Reply to "First Locomotive into the Shenandoah Valley, taken there by a 20 mule team- 1853"

That stone bridge visible from 81 south of Staunton was built for the Valley Railroad, which was built southward and aimed to connect with Salem (then bigger than Big Lick, which turned into Roanoke).  It ran out of money and rails were never laid south of Lexington.  The portion of the line from Lexington to Staunton was torn up late in the 19th century, and north of Staunton it became part of the Chesapeake Western.  The competing Shenandoah Valley Railroad, which traversed the Valley to the east, fared better and is today's NS Valley line.