A brief History of Norfolk Portsmouth Belt Line
The Norfolk Portsmouth Belt Line was established in 1898 In Norfolk Virginia. The purpose of the railroad was to link eight class 1 railroads that had track into the major cities of Hampton Roads.
The eight original proprietary railroads of the
1898 included:
Atlantic Coast Line - ACL,
Atlantic & Danville - A&D,
Chesapeake & Ohio - C&O,
New York, Philadelphia & Norfolk - NYP&N,
Norfolk & Southern
- N&S,
Norfolk & Western Railroad
- N&W,
Seaboard Airline - SAL, and
Southern - SR.
The current owners are the Norfolk Southern Railroad and CSX. The other six either sold their share or were acquired by one or the other of the current owners. On page 168 of this historical book, "Virginia's Belt Line Railroad: The Norfolk & Portsmouth, 1898 - 1997" is a summary of the 100 plus years of the Norfolk Portsmouth Belt Line.
"Daily for one hundred years, the Belt Line has been providing Hampton Roads with two important services. First, freight cars are moved between the hall proprietary roads through interline connections. This inexpensive, convenient and early very intensive interchange service made Hampton Roads a major transportation center. Second, terminal and switching operations provide many local industries with their railroad service. The company furnishes exclusive railroad service to businesses along the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River. Belt Line services are essential for Hampton Roads' growing economy.
Norfolk, Virginia from the 1700's was recognized as the mid Atlantic's major deep water port. Sheltered in the Chesapeake Bay with easy access to the Atlantic this major port was and is now home to the United States Navy, many shipyards and numerous import and export points for many goods.
During the century until now, the Belt Line hauled: agricultural commodities, truck farming, and fruits. Included were other agricultural products, groceries, cattle, coal, lumber, oil and fertilizer.
In later years came automotive and manufactured goods, grain, particularly for export, modern agricultural products like peanut butter and soybean oil, U.S. Army and Navy services and supplies, petroleum products, scrap metals, cleaning compounds, chemicals, plastics, and a variety of import and export products.