STAUNTON, Va. — Virginians will soon enjoy a regularly scheduled tourist train. The commonwealth’s Buckingham Branch Railroad, a 275-mile short line freight railroad, has expanded into tourist railroading with the launch of its Virginia Scenic Railway.
Diesel-powered climate-controlled passenger trains will join local freight, overhead CSX Transportation trains, and Amtrak’s triweekly Cardinal on the scenic and independently-owned short line located in central Virginia. The railroad is debuting two distinct excursion trains beginning in August, departing from historic downtown Staunton four days a week.
The railroad’s Alleghany Special, a 3-hour, round-trip excursion. will depart from Staunton at 10:30 a.m. ET each Thursday through Sunday for a near-66-mile round-trip excursion train to Goshen, Va., and return, passing through the state’s Shenandoah Valley nestled between the Blue Ridge and Alleghany mountains.
A second offering is marketed as the Blue Ridge Flyer. This is also a 3-hour round-trip excursion beginning at Staunton, running east to Blue Ridge Tunnel and Ivy, Va., before returning to Staunton. The approximate 62-mile afternoon excursion will depart Staunton Thursdays through Sundays, leaving at 3:30 p.m. ET.
Each excursion will feature diesel-powered EMD four-axle GP-series locomotives and passenger equipment. Passengers will be provided a meal and dessert selection, as well as non-alcoholic beverage options served in complimentary souvenir glasses. Ticket prices are $110.00 per person for either trip.
The Virginia Scenic Railway’s new website has started selling tickets on line, with the first train scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 4. The railroad also intends to dabble into special events, with plans to operate Santa Trains in December.
The railroad’s expansion into tourist railroading marks the commonwealth’s first tourist train service in recent history. Uniquely, it is also one of the few tourist trains that will operate along with freight and Amtrak passenger service.
Amtrak’s Cardinal operates along the same route on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, with eastbound train No. 50 scheduled to arrive at Staunton at 2:38 p.m. ET, and its counterpart, westbound train No. 51 scheduled to arrive at 2:54 p.m. ET when on-time. The Cardinal will operate in conjunction with the Buckingham Branch excursions trains on Fridays and Sundays.
Those interested in learning more and purchasing tickets can contact the railroad at virginiascenicrailway@buckinghambranch.com or by calling 434-391-9772.
“The railroad’s expansion into tourist railroading marks the Commonwealth’s first tourist train service in recent history. ”
Actually , many thousands of residents of the Commonwealth
have enjoyed “tourist railroading ” on the Buckingham Branch
(Dillwyn to Bremo Bluff, VA.) in conjunction with the Old
Dominion Chapter, NRHS, over the past 26 years.
I’d like to see a Blue Ridge Tunnel shuttle. After a mile hike in the dark, having the option to ride back through the active tunnel would be a plus. Use the siding at Afton as an operational base. Track speeder with a trailer. Charge a couple of bucks. Get Nelson County and the State of Virginia to help fund it. Get a volunteer group involved to assist with the operation.
BBR cheapskates are waiting for VA to pick up the tab for track repair, just like “Pan Am’s” Fink did with Amtrak’s service to Freeport and beyond..
Remember CSX owned these tracks till a few months ago. CSX may have only allowed minor upgrades to the tracks. Without seeing the actual lease terms we have o idea what BBBr could or could not. Now Va DOT will probably renegoitiate the lease contract. Do we know if the CSX lease document continues until VA makes a new contrack. Also what does CSX pay for their trackage rights and did those rights remain unchanged by part of the VA purchase?
IMO the first item is to extend enough sidings to be able to place the CSX land barges out of the way of Amtrak and this new service. Also does the purchase document have any stated train length limits?
The nex titem will be to drop ballast and replace any bad ties. Then surface the whole route. Let the new surfacing settle and re surface.
Once that is complete then welded rail can then be installed. welded rail has to wait otherwise un even surfacing will ruin welded rail.
Upgrading signaling can wait except for the longer sidings.
Sounds like a fellow engineering employee, or at least someone who knows track, and you’re correct about the rail. A bad roadbed will cause the rail to become what we called surface bent and surfacing after that happens will make the track look nice but will not get the bends out. The low spots will always be there until the bent rails are replaced.
Hope the BB has done something about their track condition. Rode the Cardinal less then a year ago and the track was so rough that the conductor gave us a warning over the PA as we left Charlottesville about how rough the next 2 hours would be. Didn’t get better till we hit the CSX track again .
Considering that you get a meal with that $110 ticket, it’s not a bad deal.
$110 a ticket, good luck with that.
I wish them luck. At $110 per ticket, though, I’m a bit skeptical of their success unless they have a top-notch onboard experience.