South Branch Valley Railroad

This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "South Branch Valley Railroad" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

South Branch Valley Railroad

SBVR #6240, an EMD GP9
Overview
Headquarters	Moorefield, West Virginia
Reporting mark	SBVR
Locale	West Virginia
Dates of operation	1978–
Predecessor	Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length	52.4 miles (84.3 km)
Route map Legend MP CSX Cumberland Subdivision Green Spring Passing Siding Millen Donaldson Green Spring Run Cumberland Rd. Springfield Blues Beach South Branch Potomac River Ridgedale Wapocomo Vance Romney Jct. Romney South Branch Potomac River Train shed spur Johnson Moorefield SBV RR shop Pilgrims Feed Mill Durgon Durgon Creek Petersburg Adelle Polymers RCS Transportation This diagram: view talk edit

The South Branch Valley Railroad (reporting mark SBVR) is a 52.4-mile-long (84.3 km) railroad in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The branch line, which parallels the South Branch Potomac River, runs north from Petersburg to Green Spring, where it connects to the national rail network at a junction with the CSX Cumberland Subdivision.

The SBVR is owned and operated by the West Virginia State Rail Authority (SRA), who purchased it from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad on October 11, 1978. The purchase made West Virginia the first state to both own and operate a commercial freight railroad. The SRA is headquartered along the SBVR in Moorefield.

Most of the SBVR—including its three bridges over the South Branch Potomac River—was destroyed by flooding in 1985. Despite talk of shutting down the railroad after the flood, reconstruction began two years later.

The SBVR is the host line for the Potomac Eagle Scenic Railroad, which is headquartered in Romney.