This former Southern Railway line once connected Richmond with Danville to the southwest and West Point to the east. The Confederate government fled Richmond on this line when the capital was evacuated in April 1865. The present Richmond District runs from Burkeville to Richmond and West Point. The line west of Burkeville is now operated by the Virginia Southern. Facilities in Richmond include a yard next to the floodwall on the north side of the James River. The NS line forms the bottom-most part of the famous "triple crossing" in downtown Richmond. The uppermost line is CSXT's Rivanna Sub. The center line is CSXT's former SAL Bellwood Sub.
This line is dark territory and is dispatched by Track Warrant Control by the Crewe dispatcher in Roanoke.
Traffic is quite light on this segment. V08 runs daily (or nightly to be more precise) from Crewe Yard, delivering cars to trackside industries and cars for Richmond. Wood chips continue east on another train to a paper mill in West Point. V62, from Lynchburg's Montview Yard, forwards garbage to a landfill at Amelia.
