For nearly 50 years the
Virginia Central Railway
was a one mile railroad!
In 1938, after eighty-one years of trying to turn a profit, thirty-seven miles of the Virginia Central Railway were abandoned, leaving the railroad with just one mile of track to operate in the city of Fredericksburg. With subsidies and other various contrivances this one mile railroad was able to hang on another forty-six years, before even this last section of track was abandoned.
But soon the City of Fredericksburg will put this old right-of-way to new use as public greenway! Sections of the trail are already open, such as the portion through Alum Spring Park and the section through the new Cobblestone Square neighborhood.
It is at Cobblestone Square that you will find this webcam set up by an earth science teacher to record weather conditions. But you can record yourself, too!
After parking at the posted coordinates proceed west on the trail and visit the Cobblestone Park at the western end of the neighborhood. On your way there or back, climb the southern stairs just west of the bridge and at the top of the stairs you will be in the field of view of the camera with the trail visible in the background. The camera isn't very high resolution, but if you post a picture and someone is visible in the right place, we'll know it's you having a great time discovering the Virginia Central Railway trail!
Go to the camera's webpage with a smartphone while there and use it to save a camera image with you or your group in it. If you don't have one with you or it doesn't work, use a PAF to have it done by someone at a computer with internet access. The camera is configured for time lapse photography, so it may take as long as three minutes before you will appear in the online image.
After you log your find of this webcam, be sure to remember to add your photo.
For more information about the history of the Virginia Central Railway and plans for its re-development as a public greenway, please go to Virginia Central Railway Trail.