A major step forward took place in 1882 when a 75-mile line was constructed from Richmond to Tidewater at Newport News, connecting the railroad with ocean shipping. Financial conditions gradually improved as coal mines were opened along the route. In 1878, the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad was sold at foreclosure, reorganized, and renamed the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. The difficult construction and the rapid expansion of the C&O, in addition to the national depression of 1873, forced the company into default. West of Hinton the line followed the New River for a considerable distance, the narrow valley also a challenge to construction workers. Construction was expensive and difficult because of the mountains between Covington and Hinton. Using more than 7,000 men (including the legendary John Henry, the ‘‘steel driving man’’), and well over the projected construction cost of $15 million, the line was completed on January 29, 1873. Construction started west from Covington and east from the newly developed town of Huntington on the banks of the Ohio. Once in control, Huntington expanded the railroad rapidly. To benefit from these contacts, however, the board and the stockholders of the railroad were forced to reorganize the company, turning operations over to Huntington and his friends. His contacts with New York financiers were desperately needed by the C&O. He saw the C&O as the eastern section of a true transcontinental railroad. Huntington had recently been the major figure in the completion of the first transcontinental railroad, the Union Pacific-Central Pacific. Huntington, one of the greatest railroad entrepreneurs in American history. The C&O soon attracted the support of Collis P. Wickham also became president of the Chesapeake & Ohio after the 1868 merger and immediately began seeking funds to extend the railroad to the Ohio River. In July 1867, the Virginia Central reached Covington, near the boundary between Virginia and the new state of West Virginia. Wickham, a Confederate cavalry officer, became president of the railroad and restored the entire line to operation early in 1866. The Virginia Central, located where the fighting raged, suffered significant damage during the war. While the Covington & Ohio had been chartered in 1853 to build from the western terminus of the Virginia Central to the Ohio River, no construction had taken place at the outbreak of the Civil War. At the beginning of the Civil War, the Virginia Central extended from Richmond to Waynesboro and was the second largest railroad in the state. The Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad was created in 1868 by the merger of the Virginia Central Railroad and the Covington & Ohio Railroad. Many West Virginians can name members of their families who were, or still are, employees of the C&O and its successors. The railroad provided the impetus for the growth of Huntington in the west, White Sulphur Springs in the east, and towns in between such as Hinton and Thurmond. The Chesapeake & Ohio was a major force in opening the coalfields of southern West Virginia in the years after the Civil War.
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