Rockford's Railroad company dials are very rare."Chesapeake & Ohio" Railroad.The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway originated from the Louisa Railroad of Louisa County, Virginia, which began in 1836, and the James River & Kanawha Canal Company, which began in Virginia in 1785. At its height and before the first modern merger, The C&O was the result of approximately 150 smaller railroad lines that had been merged into the system over time.By 1850 the Louisa Railroad had tracks east as far as Richmond and west to Charlottesville. In light of its new and expanded services it was renamed Virginia Central.During the Civil War the Virginia Central was one of the Confederacy's most important lines. It shuttled food from the Shenandoah region to Richmond, and troops and supplies back and forth as the campaigns frequently surrounded its tracks. On more than one occasion it was used in covert operations, transporting troops directly to the battlefields. However, the railroad was a prime target for Federal armies, and by the end of the war only about five miles of track were operable and the company ha$40 in gold in its treasury.Following turbulent times the line was renamed "C&O". In 1888, the C&O became the property of Morgan and Vanderbilt. The next change did not come until 1923, when the Cleveland financiers, O. P. and M. J. Van Sweringen, bought the controlling interest in the line.