Early History
The A&D was built in the 1880s between Danville and Claremont, Virginia on the James River. The railroad expected Claremont to become a major river port. When the expected volume of shipping at Claremont did not materialize, the A&D added a branch from near Emporia, Virginia to Portsmouth. The Danville-Emporia-Portsmouth route quickly became more important than the original line to Claremont.
In 1899 Southern Railway obtained a long-term lease of the A&D in order to gain access to Hampton Roads. The line to Claremont was abandoned in the 1930s. After World War II, Southern determined that it could less expensively serve Hampton Roads by negotiating a trackage rights agreement with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad via Selma, North Carolina and Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
Read more about this topic: Norfolk, Franklin And Danville Railway
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