Industrial History: 1929,1982 NS/Southern Bridge over Great Ship Lock Canal in Richmond, VA and Train Derailment

Friday, January 28, 2022

1929,1982 NS/Southern Bridge over Great Ship Lock Canal in Richmond, VA and Train Derailment

Bridge: (Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; 3D Satellite)

"Built by Southern Railway 1929, gears removed and bridge welded into place 1982." [BridgeHunter] "The lift bridge...was built by the Norfolk and Southern Railroad in 1929 to serve the paper mills along the Pamunkey River at West Point." [hmdb]

3D Satellite, looking South

Royce and Bobette Haley 2017 Photo via Bridge Hunter

Stanley Short posted
We are in Richmond, VA on March 9, 1991, looking through the Norfolk Southern bascule bridge on their line to West Point. Running westbound on the former C&O James River Viaduct is eastbound CSX manifest R300 with two C40-8's. Confused? Q300 came eastbound into Fulton Yard on the former C&O. Once at Fulton, the power ran around the train and headed back west to Rivanna Junction and the former C&O Piedmont SD, and then ran a short distance to AM Junction where it headed north on the former Seaboard to South AY interlocking on the RF&P. There it turned south on the former ACL enroute to Portsmouth, it's final destination. Add to that, helpers are required between Fulton and South AY interlocking. This move is still performed several times a day with everything from manifests to unit coal and grain trains. Photo by Stan Short.
Randall Hampton shared
Nobody ever shows this area from this angle.
Vincent Corbo: Probably because of the now present no trespassing sign.

I discovered this bridge while researching the CSX/C&O James River Viaduct.

Dennis DeBruler

The preserved lock that is just 200' downstream from this bridge was built from 1850-54. [Great Shiplock Park]

Satellite

Jul 3, 2026:

Jon Burkett - WTVR CBS 6 posted

IT’S CORN - BIG, LUMPY KNOTS - raining from the train tracks in downtown Richmond. Three cars carrying grain derailed into the canal this afternoon. No injuries. The derailment happened near South 20th and Dock Streets.

Photo courtesy Carter Killorn

[Lots of comments about the fish being happy. A couple of comments about heat deforms the rails.]

Ted Gregory shared with the comment: "Once again, looks like the train came to stop and the Distributed Power Unit locomotives kept pushing??"

Gregor Hartung Sr: Most likely engineers fault when In fto and stopping and forgot to move the dpu to head end control.

Dave Blaze Rail Photography posted

The Bridges Of Richmond

CSXT loaded grain train G23318 from Avon, IN to Hamlet, NC with 88L/0E, 5170 ft and 11586 tons has just departed Fulton Yard as it rolls west on out onto the massive double track former Chesapeake and Ohio James River trestle. The more than two mile long span stretches from the west end of Fulton Yard along the north bank of the James River all the way through the heart of the city including forming the top level of the world famous triple crossing.

The train is on Main 1 of modern day CSXT's Penninsula Subdivision at about MP 84 as they cross over Norfolk Southern's Richmond District a former Southern Railway branch to West Point which traces its history to 1861 as the Richmond and York River Railroad. Destroyed during the Civil War it was rebuilt and subsequently connected to then leased outright to the Richmond and Danville Railroad in 1881 ultimately becoming part of the new Southern Railway when J.P. Morgan interests created it in 1894 from the bankrupt R&D and other far flung roads throughout the southeast.

The drawbridge in the foreground spans the Tidewater Connection Canal which allowed ships from the James River to pass through the Great Shiplock and and reach the tobacco industries along Dock Street. No longer needed after commercial navigation had long ceased the Southern welded the bridge permanently closed in 1982.

In the background is the famous Lucky Strike warehouse built by the American Tobacco Company in 1910. The iconic cigarettes were produced here until the factory was shuttered in 1981 and today the building has been repurposed as residential lofts.

Richmond, Virginia

Friday March 20, 2026

Randall Hampton shared with the comment: "Timely post, as CSX fans focus on this area as a result of the recent derailment. First time I ever visited this area, my first thought was, this would be a hell of a place to have a train wreck."

ABC 8News - WRIC posted
Three train cars have fallen into Richmond’s Kanawha Canal following a train derailment Friday afternoon, with two cars still unstable.
Read more here: https://www.wric.com/.../train-derailment-kanawha-canal.../ (has 16 photos. The train had 200 cars.)
[I think the Kanawha Canal is further upstream.]
Randall Hampton shared with the comment: "Former C&O elevated line along the James River."

J.B. Rail Photog posted three photos with the comment:

CSX G635 derailment in Richmond, VA, on July 3, 2026.
Photo Credits: James Lipscomb

Mark Carkhuff: Distributed power shoving while the head end is braking.

Brad Hughes posted 13 photos with the comment:

On Friday, July 3rd, at approximately 4:04 p.m., the Richmond Fire Department responded to a freight train derailment near the intersection of Dock and 20th Streets. Three cars from the approximately 200-car train have derailed into the canal, with two additional cars currently in an unstable position.
CSX personnel have arrived on site and are currently engaged in efforts to restore service to the affected area and stabilize the two remaining cars on the elevated tracks.
Rail traffic along this corridor, including Amtrak services, has been temporarily suspended.
CSX personnel have confirmed that the train was transporting corn, with the three submerged containers holding the equivalent of over eleven tractor-trailer loads of product. It is important to note that none of the three containers released any product into the canal. CSX has reported a separate derailment involving a car further up the line near the depot, as well as additional incidents behind the original site near Maymount Park. These containers remained on the tracks. CSX has engaged CraneMasters to facilitate the removal of the derailed cars. Specialized equipment is being sourced from Ashburn, Virginia, due to the substantial weight involved, as the locomotives alone exceed 500,000 pounds.
DEQ personnel were on-site, accompanied by Chief Segal of the Richmond Fire Department and representatives from the City of Richmond Emergency Management, Richmond Fire personnel, Metro Richmond Flying Squad, Richmond Police Department, and Richmond Ambulance Authority.
Representatives from CSX, headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, are presently traveling to the site of the incident. There have been no reported injuries to either civilians or CSX employees. No HAZMAT issues have been reported.
The cleanup effort has impacted several nearby streets:
Dock Street from 18th through 22nd Streets will remain closed throughout the night
The Capital Trail in the impacted area is closed until further notice.

[The "other incidents" were interesting.]