It’s Winter

Ashland is part of Hanover County Virginia. The area known as The Slashes, later became Ashland, when it was developed by the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad as a mineral springs resort in the 1840s. The  name came from the Lexington, Kentucky estate of the towns most famous native and statesman Henry Clay.

In 1860 Ashland was a quiet, charming village. Its 150 residents lived in cottages on tree lined streets. A fashionable hotel, a notable racecourse and a famous mineral springs resort made Ashland a social center and a place to visit. The train rails running through town made it a great destination place for residents from DC and Richmond. Then came the war.

Old Ashland Depot

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Not Many Trains

It gets pretty hot in Virginia in August. Thankfully our little Ashland Depot is covered by a beautiful shade tree that gives you a little respite from the sun in the afternoons. At least it helps while we wait for at least one train to go by.

CSX 5214

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  © 2006-2012 Evilwordsmith.com. All Rights Reserved, Springwolf, D.D., Ph.D.

A Nice Location

Once great thing about Virginia is the richness of our history. While we typically drive south to watch the trains in Ashland, a little north of us you’ll find the Stonewall Jackson Shrine. Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson (January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War.

As Jackson and his staff were returning to camp on May 2, they were mistaken for a Union cavalry force by the 18th North Carolina Infantry regiment who shouted, “Halt, who goes there?”, but fired before evaluating the reply. During the unfortunate altercation Jackson was wounded. He was taken to Thomas C. Chandler’s 740 acres plantation named Fairfield. He was offered Chandler’s home for recovery, but refused and suggested the plantation office building would be better suited for his needs.

Today only the office building, where Jackson succumbed to pneumonia, still stands. It’s a great place to visit and a wonderful place to have a picnic on the east side of the rails.

Amtrak

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A Cold Picnic Lunch

Sometimes when we’re on errands we don’t have a lot of time to sit, relax and wait for the trains to roll by. But we at least take some time to please the little Prince and take time for 1 train.

Amtrak 163

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© 2006-2012 Evilwordsmith.com. All Rights Reserved, Springwolf, D.D., Ph.D.

It’s Always A Good Day For Trains

Even on cold and rainy November days it’s a good day to watch the trains. Even if you’re doing it from inside your car. It only takes a moment to pop outside and grab a picture of the passing Amtrak train.

Amtrak 123

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My Favorite Freight Train

It’s been a while since we’ve seen my favorite train pass through town. But we were in the right place at the right time on this warm October day to see the Tropicana pass by!

CSX – Tropacana!

  © 2008-2013 Evilwordsmith.com. All Rights Reserved. Springwolf, D.D., Ph.D.

A Slow Train Day

It was a very hot August day. I’m not sure if that had anything to do with the scarcity of trains. But we only saw one freight train roll through town today.

CSX 5268

© 2008-2013 Evilwordsmith.com. All Rights Reserved. Springwolf, D.D., Ph.D.

A Country Ride

Every now and then we take a country ride back home from doing errands in Ashland. On this particular day we decided to stop for a few moments and enjoy the weather. While we sat by the tracks we caught these two CSX trains heading south. This one seemed to disturb a hawk that was near by. He sure looks tiny up in the sky compared to the train.

CSX 5290

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Historic Ashland

Ashland Virginia is a fairly old town and filled with some of the most beautiful homes. It’s great to take a walk along the tracks every now and then and take in the views. It also gives us a new venue for train pictures. These two pictures have got to be my most favorite so far of the trains roaring through town.

If you click these pictures, you’ll see a bigger view of each image.

CSX 5303

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