Howdy-
In doing some research on the PRR I came across some references to the PRR in Norfolk VA. I think I’ve seen stuff about PRR car-floats and that sort of thing, but thought that was like in NYC and north… If PRR was in Norfolk, what was the setup? How did they get there? Did they operate their own track / trains or depend on someone else (N&W perhaps) to get their cars there. Was there any more than a freight connection? Did Pennsy operate passenger service to/from Norfolk (or surrounding areas)?
Thanks
Yup. Ferry from Cape Charles VA to Norfolk. PRR had line down the DelMarVa penninsula.
The north end of the ferry line was in Cape Charles Maryland. the south end was in Pocomoke City. to the best of my knowledge it was freight only. It is now run by the Eastern Shore Railroad. The Car float was named the Captain Edward Richardson and called the ER by PRR crews. It was a steearable barge with a pilot house with crew quarters above the freight cars at midships. It has since been removed and is currently called the Nadua that is pulled by a tug. On several occasions it has sunk in shallow waters for a variety of reasons but it has been raised and patched and keeps on going. The south end in diesel days was switched with a Baldwin switcher. If you do a search on Google or Yahoo for “Captain Edward RIchardson” under images you can see several pictures of the barge.
During the 1940s passenger service was the K4 powered Delmarva Express.
Thanks everybody for good info! I’d love to hear more details too if anybody has any. Who did they interchange with / connections-to ? Assuming N&W, VGN, ACL … ? Others?
…Nothing on that run but we had a Pennsylvania RR line here that ran from Muncie to Gaston, In., and beyond years ago, I believe.
Trackage rights in from Anderson to get to it from the Pennsy line that passed thru Anderson.
Believe it was abandoned in the 70’s. Two {end to end}, steel thru truss bridges still span White River here from the old ROW.
They would have had direct connections with the N&W and the Norfolk and Portsmouth Belt Line Railroad.
The Southern Railway came close to acquiring this line in the mid 1970s to serve Delaware.
Wasn’t there an article in Trains just several months ago about the Eastern Shore R.R.
When I was at Ft. Eustis several times years ago, I went across the Bay Bridge Tunnel
to Cape Charles, Va. Always on the weekend, never got to see the ferry operations.
The railroad was chartered by PRR’s Alexander Cassatt in the 1890’s as the New York, Philadelphia, and Norfolk Railroad. The railroad had a carfloat operation between yards in Cape Charles, Virginia and Port Norfolk, across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk proper. The NYP&N was instrumental in setting up the Norfolk & Portsmouth Belt Line RR to facilitate interchange with the other railroads serving the area. The PRR eventually took over the NYP&N, and in the 1920’s built a new carfloat yard at Little Creek, Virginia that is still used today. The Little Creek Yard saved some 25 miles of carfloat travel. The PRR ran a line from there to interchange with the N&W at Coleman Place. This line was freight only, PRR had a passenger terminal at C&O’s Brooke Street Yard in downtown Norfolk. Passengers would travel via steamboat to Cape Charles to board the train there.
Today the PRR line from Pocomoke south to Cape Charles and the carfloat operation are run by the Bay Coast Railroad.
Just a note that the hand-off between GG-1 and K4 on the DelMarVa Express was at Wilmington, DL. P-70’s and one parlor, if I remember correctly.
Thanks! That’s really good information. Particularly about the C&O. What about the Virginian, did PRR interchange with that RR too?
Most likely, as they crossed Virginian’s tracks to reach The N&W line. The Bay Coast uses this interchange with Norfolk Southern, although the diamonds were recently removed.
The night train had a Pullman sleeping car from New York to Cape Charles. It connected to a PRR operated passenger steamer to Norfolk.
Sorry, it was Charles to Little River. Kipto was the pre-bridge/tunnel crossing for automotive traffic.
Princess Anne Kiptopeake to Little River?