South Branch Valley Railroad

The South Branch Valley Railroad is a 52-mile common carrier shortline railroad located in northeast West Virginia. The route extends north along the South Branch of the Potomac River from Petersburg, WV, to the CSX Transportation mainline at Green Spring, adjacent to the Potomac River. The original South Branch Railroad opened a line from Green Springs to Romney in 1884; the Hampshire Southern extended the line to Petersburg in 1914. Both companies were controlled by the Baltimore & Ohio, which eventually operated the entire line as its Petersburg Branch.

Today the SBVR is owned and operated by West Virginia's State Rail Authority (SRA), purchased in 1978 from the Baltimore & Ohio (then a Chessie System component) upon its abandonment of the branch. The sale made West Virginia the first state in the United States to both own and operate a commercial freight railroad. In 1985, major flooding of the South Branch Valley destroyed most of the rail line, including all three bridges that crossed the South Branch Potomac River. Despite talk of shutting down the railroad after the flood, reconstruction began two years later. The State Rail Authority is headquartered in Moorefield, where the shortline also maintains locomotives and a shop. Commodities handled include grain, lumber, polymers and aggregates. The South Branch Valley is also the host line for the Potomac Eagle Scenic Railroad stationed in Romney.