Ohio Railroad (AM&O), a new line comprising the three railroads he headed, extending 408 miles from Norfolk to Bristol, Virginia, in 1870. This conflicted with the expansion of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from Baltimore and Alexandria, Virginia. The Mahones were colorful characters: the letters A, M & O were said to stand for "All Mine and Otelia's". They lived in Lynchburg, Virginia, during this time, but moved back to Petersburg in 1872. The Financial Panic of 1873 put the A, M & O into conflict with its bondholders in England and Scotland. After several years of operating under receiverships, Mahone's relationship with the creditors soured, and an alternate receiver, Henry Fink, was appointed to oversee the A, M & O's finances. Mahone still worked to regain control. His role as a railroad builder ended in 1881, when Philadelphia-based interests outbid him and purchased the A, M & O at auction, renaming it Norfolk and Western (N&W). Before the Civil War, the Virginia Board of Public Works had invested state funds in a substantial portion of the stock of the A, M & O's predecessor railroads. Although he lost control of the railroad, as a major political leader in Virginia, Mahone was able to arrange for a portion of the State's proceeds of the sale to be directed to help found a school to prepare teachers to help educate black children and former slaves near his home at Petersburg, where he had earlier been mayor. The Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute eventually expanded to become Virginia State University, with Virginia native John Mercer Langston returning from Ohio to become its first president. Mahone also directed some funds to help found the predecessor of today's Central State Hospital in Dinwiddie County, also near Petersburg. Mahone personally retained his ownership of land investments which were linked to the N&W's development of the rich coal fields of western Virginia and southern West Virginia, contributing to his rank as one of Virginia's wealthiest men at his death, according to his biographer, author Nelson Blake. Political career Mahone was active in the economic and political life of Virginia for almost 30 years, beginning in the midst of the Civil War when he was elected to the Virginia General Assembly as a delegate from Norfolk in 1863. He later served as mayor of Petersburg. After his unsuccessful bid for governor in 1877, he became the leader