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C&O Milepost 157.1
Station Number: 157
Code Number: 0225
Melton was originally known as Melton’s Turnout (perhaps why most maps identify it as Meltons). The siding was constructed by the Louisa Railroad at the request of Elisha Melton, who had granted the railroad a right-of-way across his land. Melton was also the contractor who built the extension from Louisa to Gordonsville and, later, the extension from Doswell to Richmond. Melton was listed on the June 1, 1858 timetable; that’ the earliest mention that I have of it.
The town was a water station for the Virginia Central in the 1860’s and was described by C. S. Anderson as “a place out of the way.” Still, in the later part of the 19th century, Melton was a small, but thriving, community. The town had a Post Office from 1872 to 1956. In 1917, the Post Office was run by George Blake from his general store near the depot. Later, the C&O also used the store as a depot. What’s left of the store still stands, abandoned and collapsed in on itself, along Rt. 33.
Melton was listed as having a single 1310' team track in the 1937 Side Track Record. The station had an agent in 1948, but the agency was discontinued in May, 1955. In 1963 there were 2 sidings in Melton. The siding near milepost 158, which was built in November of 1953, served the gas plant run by Pyrofax and, later, AmeriGas. The second siding was at Melton proper. It was originally a double-ended siding, but the west end turnout was removed in March of 1943. The house track was spiked and out of service in August of 1973 according to a report in the C&O Historical Newsletter. The C&O retired a portion of the remaining siding in 1975 and CSX retired the rest in 1991. The tracks were removed in the mid- to late-1990’s.
Photos |
This is the store once run by George Blake. It stands across Rt. 33 from the site of the station. (2001 photo by Larry Z. Daily)
Signal 1573 stood just west of the station area. I always meant to stop and take a photo of it and always forgot. Then I made a trip especially to get it and was too late. Amazingly, not long after that, this slide came up for auction on eBay. (May 1995 photo by Sam Bone. From a slide in the collection of Larry Z. Daily.)
This is the gas plant siding at milepost 158. When I took this photo in 1998, it didn’t look as though it had been used in quite a while, but I later saw tank cars being unloaded there. At the time, the plant was operated by Amerigas, but the facility had been built in 1953 for Pyrofax. I’m not sure when the facility shut down, but one of the tanks was removed in 2008 and the other shortly thereafter. (Photo by Larry Z. Daily)
This photo shows the office building in the Amerigas (formerly Pyrofax) gas plant in August of 1998. (Photo by Larry Z. Daily)
Another photo from August of 1998. This one shows the two large tanks. (Photo by Larry Z. Daily)
I found a tank car at the facility in May of 2001. (Photo by Larry Z. Daily)
Map |
This map was prepared from U.S.G.S. topological maps, C&O track charts dated 1963, C&O Side Track Records dated 1937, a copy of the Side Track Records updated through the 1990’s, and C&O Valuation maps, also updated through the 1990’s.
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