A section of new sidetrack laid out before final installation in Clarksville, VA on the BB Virginia Southern Division.

The Buckingham Branch Railroad (BB) announced today that the company has completed a signficant sidtrack improvement project in Clarksville, VA. The project will restore rail service to the site of the former Burlington Industries in Clarksville, one and one-half miles south of the intersection of east-west bound U.S. Highway 58 and north-south bound U.S. Highway 15. BB’s track work covered nearly one mile of track – the rehabilitation of 2,800 feet of the Clarksville Wye track on BB’s Virginia Southern Division, and 2,200 feet of new sidetrack construction inside the Burlington site. The project was undertaken by BB’s Track and Structures Department and was finished on schedule.

The BB 1 Locomotive pulls freight cars across the James River on the BB Buckingham Division. BB train service began 27 years ago on the Buckingham Division.

In March, the Buckingham Branch Railroad (BB) marked the 27th anniversary of the first BB treight train on March 6, 1989. Twenty-seven years later the co-founders, Bob and Annie Bryant, are still actively involved in the BB. Bob is BB’s Board Chairman and Annie is Board Vice Chairman. “We are proud to be a family-owned, small business which has preserved railroad freight service to central and southern Virginia now for 27 years,” Bob Bryant said. “We started with one locomotive, one train crew and 17 miles of track. Today we have 14 locomotives, seven train crews and 275 miles of track. Most importantly, we are providing safe, reliable rail freight service to more than 40 customers who otherwise would not have rail shipment as an option.”

Left to Right, Gale Wilson, Buckingham Branch Railroad; Doug Long, Winchester and Western Railroad; Larry LeMond, Bay Coast Railroad; and Cannon Moss, Portsmouth and Norfolk Beltline Railroad; at the Virginia Railroad Association 2015 Annual Meeting.

Gale Wilson, Buckingham Branch Railroad Senior Vice President, was honored by the Virginia Railroad Association (VRA) at the associations’ 2015 Annual Meeting in Fredericksburg, VA. Wilson was recognized for his oustanding service to the VRA as president of the association for eight years. The VRA has as members the nine shortline railroads based in Virginia, plus Class 1 railroads CSX and Norfolk Southern, and railroad freight customers and vendors.

Kyle Harris, conductor for the BB Z631 Train Crew, checks car orders for the day on his Android Tablet.

If you see Buckingham Branch Railroad (BB) train crew out working these days, you might notice something new. Each train crew is now equipped with an Android tablet to keep track of car movements and communicate with our agent. Since the start of the BB in 1989, the railroad industry has been striving to become more efficient. When railroads interchange cars to each other, accurate and timely data are critical. When information is delayed, shipments get delayed and railcars will sit in a yard until the next railroad knows where to take the car. In the past, the BB agent would prepare and fax a switch list for each crew at the beginning of the shift. This paperwork would show the crews where to stop and what to do with the cars in their train. Throughout the day, the conductor would write notes on the paper and fax it back to the agent at the end of the shift which might be in the middle of the night when no agent is on duty.

Sidetrack into the new Buckingham Branch Gordonsville Transload Site on the Richmond & Alleghany Division.

The Buckingham Branch Railroad (BB) continues to meet growing customer demand by expanding the railroad’s trans-load capability across Virginia, enabling manufacturers and distribution centers to access global markets. In June, BB completed purchase of a new trans-load site three and a half miles east of Gordonsville, Virginia on BB’s Richmond & Alleghany Division. A rail spur serves the site today with BB plans to construct additional track as trans-load business grows. The site is capable of handling different types of freight for trans-load to or from trucks.