N&W photos - Valuatin Sections

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The photos with a "V.S #VA" for Virginia, or the abbreviation of another 
state, indicate that the photo was taken during a valuation survey in a 
given "Valuation Section" designated by number and state. The Federal 
Railway Valuation Act of 1913 required a detailed inventory and 
valuation of all physical property of each railroad to be used for the 
justification of rates for freight and passenger traffic.

The massive documentation included detailed maps, mile by mile, of all 
real property, reconstructed mass diagrams to evaluate the grading for 
the roadbed, inventory of all small items of property inducing mop 
buckets and staplers in stations, and photos of every structure from 
privies to bridges. Those valuation accounts were maintained in a 
current status, and served as the basis of all rate making procedures, 
until partial deregulation under the Staggers Act of 1980.

Most of the actual valuation survey work was done between 1916 and 1918, 
with a second round following return of the railroads to the owners in 
1920. From my recollection, having worked with those records on the 
Delaware and Hudson, most of those photos were taken in the period just 
prior to World War I, or 1916-1918. The D&H photos included every 
building and bridge, and every mile post looking in each direction. We 
also had a set of photos for every highway crossing at grade, to 
document sight distances in the event of litigation following a 
collision with a highway vehicle. Those photos were not always current, 
and were usually retaken immediately following a incident. They were 
referenced to mile post locations and road names, not to valuation 
stationing.

The valuation maps showed the location of property according to chaining 
stations of 100 feet, beginning at one defined origin for each valuation 
section. That origin could be a property line, a point of switch, or a 
state line.

To make a long story short, I would date most of those V.S. ## ?? photos 
to 1916-1918.

- Gordon Davids