Norfolk Terminal Station

Norfolk Terminal Station was a railroad union station located in Norfolk, Virginia, which served passenger trains and provided offices for the Norfolk and Western Railway, the original Norfolk Southern Railway (a regional carrier in Virginia and North Carolina which became part of and later lent its name to the much larger company known as Norfolk Southern in the 1980s) and the Virginian Railway. The N&W, Norfolk Southern, and Virginian's Norfolk terminal location stood in contrast to competitor railroads, such as the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, Southern Railway, Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, Pennsylvania Railroad and Seaboard Air Line Railroad which operated out of Cape Charles (Virginia), Newport News and Portsmouth, terminals outside of Norfolk.[1] Customers took ferries or, later in the 20th century, buses from Norfolk to reach those other terminals.[2]

Photo of the station c. 1914

Norfolk Terminal Station was built following destruction by fire of the large wooden N&W passenger station[3] on October 13, 1909. After a sharing agreement was reached and a terminal operating company were formed, the new brick building was opened in 1912. Offices of all three tenant railroads occupied the upper floors, with passenger facilities at the ground level. The General Offices of the Virginian Railway occupied the top three floors whereas N&W General Offices were located in Roanoke, Virginia.

Norfolk terminal Waiting room

Trains and destinations in station's heyday

Major Norfolk & Western trains and destinations in station's mid-20th Century prime:

Decline

With the decline of passenger rail travel, and the merger of the Virginian Railway into the Norfolk and Western in 1959, the station closed in 1962[4] and was demolished in 1963.[5] A contract for the demolition of the Terminal Building and Union Station was awarded by the N&W Railway to the ABC Demolition Corp., of Arlington, Virginia, it was announced on January 30, 1963. The price of the job was not announced.[6]

Disposition today

The terminal was located at 1200 East Main Street in Norfolk.[7] Today it is the approximate location of Norfolk's Harbor Park, an outdoor sports stadium. Amtrak currently provides passenger service in Norfolk[8] at a station built in 2012.[9]


Preceding station Norfolk and Western Railway Following station
Suffolk
toward Cincinnati
 Main Line Terminus

References
  1. Official Guide of the Railways, 1949 edition index
  2. "1916 New City Map of Norfolk, Portsmouth and Vicinity, Virginia". smcdigital.norfolkpubliclibrary.org. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  3. Turin, F.E.; Squires, W.H.T.; Bennett, M.E. (1936). Through the Years in Norfolk (PDF). Portsmouth, VA: Norfolk Advertising Board/Printcraft Press. p. 135.
  4. Virginian-Pilot, The. "As train use faded, so did Norfolk station". pilotonline.com. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  5. Norfolk, VA - Great American Stations
  6. Associated Press (January 31, 1963). "Demolition Project". The Washington Post & Times-Herald. 86 (57). p. B-3.
  7. "Norfolk Terminal Railway Building, 1931 - Norfolk, Virginia". smcdigital.norfolkpubliclibrary.org. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  8. "Norfolk, VA (NFK) | Amtrak". www.amtrak.com. Retrieved 2020-08-14.
  9. "Norfolk, VA (NFK)". Great American Stations. Retrieved 2020-08-14.

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