12

Miscellaneous:

Box 13

Section 5. The Secretary's Office, 1887–1949 (ca. 25 items).       [back to top of page]

The Secretary's duties included sending notices of all meetings of the stockholders, the Board of Directors, the Executive Committee, and any special committees of the Board; attending and recording the actions of such meetings; and any other duties as assigned by the President.

The records in the section include accounts and correspondence concerning J. B. Winston's superintendency of the Potomac Steamboat Company, 1881–1887; and Norman Call's correspondence with Directors and others, as well as personal correspondence reflecting his membership in several civic organizations.

Box 13, cont.

Section 6. The General Counsel's Office, 1857–1947 (ca. 500 items).       [back to top of page]

The General Counsel served to advise the RF&P and to represent the road in legal matters, as well as to oversee adherence to government regulations. These records reflect the company's involvement in contracts, mergers, land transactions, etc.

Box 14

Section 7. The Auditor's Office, 1870–1940s (ca. 25 items).       [back to top of page]

Because the Commonwealth of Virginia was a major holder of RF&P stock, the Auditor's office was required to submit annual reports and other records to state officials.

Box 15

Section 8. The Traffic Department, 1939–1971 (ca. 100 items).       [back to top of page]

The Traffic Manager supervised the work of the Traffic Department. The Department was responsible for: the development of all traffic; the establishment and authorization of all rates of transportation; the promotion of and development of new industries along the line of the road; instructions to Station, General, Passenger and Commercial Freight agents, Conductors and Baggage Masters; and the printing and distribution of tickets and advertising materials relating to passenger traffic.

The materials in this section reflect the Department's efforts to insure the smooth transport of passengers along a safe and efficient route, including the establishment and maintenance of time tables, the oversight of switching and other signals, the avoidance of delays, and all other general traffic-related issues.

Box 15, cont.

Section 9. The General Manager/General Superintendent's Office, 1866–1973 (ca. 100 items).       [back to top of page]

This department oversaw maintenance, personnel, and general issues regarding the railroad. It includes not only the General Manager and the General Superintendent, but also the Chief Special Agent, regular agents, and special representatives of the railroad. E.T.D. Myers, a future president of the company, served as general Superintendent in the late 1800's. Employee record books begin in 1888 and continue into the 1940s.

Box 16

Box 17

Box 18

Box 19

Section 10. The Board of Presidents, 1867–1901(ca. 11 items).       [back to top of page]

This was an informal organization that included representatives of railroads between Weldon, N.C., and Washington, D.C., originally the Petersburg Railroad Company, the RF&P, and the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad Company, and later expanded to include other roads. The purpose of the board was to coordinate through traffic along the north-south corridor.

Box 20

Section 11. Stockholders, 1878–1979 (ca. 200 items).       [back to top of page]

Of particular interest is Robert Ould's address to the Stockholders, 1881, announcing his resignation because of continued conflict with the Pennsylvania Railroad concerning the provision of an all-rail link to Washington, D.C. The Philadelphia stockholders favored the continuance of the traditional rail-and-steamboat route. The threat of the loss of the lucrative U.S. Mail contract, as well as the clear preference of passengers for the all-rail route, forced the RF&P to abandon once and for all its relationship with the Potomac Steamboat Company.

Box 20, cont.

Section 12. Equipment/Construction, 1911–1969 (ca. 4,000 items)       [back to top of page]

This section of the collection reflects the constant improvements planned by the RF&P during its heyday in the early 1900's. Improvements were aimed at modernization through the introduction of new freight and passenger stations, new tracking, and new equipment. After World War II, due to the decrease in the demand for passenger service, freight service began to take priority.

Of particular interest in this section are the records relating to the construction and maintenance of Acca Yard in Richmond, Va., and to Potomac Yard, near Washington, D.C. The later served as the main connection between railroads north and south, providing freight storage, transfer, and equipment maintenance facilities for several major railroads. Also of interest are materials concerning the construction and outfitting of the RF&P company cars, known as "Business Cars," intended for the transportation of company officials and other dignitaries.

Box 20, cont.

