Editing Princeton, West Virginia (section)

===Railway development===
In 1896, engineer [[William Nelson Page]] developed the [[Loup Creek and Deepwater Railway]], a logging railroad connecting a small sawmill on the old Loup Creek Estate at [[Robson, West Virginia|Robson]] with the C&O railroad's main line at [[Deepwater, West Virginia|Deepwater]] on the [[Kanawha River]]. In 1898, it was rechartered as the [[Deepwater Railway]], with modest plans to extend to nearby [[coal mine]]s at [[Glen Jean, West Virginia|Glen Jean]]. Around 1903, the new town of [[Page, West Virginia|Page]] became the location of one of the earliest stations on the expanding Deepwater Railway, as well as home of the Page Coal and Coke Company.

In 1902, William Page enlisted the support of [[millionaire]] industrialist [[Henry H. Rogers]] as a silent partner to finance the expansion of the Deepwater Railway much further, about 80 miles through [[Mullens, West Virginia|Mullens]] to reach a N&W railroad branch line at [[Matoaka, West Virginia|Matoaka]] to open up new territory with untapped deposits of high volatile [[bituminous coal]]. Page, Rogers, and other wealthy investors owned much of this land.

However, as construction of the expanded Deepwater Railway line got underway, Page found he was unsuccessful in negotiating fair rates to interchange traffic with either major railroad, nor in interesting them in buying his short line railroad. This was later revealed to be caused by [[collusion]] by the leaders of the big railroads, notably [[Alexander Cassatt]], [[William Kissam Vanderbilt]], and [[Frederick J. Kimball]], who sought to control shipping rates and coal prices, and prevent any newcomers from entry. They assumed that any entrepreneurs of modest means, such as William Page appeared to be, would become discouraged and give up. In their experience, building costly enterprises such as railroads customarily meant raising large sums of money through public stock offerings and bonds.

As construction on the Deepwater Railway continued, William Page's continued efforts to establish reasonable joint rates with the big railroads continued to prove fruitless. To the puzzlement of the leaders of the big railroads, who were unaware of Rogers' financial backing, Page (and Rogers) did not give up. Instead, they quietly expanded their plans again to build to the Virginia state line. This expansion brought right-of-way for the planned the Deepwater Railway through [[Mercer County, West Virginia|Mercer County]] and Princeton.

====Tidewater Railway====
In Virginia, Page (and Rogers) formed another intrastate railroad, the new [[Tidewater Railway]], which was legally based in [[Staunton, Virginia|Staunton]], a city located along the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O). Notwithstanding its corporate location on the C&O, agents for the new Tidewater Railway quietly surveyed and secured rights-of-way many miles away from the C&O across southern Virginia, roughly paralleling the Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W). With the help of Rogers' fortune, they were successful, even in the [[Roanoke, Virginia|City of Roanoke]], where the N&W had its corporate headquarters and major shops.

From Roanoke, the new line ran almost due east, missing major cities and towns, to reach [[Suffolk, Virginia|Suffolk]]. With the help of local leaders in Norfolk, (and more funds from Rogers), a route was obtained set which passed around the City of Norfolk (and the N&W) in a wide, 13-mile long circular path through rural [[Norfolk County, Virginia|Norfolk County]] to be headed almost due west again when it reached the site for a new coal pier on the harbor at Hampton Roads at [[Sewell's Point]].

By the time the leaders of the big railroads finally realized that the Deepwater and Tidewater railroads were related, the rights-of-way were secure, and the new competitor could not be blocked. In 1906, N&W president [[Lucius E. Johnson]] was brought to the Standard Oil building at [[26 Broadway]] in New York City by [[Andrew Carnegie]] to meet with one of Carnegie's old friends: Henry Huttleston Rogers. N&W corporate records only record that the meeting lasted only a few minutes. Thus, the leaders of the big railroads finally learned the source of William Nelson Page's deep pockets. Despite their collusion, there would be new player in their games.

====Virginian Railway growth and decline====
In 1907, the Deepwater and Tidewater were combined to become the [[Virginian Railway]] (VGN). [[Victoria, Virginia|Victoria]], a new town created in [[Lunenburg County, Virginia]], became the Division Headquarters east of Roanoke. Using more modern techniques than had been available to the older major railroads during the 19th century, and the Rogers fortune to build to the highest standards and acquire the finest equipment and rolling stock, it was widely considered an engineering marvel of the times when completed all the way from Deepwater to reach a port near [[Norfolk, Virginia]] on [[Hampton Roads]] in 1909, a distance of about {{convert|360|mile}}.Princeton was designated to be the headquarters of the New River Division, extending from Roanoke westward.

The changes from [[steam locomotive|steam]] to [[diesel-electric locomotive|diesel-electric]] motive power and the mergers and consolidations resulted in elimination of many shops and jobs, aggravated by a reduction in coal mining activity in West Virginia. Eventually, all but a few of these jobs in Princeton were eliminated by the late 20th century. The [[Norfolk and Western Railroad]] maintained coal piers and export facilities at a major facility near downtown Norfolk known as [[Lambert's Point]]. After the 1959 merger, the VGN's former coal piers and yards at Sewell's Point were redundant with the Lambert's Point operations. They were eventually shut down, and the land became part of the massive U.S. [[Naval Station Norfolk]], the largest Navy base in the world.

Most of the unused former VGN Princeton Shops facilities were demolished by 2006. The local residents of Princeton were devastated. However, despite the community's loss, a new replica of the VGN's two-story Princeton Passenger Station and Offices had been recently built, the largest such effort in the entire state. A modern structure functionally, while appearing like the original built 100 about years earlier, the new Princeton Station Museum should last for future generations. It hosts a [[museum]] to the town's rich railroading heritage and the [[Virginian Railway]].