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Although most Americans have heard of the Auto Train, many have uncertain ideas regarding what it is and where it operates. The "longest passenger train in the world" provides a luxury auto-ferry service between Lorton, Virginia, and Sanford, Florida. The original Auto-Train Corporation, founded by Dr. Eugene Garfield, struggled financially in spite of its immense popularity. The company faced numerous crises, including financial setbacks and equipment problems due to damages that occurred during several derailments, which led to the corporation's demise in 1981. Although the corporation sold off its corporate assets, the concept was revived when Amtrak added the Auto Train service to its East Coast schedule. Images of Rail: Auto-Train presents photographs from the early operations to today, including pictures from the Amtrak era.

Although fairly new on the American scene of cities, Chesapeake possesses a long history dating back to the early 1600s, when the first intrepid settlers began establishing farms on the fertile soils of Tidewater Virginia. Over the centuries, the region divided itself into larger cities, such as Norfolk and Portsmouth, a number of small towns, and rural county governments. Combating the expansion of the City of Norfolk, the leaders and citizens of South

Norfolk and Norfolk County agreed to merge their governing entities in 1963 to create the new city of Chesapeake. Chesapeake, Virginia chronicles the history of the young city, nestled between the Elizabeth and Indian Rivers, and explores the various towns and villages that provide the area with its unique charm and character. From Berkley and South Norfolk to Deep Creek and Great Bridge, readers will journey into the past and hunt with the early American Indians that inhabited this lush landscape, toil with the colonial fathers as they began taming the land for future settlement, battle with the Continental troops as they defeated the British at Great Bridge, strain with the workers as they dig the historic Dismal Swamp Canal, and so on

across four centuries of struggle and prosperity into the twenty-first century.

Lexington, the seat for Rockbridge County, is situated in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley within minutes of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Main Street is part of Route 11--the Valley Pike/Great Road--and the architecture downtown looks much as it did in the 19th century. Lexington is home to Washington and Lee University and Virginia Military Institute. It is also the final resting place for Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson and Robert E. Lee, as well as their horses. Within a few blocks, one visits the Stonewall Jackson House, Lee Chapel Museum, the VMI Museum, and the George C. Marshall Library Museum.

First visited by English settlers in 1607, Virginia Beach has been a popular tourist destination ever since. The sea, sand, and sun are the most popular attractions, but throughout history the city has also been known for its unique architecture. The first geodesic dome built in the United States, designed by Buckminster Fuller, was the city's convention center for many years. The Cavalier Hotel, when built in 1927, was the state's largest brick structure. The new Cape Henry lighthouse, completed in 1881, remains the tallest cast iron lighthouse in the country. The lighthouse it replaced, a structure that still stands today, was erected in 1791 and was the first federally funded structure built in the United States.

Warsaw, located in Richmond County, is often called the heart of the Northern Neck. Lying between the Potomac River and the Rappahannock River, the Northern Neck was discovered by Capt. John Smith, who called the area "fruitfull and delightsome." George Washington later referred to the same region as the "garden of Virginia." The town of Warsaw, originally called Richmond Court House, was established in its present location around 1692. In 1831, the town petitioned to change its name to Warsaw after Warsaw, Poland. While Poles struggled against the partitioning of their country, sympathy for their plight was great and spread from Europe to the new world. Within the immediate area of Warsaw are two colonial homes that are still occupied by descendents of the original owners. Today Warsaw has a population of approximately 1,400. The Northern Neck and Richmond County are still sparsely populated and predominately agrarian.