and financed a new entity, the Blue Ridge Railroad, to accomplish the hard and expensive task of crossing the Blue Ridge mountain barrier to the west. Rather than attempting the more formidable Swift Run Gap, under the leadership of the great early civil engineer Claudius Crozet, the state-owned Blue Ridge Railroad built over the mountains at the next gap to the south, Rockfish Gap near Afton Mountain, using four tunnels, including the 4,263-foot Blue Ridge Tunnel at the top of the pass, then one of the longest tunnels in the world. The tunnel was 'holed-through' on Christmas Day, 1856, and was less than six inches off perfect alignment, as construction had proceeded from either end. Rail service didn't begin until April 1858, although temporary tracks over the top of the gap were in operation as early as 1854. Due to the extreme grade, the first train to cross over the mountain wrecked on its return journey eastwards the following day. The Blue Ridge Tunnel eliminated this grade. As a corporate entity, the Blue Ridge Railroad ceased to exist when the tunnels were completed, becoming part of the Virginia Central Railroad. (During the American Civil War, the tunnels were utilized as part of the so-called foot cavalry movements of the Confederate troops of General Stonewall Jackson). Covington to the Ohio River In the 1850s, it became clear that the biggest obstacle to a thorough route to the Ohio River between the existing canal, railroads and navigable rivers was the rugged terrain of the Allegheny Front (eastern side) of the Appalachian Plateau (an area known in old Virginia as the "Transmountaine" region) to reach the Kanawha River (a tributary of the Ohio River). In 1853, the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation authorizing the Board of Public Works to construct a railroad from Covington to the Ohio River. Planned for future incorporation and sale of stock, the project was called the Covington and Ohio Railroad, but construction was commenced with state funds appropriations. Important grading work on the Alleghany grade and considerable work on numerous tunnels over the mountains and in the west was done. It also did a good deal of roadway work around Charleston on the Kanawha River. However, the work was interrupted by the American Civil War. After the War, state funds were no longer available for the project. Virginia's pre-war debt became a major political issue and allocation of