The story of the Virginia Central Railroad began on February 2nd, 1850, When the directors of the Louisa Railroad officially decided on a corporate name change to more appropriately describe the geographical location now that the railroad had expanded beyond it's namesake Louisa County. For the next 18 years the railroad would be an important economical influence in Central Virginia and not only survive through harsh winters and hot summers but also the bloodiest conflict ever orchestrated on American soil.

With the creation of the new company on Febraury 2nd, 1850, quite a few properties were inherited. Included in the acquisition were four American type woodburners "Blue Ridge", "F. Harris", "Kimbrough", and "Westward Ho" all built by Norris Brothers, and an early 0-4-0T locomotive named the "D. Anderson Jr." constructed by Talbott & Brothers which was a predecessor of the well known Tredegar Iron Works. The "F. Harris" was named after the first president of the Louisa Railroad, Louisa native Frederick Overton Harris, who served until his retirement in 1841. Like the "F. Harris", the "Kimbrough" was also named after a president of the Louisa Railroad, Charles Y. Kimbrough, who served the railroad after Harris' departure until his death in 1845.

While the four 1847 built 4-4-0s were mainly used on the mainline hauling freight and passengers, the smaller 1849 built Talbott & Brothers 0-4-0T was purchased in anticipation of a temporary rail line being constructed to cross Rockfish Gap while the Blue Ridge Tunnel was being constructed. This 4.38 mile long line with steep grades and sharp curves could only be traversed by light engines with small wheelbases. The reason this crude connecting track was so important was because the Virginia Central Railroad had already begun grading and laying track west of Rockfish Gap as far as Staunton, Virginia, but couldn't run any trains across the entire line because the Blue Ridge Tunnel was still being bored.

Interestingly, before the "Mountain Track", as it was called, was completed in 1854, the locomotive "F. Harris" was hauled by Oxen over Rockfish Gap to run on the completed line from Rockfish Gap to Staunton, Virginia. This feat was reported by multiple local newspapers as it was the first "Iron Horse" to cross the great Blue Ridge Mountains.

Along with the five locomotives inherited from the Louisa Railroad, the Virginia Central Railroad also inherited a rail line from a connection with the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad at Hanover Junction, Virginia, (later renamed Doswell, Virginia) through the towns of Louisa Courthouse, Beaver Dam, Bumpass', Tolersville, Trevilian's, Gordonsville, Roger's Mill, and Charlottesville. The Virginia Central Railroad would continue the Louisa Railroad's plan to expand westward into the Appalachian Mountains to the town of Covington, Virginia, and would finally reach there in 1867.

By 1867, not only did the railroad have a main line connecting Covington, Virginia, deep in the Appalachian Mountains with the Eastern cities of Virginia such as Richmond and Fredericksburg, the company had also constructed a line past the connection with the RF&P southward towards Richmond. This line was finished much earlier than the westward extension to Covington as the first train was run from Hanover Junction to Richmond in 1851.

Concerning the Claudius Crozet engineered and designed Blue Ridge Tunnel across Rockfish Gap, construction started in 1849 by the Commonwealth owned Blue Ridge Railroad and continued until 1858. Crozet would go on to design and construct four separate tunnels through the Blue Ridge Mountains known as the Greenwood Tunnel, the Brooksville Tunnel, the Little Rock Tunnel, and finally the well known Blue Ridge Tunnel. At the time of its completion on April 13th, 1858, the Blue Ridge tunnel was the longest railroad tunnel ever constructed in the United States. With all four tunnels now complete, the Virginia Central's temporary track constructed around the Brooksville Tunnel, the Greenwood Tunnel, and the Blue Ridge Tunnel were promptly abandoned with the last run over the "Mountain Track" occurring on April 12th, 1858.

During the Civil War, the Virginia Central Railroad would be utilized by the Confederates to transport troops and goods throughout Virginia making it one of the most targeted rail lines by the Union Army. Suffering extensive damage and crippling finances, the railroad limped through the war until finally the surrender announcement came on April 9th, 1865. Like most enterprises located in the south following the Civil War, the Confederate Currency was now worthless and the company was facing certain bankruptcy. However, the railroad still managed to survive as in November of 1865, the stockholders and directors of the railroad elected former Confederate General Williams C. Wickham to succeed longtime leader Edmund Fontaine as president of the railroad. Fontaine had remained as president of the railroad for almost twenty years when he originally began as president of the Louisa Railroad in 1845 until his eventual termination in 1865. For his services to the railroad and the communities it served, Fontaine was granted free tickets for life along the railroad.

With Williams C. Wickham as president of the still struggling road, he knew that he had to get financial aid to continue expanding and purchasing new equipment along with restoring the rest of the still damaged line. His solution was to persuade millionaire industrialist Collis P. Huntington, one of the "Big Four" who helped complete the Transcontinental Railroad, to finance the growth of the line. Collis accepted and so on August 31st, 1868, with Huntington's financial backing, Wickham authorized for the merger of the Covington & Ohio Railroad with the Virginia Central Railroad to form the now famous Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad. Thus ended the colorful story of the first railroad to conquer the great Blue Ridge Mountains.

Still as polished and regal as ever, Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Rogers Locomotive & Machine Company 4-4-0 #20, the "Westward Ho", is seen at Winifrede Junction, West Virginia, sometime in the 1870s. Originally constructed for the Virginia Central Railroad in May of 1857, and finished on May 7th, 1857, the "Westward Ho" was actually the 2nd locomotive owned by the Virginia Central that bore this name. The 1st was an ancient 1847 Norris Brothers 4-4-0 that lasted for about a decade on the road before its retirement.