Virginia Air Line Railway
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Troy, Virginia |
| Reporting mark | VAL |
| Locale | Central Virginia |
| Dates of operation | 1908–1975 |
| Successor | abandoned |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Length | 29.8 miles (48.0 km) |
Virginia Air Line Railroad (VAL) was a short-line railroad that operated from 1908 to 1975 in Central Virginia. It was built by the Virginia Air Line Railway Company to connect the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway's (C&O) Piedmont Subdivision at Lindsay, Virginia, to the Rivanna Subdivision of C&O's James River Line at Strathmore Yard, near Bremo Bluff, Virginia.
The route was once an important link for providing coal to power the Washington, D.C. area. However, facing increased competition from other modes of transportation such as trucks and automobiles, service on the rail line was cut back and eventually abandoned after 67 years of declining use.