The VBR extended from Tye River Depot in Nelson County, where it interchanged with the Southern Railway, to Massies Mill.
It was initially built to haul chestnut for lumber out of the heavily-timbered Piney River area to local mills until World War I.
However, the railroad later served several quarries in the area where titanium dioxide and aplite were mined.
[1] It passed through the communities of Roses Mill, Piney River, Canopy, Lowesville, and Buffalo Mine.
In the early 21st century, part of the roadbed was being developed as a rails-to-trails project, the Blue Ridge Railway Trail.