The Blue Ridge Railroad was owned by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its purpose was to provide a state-financed crossing of the Blue Ridge Mountains for the Virginia Central Railroad, which it became a part of after completion.
The early railroads in Virginia were privately-owned, but often received partial state-funding through investments by the Virginia Board of Public Works, which was always keen to help with internal improvements in the state's transportation infrastructure. The Board owned a portion of Virginia Central stock. That railroad, planned to link the Piedmont region of Virginia with the Shenandoah Valley and points west had found a planned crossing at Swift Run Gap to be financially unfeasible.
To protect its investment and enable transportation, the Virginia General Assembly then incorporated and financed the Blue Ridge Railroad to accomplish the hard and expensive task of crossing the Blue Ridge mountain barrier to the west. Rather than attempting the more formidable Swift Run Gap, under the leadership of the great early civil engineer Claudius Crozet, the state-owned Blue Ridge Railroad built over the mountains at the next gap to the south, Rockfish Gap near Afton Mountain, using four tunnels, including the 4,263-foot Blue Ridge Tunnel at the top of the pass, then one of the longest tunnels in the world. The tunnel was 'holed-through' on Christmas Day, 1856, and was less than six inches off perfect alignment, as construction had proceeded from either end. Rail service didn't begin until April 1858, although temporary tracks over the top of the gap were in operation as early as 1854. Due to the extreme grade, the first train to cross over the mountain wrecked on its return journey eastwards the following day. The Blue Ridge Tunnel eliminated this grade.
As a corporate entity, the Blue Ridge Railroad ceased to exist when the tunnels were completed, becoming part of the Virginia Central Railroad.
During the American Civil War, the tunnels were utilized as part of the so-called foot cavalry movements of the Confederate troops of General Stonewall Jackson. After the Civil War, the Virginia Central and former Blue Ridge Railroads became part of Collis P. Huntington's Chesapeake and Ohio Railway and helped complete Virginia's longtime dream of linking its navigable rivers of the Chesapeake Bay watershed with the Ohio River, which led to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico.
The Blue Ridge Railroad and the former Virginia Central Railroad are both now part of CSX Transportation and are operated under lease by the Buckingham Branch Railroad.
The original tunnels were replaced by newer ones after World War II. Over 50 years later, still passable in the early 21st century, portions of the old tunnels and route were included in a rail trail project. The $1.6 million project is planned to turn the main Blue Ridge Tunnel into a "dark, chilly and 'mystical' hiking and biking trail".[1]