All Aboard! The History of the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad

The Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad was the sixth railroad to be chartered in the commonwealth, receiving exclusive rights from the General Assembly to connect Richmond and Fredericksburg to the Potomac River steamboat lines. RF&P played a key role in the Civil War and World War II, after which it modernized from steam engines to diesel locomotives. Over the course of its 157-year history the company acquired significant amounts of property along its route, including a number of acres in Henrico County — land that is now home to Glen Allen Stadium at RF&P Park. Though its trains no longer run through the heart of Virginia, the RF&P remains embedded in the history of the communities it touched and in the imagination of the people it served.