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Abstract Chartered in 1881, the Norfolk and Western Railroad was created and organized when Clarence H. Clark and his associates purchased the property and franchises belonging to the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad Company.  The combined length owned by Clark and associates, after the rights had been bought in a public sale, was just over 400 miles.  By the year 1900 another 1,100 miles had been added including a branch as far north as Columbus, Ohio.  Growth was limited for the railroad...