Building The Virginian Railway - A Coup at Sewell's Point

A Coup At Sewell's Point

Perhaps most notable of all of the communities which helped make the new railroad possible was the City of Norfolk, Virginia. Access to Hampton Roads frontage and space to build a new coal pier was crucial to the whole scheme. There just wasn't enough suitable waterfront land available anywhere nearby, and none at all to which access could be assured without permission of the big railroads. Norfolk & Western's coal pier and huge storage yards were at Lambert's Point on the Elizabeth River near downtown Norfolk. Other big railroads, Seaboard Air Line, Atlantic Coast Line, and a Pennsylvania Railroad subsidiary, had established facilities nearby as well.

It was very important that none of the big railroads learn of the plans. Most of all, it was important that neither the C&O, with its coal pier located across the harbor at Newport News nor the N&W find out, or surely they would attempt to interfere with creation of a new coal pier.

Fortunately, about this same time, Norfolk's civic leaders were also working on a site for the upcoming Jamestown Exposition, to be held in 1907 to celebrate the tercentennial of the founding of Jamestown a few miles up the James River back in 1607 (300 years earlier). A solution to both the Tidewater Railway coal pier site and Jamestown Exposition problems was found at an unlikely location: isolated and somewhat desolate Sewell's Point in a rural area on the south bank of the Elizabeth River near the mouth of Hampton Roads.

To reach Sewell's Point from Suffolk, the Tidewater Railway was plotted to run about 15 miles (24 km) to the east, staying well south of the downtown Portsmouth and Norfolk harbor areas (and the other railroads). After reaching South Norfolk, the new railroad would begin a wide 180' counter-clockwise loop to the north. The new coal trains would actually heading due west when reaching Hampton Roads.

To enable the necessary routing, the City of Norfolk's civic leaders provided a 13-mile (21 km) long right-of-way around their city through rural Norfolk County. Page-Rogers' interests purchased 1000 feet (300 m) of the waterfront and 500 acres (200 ha) of adjoining land. There would be plenty of space for the new coal pier, storage yards, tracks, and support facilities at Sewell's Point. And, best of all, the land and route were each secured without alerting the big railroads.