Stone Arched Trestle

[NW Mailing List]

It is most likely old and boring news to you longtime railfans but when traveling south from Staunton, VA on Interstate-81 I've noticed what appears to be an old (possibly narrow gauge) stone arched trestle on the west side of I-81S, just a mile or so south of the I-64/I-81 interchange.   Letting my imagination run wild I can also see what might be old roadbed segments and possibly other railroad-related structures, such as heavy stone culverts and trackside stone foundations, in the hillsides and farm fields west of the highway. 

Could these really be old railroad remains?  I've read about a Shenandoah Valley Railroad line( *)  that extended from Staunton south and then west into West Virginia.  I believe it may have been abandoned when more useful connections were made from Stauntonsouth toward Roanoke via routes through Stuarts Draft.
(*) I think there may have been several early railroads that either actually had that name or were generally know by that name. 

Can anyone give me a history lesson about the trestle and the railroad it belonged to? Is there a good reference source for studying the history of these early and now abandoned lines?  Are there any other remains and structures that might still be visible?   

Thanks,  Bob Brown
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