Electric Train Generates Electricity for Ashland

Electric Train Generates Electricity for Ashland. . , New Yorker Frank Jay Gould planned to build an electric railroad to provide Virginia's Chesapeake Bay waterfront communities a more reliable way of shipping produce and seafood. While that plan did not succeed, his railroad became an alternate commuter route between Ashland and Richmond. It also brought electricity to Ashland in 1908., Competition and Market Volatility, Concerned about the competition, the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad fought the charter of the Richmond and Chesapeake Bay Railway Company (R&CB), but lost in court. Gould connected his existing railroads in Richmond to the new electric railway he built to Ashland. The week before his electric train opened in October 1907, a stock market panic caused Gould to cancel his plans to build two branches of the line from Ashland to Chesapeake Bay towns., Gould installed a motor-generator in the Ashland station. Tapping energy from the overhead wire, Virginia Light and Power Co. distributed electricity to Randolph-Macon College immediately. The Town waited until 1920 to switch over to electric street lights., Unable to make a profit without the freight business, Gould ended service in 1917. Local investors purchased the line in 1919 and converted to 600-volt direct current for streetcars or trolleys. The Richmond-Ashland Railway (RAR) also struggled to turn a profit and terminated service in 1938., (captions) , Gould envisioned the R&CB as a high-speed electric railway with railroad-type electric cars. He ordered four cars from the St. Louis Car Co. capable of going over 90 miles an hour., The Ashland station for the R&CB was located to your left on the corner of Maple Street and England Street. The 1908 drawing of the station floor plan (above) shows the freight room, Agent's office, and transformer room for generating electricity. Both the Ashland and the Richmond R&CB stations had segregated waiting rooms., R&CB (1907-1917) electric railcar leaves the Ashland station (below). When the RAR (1919-1938) ended streetcar service, the station was torn down and replaced with the building on your left. Built as a new post office for Ashland, it is now offices., Railway to Greenway, A half-mile of the original electric car line through Ashland and Hanover County was designated a Hanover County Greenway in 1994. With assistance from the National Park Service, four localities established the 14.8 mile trolley line as a trail with interpretive signage at the approximate stops along the line., The Fall Line Trail began in 2019 to connect sections of the Ashland Trolley Line Trail with other trails in the region. The multi-use trail stretches 43 miles from Carter Park (south on Maple Street) in Ashland through seven localities to Petersburg., (caption) Trolley Line Trail R&CBRy and RAR line from Ashland to Richmond , . 21 stops on the line from Ashland to Richmond , Fall Line Trail