Box 21

Section 13. Historical Information, 1865–1983 (ca. 1,000 items)       [back to top of page]

This section consists of various historical materials relating to the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad. Included are works written about the railroad, including an unpublished manuscript by Garnet L. Eskew and works by John B. Mordecai and Richard Prince; the reminiscences of former railroad employees; correspondence on the restoration and dedication of the Stonewall Jackson Shrine at Guinea, Va.; photographs of historic houses in Virginia and of the buildings of Mary Washington College, Fredericksburg; miscellaneous publications, chiefly 1920s, of railroad organizations; scrapbook and clippings; and miscellany.

Box 22

Box 23

Section 14. Affiliated Companies, 1857–1964 (ca. 1,000 items).       [back to top of page]

These companies were all at some time related to the RF&P.

The Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad and Richmond & Petersburg Railroad Connection Company (afterwards called Connection Railroad) was chartered in March 1866. Only one and one-fourth miles long, the line linked the two railroads in the city of Richmond, operating from 1867 until 1919.

The Crown Hill Coal Company, which operated a mine in the Kanawha coal district, was purchased in 1917 to safeguard an adequate supply of fuel for both the RF&P and the Washington Southern Railway. When it was found that coal could be economically obtained elsewhere, operation of the mine was discontinued. The property was sold in 1926.

The Potomac Railroad Company was incorporated in 1867 to build a connection from the RF&P near Fredericksburg to the City of Alexandria. The RF&P advanced the company $111,000 for the construction of the line.

The RF&P acquired stock in the Washington and Fredericksburg Steamboat Company (after 1855 known as the Potomac Steamboat Company) in 1845 and later acquired controlling interest in the line. The RF&P used steamboats to provide the final link with Washington until 1877, when it became apparent that the public preferred the quicker and more convenient all-rail service.

The RF&P Transportation Company was chartered in 1929 as a wholly owned subsidiary of the railroad to provide bus service over the Richmond-Washington Highway between Washington and points south of Alexandria to Richmond.

The Suburban Motor Coach Company was incorporated in 1928 to operate passenger buses between Richmond and Ashland, thus permitting the withdrawal of local steam trains. While this operation was not self-supporting the saving between its cost and the cost of the steam trains was considerable.

Richmond Terminal Railway Company was chartered in 1916 to construct and manage the passenger terminal at Broad Street. The station opened in 1919 and served as the city's main passenger depot until 1975. It now houses the Science Museum of Virginia.

The Richmond Terminal Athletic Association, while not officially connected to the RF&P, was made up of employees and was sponsored by employees and officers of the company. The Association formed a baseball team in 1919 and a basketball team in 1920 that played other college, company, and community teams throughout Virginia.

The Washington Terminal Company was established to oversee the construction and administration of Union Station. Stock was held by of all of the railroads using the station; day-to-day administration fell to the management of the RF&P.

The Washington Southern Railway, was, in connection with the RF&P, known as the "Richmond-Washington Line." Though two independent companies, after 1901 the operations of the Washington Southern were turned over to the officers of the RF&P, with each officer serving in a dual role.

Box 24

Box 25

Section 15. Miscellaneous Non-Affiliated Organizations, 1883–1948 (ca. 1,000 items).
      [back to top of page]

Materials relating to these companies and organizations were included in the gift from CSX, but are not directly related to the operations of the RF&P. Of particular interest are the records of the Richmond Light Infantry Blues.

Box 26

INDEX TO SECTIONS       [back to top of page]

