Richmond and Danville Railroad

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Richmond and Danville Railroad

1882 map of the Richmond and Danville Railroad and connections
Overview
Headquarters	Richmond, Virginia
Locale	Virginia Leased lines in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia
Founder	Whitmell P. Tunstall
Dates of operation	1847–1894
Predecessor	none
Successor	Southern Railway Norfolk Southern
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Previous gauge	5 ft (1,524 mm) American Civil War era 4 ft 9 in (1,448 mm)[1]

The Richmond and Danville Railroad (R&D) Company was a railroad that operated independently from 1847 until 1894, first in the U.S. state of Virginia, and later on 3,300 miles (5,300 km) of track in nine states.

Chartered on March 9, 1847, the railroad completed its 140-mile (230 km) line between Richmond and Danville in 1856.^[2] During the American Civil War, the railroad was a vital link between the Confederate capital of Richmond and the rest of the Confederacy.^[3] After the Civil War, the railroad grew to become the 3,300-mile (5,300 km) Richmond and Danville Railroad Company System.

Placed in receivership in 1892, the Richmond and Danville Railroad Company was sold in 1894 and conveyed into the new Southern Railway Company (later the Norfolk Southern Railway) in 1896 and 1897.