Foster Falls, Va
Posted by: 
fatcat161
N 36° 53.067 W 080° 51.359
17S E 512833 N 4082063
Located inside New River Trail State Park at the Foster Falls entrance.
Waymark Code: WM6FJ3
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 05/26/2009
Views: 10
The depot building is now used as The Foster Falls River Company. It is open on weekends from the first Saturday in April through Memorial Day, then open daily Memorial Day through Labor Day, and open on weekends again Labor Day through the last Sunday in October. The livery rents canoes, kayaks, tubes, bikes and safety equipment, and it offers shuttle service, snacks and drinks.
The railroad station at Foster Falls is located along a section of rail branching from Norfolk and Southern's Radford Division Line near the town of Pulaski. This line, called the Cripple Creek extension, was developed by the New River Plateau Railroad Company to reach the wealth of mineral deposits located near Speedwell Furnace.
The Cripple Creek extension began in 1882 and reached Speedwell in 1906, incorporating Galax. The tracks branch off at Cripple Creek and followed the New River to transport supplies to the Fries textile mill, reaching Fries in 1901. The Foster fall section was completed by 1886, and the station operated until its close in 1956-57. In 1889 the New River Plateau Railroad Company was absorbed by the Norfolk and Western Railroad Company and became the North Carolina Branch of the Cripple Creek extension. The North Carolina extension was closed in 1985, and later donated to become the New River Trail.
Is the station/depot currently used for railroad purposes?: No
Is the station/depot open to the public?: Yes
If the station/depot is not being used for railroad purposes, what is it currently used for?:
Store, visitor center.
What rail lines does/did the station/depot serve?: Norfolk & Western
Station/Depot Web Site: [Web Link]
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Visit Instructions:
Please post an original picture of the station/depot taken while you were there. Please also record how you came to be at this station/depot and any interesting information you learned about it while there.