| Chesterfield Railroad | |
|---|---|
 1837 map of the line | |
| Overview | |
| Status | Closed |
| Owner | Chesterfield Railroad Company |
| Locale | Chesterfield County, Virginia |
| Termini |
|
| Service | |
| Type | long mule-and-gravity powered |
| Operator(s) | Chesterfield Railroad Company |
| History | |
| Opened | July 1, 1831 |
| Closed | 1851 |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 13 mi (21 km) |
| Number of tracks | 1 |
The Chesterfield Railroad was located in Chesterfield County, Virginia. It was a 13-mile (21-kilometer) long mule-and-gravity powered line that connected the Midlothian coal mines with wharves that were located at the head of navigation on the James River just below the Fall Line at Manchester (on the south bank directly across from Richmond). It began operating in 1831 as Virginia's first common carrier railroad.[1]
Although it was dismantled before the American Civil War after being supplanted by the steam-powered Richmond and Danville Railroad, several portions of the embankments for the roadbed are extant in Chesterfield County near present-day Midlothian Turnpike.
- ^ "Railroad Historical Almanac 1820 - 1839" (PDF). Almanac. The National Railway Historical Society (NRHS). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 November 2006. Retrieved 27 September 2016.