14 Jan 2023:
It can't be boats all the time, can it? We need some balance, so how about we talk about trains and sawmills?! A 3 foot narrow gauge ran nearby from the late 1800s until 1930, the Surry, Sussex and Southhampton Railway. The railway was started to support the Surry Lumber Company, and part of its charter from the State included freight and passenger service.
The money part of the company was out of Baltimore, MD while the field headquarters was in Dendron, VA. One end of the line ended on the Scotland Wharf, James River, where the Jamestown-Scotland ferry crossed. Large schooners and later steamships loaded lumber for ports up the James, Chesapeake and all points East. Here SS&S #2, Baldwin Vauclain Compound, waits to run back up the hill around the wye and pick up the mail train.
#2 was the second #2, the first was scrapped when the railway folded, but the bell is still ringing at the Dendron Museum. Skipper field tested it today.
The Dendron sawmill grew to be the largest sawmil East of the Mississippi, with a thriving lumber town springing up around it. Today, its residents number just over 200. While much of the equipment was sold to other industries, a few artifacts remain, one being a steam engine from the saw mill.
One of the SS&S boxcars was lovingly restored by a Dendron family, after spending a few decades as a corn crib.
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| (Image Credit: WR, Dendron Museum) |
The photos inside the boxcar chronicle the restoration, all image credits to WR of the Museum.
Many of the SS&S car bodies and log cars were built on site, with the undercarriages shipped in by the railway. There was no shortage of lumber.
There is some rail to start a new railway...
...and a combination baggage/freight car and R.P.O to rebuild. It served as a cottage for decades until 2003, when it was damaged by Hurricane Isabell. More on a restoration effort soon.
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| (Image: The Comp'ny by H. Temple Crittenden. 1967. Available for sale through the Surry County Historical Society) |
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