It survived the American Civil War and eventually merged into the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad in 1900.

It went from a railroad that only connected trains from Richmond to Petersburg, to a part of an entire east coast system.

The steam engines would pass right under the terminus of the mule and gravity powered Chesterfield Railroad, which brought coal from Midlothian, Virginia to Manchester.

The Panic of 1837 lead to a reduction in the purchase of subscriptions to ship on the rails so it was difficult to pay for construction.

[3] A branch line was created to Port Walthall which connected to Norfolk, Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia by Steamboat in 1845.

This coal was taken to Richmond and Petersburg Railroad and shipped north from Port Walthall.

Robert E. Lee, of the Confederate States of America predicted that the south's non-connecting railroads would cause problems for the military.

He was proven correct when two locomotives had to be hauled over land around Alexandria during the American Civil War.

Railroad Officers of the South met in Atlanta in February 1886 to determine a day to standardize gauges on all railroads to enable trains to travel all over the south without loading or unloading or having passengers change trains.

During the Civil War, the Richmond and Petersburg wood choppers, who were slaves, provided fuel for the steam engines.

[15] The Richmond and Petersburg hired firemen that shovel coal in 1893 and did not list any wood purchased in their account of fuel.

[16] By the late 1880s, passenger and freight traffic was heavy enough that it was causing significant congestion in downtown Richmond as much of the track connecting to the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad ran down the middle of Belvedere and Broad Streets.

The Belt Line opened in 1891 and had a single track and was used as a freight bypass while passenger trains continued to use the original route.

[18] William T. Walters of Baltimore, Maryland formed a holding company, in 1889, later called the Atlantic Coast Line of five consecutive railroads starting with the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad and connecting all the way to Charleston, South Carolina.

The Atlantic Coast Line and the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad jointly built Broad Street Station in 1916 and consolidated their passenger operations there.

In 1980, the Seaboard Coast Line's parent company merged with the Chessie System (successor of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway), creating the CSX Corporation.

Part of the original route of the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad north of FA Junction is still in place and it is now CSX's Clopton Lead.

Paid employees managed the slave workers and included copper smiths, carpenters and painters, acted as inspectors worked as ticket agents and clerks and were the officers of the company.

The freight cars shipped lumber, fruits and vegetables, tobacco, grain and flour, hay, iron, cement and brick, lime, coal, meat, poultry, game, fish, cotton, wool, leather, wine, liquor and beer, wagons and carriages, farm tools, other tools, iron rails and boat parts.