Ashland Trolley Line
The Ashland Trolley Line Path operates on a part of the previous Richmond-Ashland Electric Line, which linked the 2 areas for 31 years up until its closure in 1938. Throughout this duration, Ashland was a standard “tram residential area” of Richmond, with the community expanding greatly around the temporary public transportation. The route now shares the path with an above electric utility, yet you’ll most likely be too sidetracked by the dense Virginia forest to see it. The southern half of the trail includes an all-natural surface of grass as well as gravel, making it best matched for joggers and also walkers, although it is well maintained by the Hanover Region Parks and Leisure Division. In 2021, the community of Ashland finished an expansion to the northern end of the path, bringing the complete size to simply under 0.9 mile with a new northern endpoint at Ashcake Road. This more recent stretch of trail features a smooth surface as well as boardwalks over the marshy ground, ensuring that the trail isn’t plagued by water drainage problems.
As the first finished section of the 43-mile Fall Line Route, the new Trolly Line Path in Ashland is making huge strides in outdoors fans’ lives through Central Virginia. The route began in 1812 as a stagecoach toll road and began servicing trollies in 1907. Currently, even more than 80 years after the Richmond-Ashland trolly line quit, town-goers as well as vacationers alike will certainly benefit from a renewed use of this historical Trolly Line Route. According to the Town of Ashland, building and construction on the Trolley Line Route boardwalk started in spring of 2019.
“There were several difficulties the design team faced with the design of the Cart Line Path,” says Sheila Reeves, an Elder Task Supervisor in Timmons Team’s Stormwater Infrastructure department. Walder Roadway is created on soft fill product, measuring over 15-ft in depth in some places, with steep inclines on both sides of the highway down to a natural grade. Offering the soft fill problem of the embankment, the raised boardwalk system called for a deep structure. Further complicating the style, delicate wetland as well as stream systems lay along the toe of the fill along Walder Road. She says, “The ingenious usage of helical piers supplied the deep foundation needed for the raised boardwalk system while decreasing influences to sensitive streams and marshes and also helping with construction under the overhead power lines that are located along Walder Road”. The newly completed section of the path becomes part of the general Loss Line Trail that takes pedestrians, runners, and also bicyclists from Ashland to the Petersburg Trail.
Parking and Trail Access
Limited parking is available at the Ashland Trolley Line’s southern trailhead on Gwathmey Church Road/State Route 707.
Directions to Rice Tire, Ashland VA from Ashland Trolley Line
Directions from Ashland Trolley line to Ashland Museum