By 1832, a gravity railroad replaced the old dirt turnpike as a main thoroughfare for coal from the Midlothian and Chesterfield mines. The track took advantage of gravity to pull the trains down a natural slope from the mines to Manchester and from there to the docks on James, where the coal was loaded onto ships for exportation. Train cars were filled with coal, with one car left open to hold oxen, mules and other draft animals to pull the trains uphill and return them to the mines.
ManchesterRVA 