A small depot that echoes the architecture of rural railroad stops
The Fork Union Depot, in Fluvanna County, Virginia, is typical of the small station houses on the C&O and other American railroads, many of which have been lost to the sands of time. The depot was built in 1908 on land once part of the Snead family estate. The building, now painted white, was originally red with trim, window and door frames painted white.
The depot was on the Virginia Air Line Railway, which was built to connect the C&O James River Division with the Washington Division, which allowed coal and heavy freight trains coming east to avoid the long mountain haul on the Washington Division. The 30-mile line ran from Strathmore on the James River Division to Lindsay on the Washington Division. In 1912 the line was sold to the C&O
Prior to the end of World War II, the station handled four passenger trains plus local freight from a nearby sawmill, a canning factory, and two small oil storage companies. The community of Cohasset grew up around the depot and included a general store and post office, four houses, and a very early gas station. The depot closed in 1970.
At just 24 x 38 feet, the building is perfect for smaller model railroads, but would be just as at home on a larger rural layout.
This recording project was performed for the Historic American Buildings Survey, a project of the National Park Service. The drawings were delineated in 1977 by Vanessa E. Patrick and Lloyd Ostby, graduate architectural history students under the direction of K. Edward Lay, associate professor of architecture at the University of Virginia. More information can be found in the Library of Congress, HABS survey number VA-978.