Abingdon, Va., 13
Acca Terminal, Richmond, Va., 6
Acca Wye, Richmond, Va., 12
Acca Yard, Richmond, Va., 12
Accident reports, 9
Account books, 4
Accounting Department, 4
Alexandria & Fredericksburg Railroad, 6, 14
Alexandria Station, Alexandria, Va., 12
Annual reports, 4
Aquia Creek, Va., 12
Assistant to the President, 3
Assistant Treasurer, 4
Association of Railroad Executives, 13
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, 6, 15
Auditor, 7
Biddle, Thomas, 11
Boulton Shops, Richmond, Va.
Broad Street Station, Richmond, Va., 12
Business cars, 12
Byrd Street Station, Richmond, Va., 6
Call, Douglas, 6
Call, Norman, 3, 5
Caroline County, Va., Agent, 13
Charter, 6
Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, 12
Civil War, 13
Committee on Public Relations of the Eastern Railroads, 13
Confederate debt, 4
Connection Railroad, 6, 14
Construction, 12
Crown Hill Coal Company, 14
Daniel, Peter V., Jr., 2, 4
Delaware and Hudson Railroad, 15
Desegregation of trains, 6
Directors, Board of, 1
Duke, William D., 3, 4
Employee records, 9
Equipment, 12
Eskew, Garnet L., 13
Fredericksburg Station, Fredericksburg, Va., 12
General Counsel, 2, 6
General Manager, 9
General Superintendent, 9
Ginter Park Residents Association, 15
Guinea, Va., 13
Interlocking towers, 12
Interstate Commerce Commission, 6
Leake, William Josiah, 2
Lee (Ivy L.) Associates, New York, N.Y., 13
Life & Health Magazine, 13
Life of Virginia, 15
Locomotive diagrams, 12
Mary Washington College, Fredericksburg, Va., 13
Mayo, Robert, 6
McGarel, Charles, 6
Meade Memorial, Fredericksburg, Va., 13
Meteorological data, 9
Mordecai, Augustus, 12
Mordecai, John B., 13
Myers, Edmund T. D., 2, 9
National Association of Owners of Railroad Securities, 13
National Bank of Commerce in New York, 13
National Railway Historical Society, Old Dominion Chapter, 13
New York Tribune, 13
Ould, Robert, 11
Palmetto Railroad, 15
Paymaster, 4
Pennsylvania Railroad Company, 6, 11, 13
Petersburg Railroad Company, 10
Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad Company, 6
Pioneer of American Society, 13
Portsmouth and Roanoke Railroad, 15
Potomac, Fredericksburg and Piedmont Railroad, 3
Potomac Railroad Company, 14
Potomac Steamboat Company, 5, 11, 14
Potomac Yard, Washington, D.C., 6, 12
President, 1, 2
Presidents, Board of, 10
Prince, Richard, 13
Quantico Station, Quantico, Va., 12
Railroad passes, 8
Railway Age, 13
Railway Business Association, 13
Railway Review, 13
Reading Railroad, 15
Reveley, D. R., 6
Richmond and Petersburg Railroad Company, 10
Richmond Light Infantry Blues, 15
Richmond Terminal Athletic Association, 14
Richmond Terminal Railway, 14
Richmond-Washington Line, 6, 13, 14
Rives, William L., 6
Robinson, Moncure, 6. 11
Scrapbooks, 13
Seaboard Air Line Railroad, 15
Secretary, 5
Southern Railway, 15
State Corporation Commission, 6
Steamboats, 6, 14
Stevens Railroad Brake, 6
Stockholders, 11
Stonewall Jackson Shrine, Guinea, Va., 13
Suburban Motor Coach Company, 14
Surveyor's notebook, 12
Through lines, 10
Timetables, 8
Traffic Department, 8
Traffic Manager, 8
Treasurer, 4
Turner, John Mills, 13
Union Station, Washington, D.C., 12
Vice President, 3
Virginia-Carolina Railroad, 15
Washington and Fredericksburg Steamboat Company SEE Potomac Steamboat Company
Washington Southern Railway, 6, 12, 14
Washington Terminal, 6
Washington Terminal Company, 14
Western Union Telegraph Company, 13
Westhampton Park Railroad Company, 15
White, William H., 2
Winston, James B., 4, 5
Womble, John, 6
Woodford Station, Woodford, Va., 12
Woodmen of the World, 15

Related Resources:

• A Guide to the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad Company Records, 1833–1909 (Mss3 R4152 a)

• Crews, Edward R., Compiler. Records, 1988–1991, relating to the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad. 9 items (Mss1 C8673 a)

• Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad. Records, 1887–1954. 500 (ca.) items. (Mss3 R4152 c)

• Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad. Dispatchers’ record books, 1905–1981. 25 v. (Mss3 R4152 d)

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