The Railroad

After some research, I was able to identify that the segment of railraod we crossed was a part of the Richmond and Alleghany railroad. The chartering of this railroad was initiated by George Washington and was assigned as a project to the James River Company, a company that worked on canal and turnpike improvements in the city. The railroad was built to "improve the navigation of the James River." For most of early American history, Richmond was a riverport history and one of the largest centers for the trade of enslaved labour. The canal system allowed shipments of enslaved labourers to be sent directly to the city center, where they were auctioned to rich Southern land and plantation owners.

Source: Richmond and Alleghany Railroad on JSTOR