Much of this information comes from an article written my Marvin Black.  I have as yet been unable to learn when it was written or where it was published, but the scanned copy I have seems to be 20+ years old.  If anybody knows more about the article, please let me know.

Early History
    There had been plans to build a railroad west from Danville, VA at least as early as 1857.  The Richmond & Danville wanted to build west to a connection with the Atlantic Mississippi & Ohio RR (later the N&W), but the Civil War prevented that from happening.  Around the same time, there were grandiose dreams of building a 3' gauge railroad from Norfolk to Bristol.  The plan was to build from Danville east as the Atlantic & Danville RR, and west as the Danville & New River RR.  The A&D was eventually built, but only a small portion was built as narrow gauge.  By the 1870s, the Piedmont railroad had connected the R&D with the North Carolina Railroad in Greensboro, NC, which gave them a western connection in Knoxville, TN and eliminated the need for the Danville to Bristol line.  There was already a standard gauge main line between Bristol and Norfolk (the AM&O), so there was little need for a second line, and especially a narrow gauge line at that.

Danville & New River - 3' Gauge
    There was still local demand for a railroad, so on March 29, 1873 the Danville & New River RR was chartered to build a railroad between Danville and some point on the AM&O not east of Christiansburg.  It was to pass through Martinsville, Patrick Court House (now Stuart) and Hillsville, and would likely have connected to the AM&O at what is now called West Radford.  Being an entirely local affair, there was simply not enough money to get the railroad built.  The first hurdle, because the charter designated Danville as the start of the line, was to cross the Dan River.  To get around this, the charter was ammended in 1877 to allow the line to connect with the Washington City, Virginia Midland & Great Southern somewhere between Danville and Chatham, and to have the eastern terminus in Dundee (North Danville).  This would allow the line to be built entirely on the northern side of the Dan River, thus eliminating the need for at least one major bridge.  Lack of money after the war still prevented construction for several years, however.
    What finally got construction started was a fight between the R&D and the B&O.  The B&O owned the Virginia Midland (formerly WS,VM&GS) and wanted to extend south into North Carolina.  In order to prevent this, the R&D sold the D&NR 250 tons of used rail and agreed to let them lay a third rail from Stokesland (5 miles south of Danville) into Danville.  This gave the D&NR access to Danville and saved it from having to bridge the Dan River in Danville.  Instead, space was allocated for shops and yard facilities on the R&D main line just south of the Dan River and Danville passenger station.  Using convict labor provided by the state, construction began at Stokesland on April 5, 1880.
    By the middle of 1880, the railroad had purchased a locomotive from H.K.Porter, and two flat cars and two pole cars from Tredegar Co. in Richmond.  Railway Age Magazine reported that the line was open to Cascade (21.43 miles) on December 1, 1881.  A coach was purchased from Jackson & Sharpe, and a second locomotive from H.K.Porter.  The March 1882 Official Guide listed one train each way, with stops in Danville, D&NR Jct., North Side Dan River, Buford's Trestle, Oak Hill, and Cascade.  By late August or Early September 1882, the line had been opened to Martinsville, and passenger train service scheduled for 4 hours 50 minutes over the 43 mile run.
    Despite plans to reach Patrick Court House by the end of 1883, the line had only made it to Spencer, 13 miles from Martinsville, by November.  Financial problems continued to plague the line, and there was little revenue generated by the sparsely populated country the line ran through.  The D&NR purchased another locomotive, passenger car, and eleven freight cars.  In addition it ordered another locomotive, two passenger cars, and fifteen freight cars.  To pay for all the new equipment, the railroad mortgaged its Middle Division (Martinsville to Patrick Court House) for $250,000 at 6%.  Patrick Court House was finally reached and service began on July 29, 1884.
    Although finances prevented the railroad ever being built further, there was no lack of dreaming.  Charters were written allowing the railroad to build branches in almost every direction.  There were plans to be built both north and south, to be known collectively as the Waller Branch Railroad, which would have connected to the N&M "not east of Roanoke" and somewhere in Rockingham County, NC (This line was eventually built - though not by the D&NR - as the Roanoke & Southern, and exists today as Norfolk Southern's Pumpkin Vine between Roanoke and Winston-Salem, NC).  Bonds were passed, money raised, and hops were high, but track was never laid beyond Stuart.
    In late 1886, the D&NR defaulted on interest payments, and it was in receivership by January 1887.  Still dreaming, the charter was amended in the hopes of raising $5 million in new capital, consolidating with or purchasing the Roanoke & Southern, and extending the line west to some point between the states of Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee.  There are indications that the N&W (which leased the R&S for 999 years) had been behind the push to consolidate the two lines.  Despite these plans, the line was put up for sale in 1890.  It was sold to the R&D for $300,000 on January 9, 1891.  It was reorganized as the Danville & Western Railway Co. with new bonds issued and guaranteed by the R&D.

Danville, Mocksville & Southwestern - 3' Gauge
    In 1880, the B&O reorganized the Washington City, Virginia Midland & Great Southern as the Virginia Midland, with plans to extend the line south to Charlotte, NC.  In order to prevent this, the Richmond Terminal Company (owner of the Richmond & Danville RR) obtained a charter from North Carolina to build a twenty mile railroad between a connection with the D&NR at Cascade and Madison, NC.  Organized on November 29, 1880, the DM&SW immediately began construction, grading the first seven miles.  They were said to be ready to begin laying track as soon as the D&NR reached Cascade.
    Service began to Leaksville, NC (now Eden) in April 1882, although the terminus was at the Smith River, about a mile and a half from Leaksville.  The last mile and a half was not completed until September 1883, then the North Carolina Midland transferred $9000 in bonds to the DM&SW, in exchange for half interest in the Smith River bridge.
    The railroad was never extended further.  The R&D purchased the VM, and so lost interest in the DM&SW.  With the threat of the B&O gone, the R&D had no need for another railroad into North Carolina, and funding dried up.  Because of the $9000 advance, the Richmond Terminal Co. was entitled to 490 of the 502 shares of DM&SW stock.  The DM&SW refused to transfer the stock when the R&D stopped supplying money for construction, and the result was a court battle in which the DM&SW ended up in receivership.  The line was leased to the D&NR on March 1, 1886, and was eventually surrendered to the Danville & Western on March 1, 1899.

Narrow Gauge D&W
    Known locally as the Dick & Willie, the Danville & Western never managed to achieve the dreams of it's predecessors.  Hampered by a lack of revenue, the line never the less managed to survive, and remained important to the people of southwestern Virginia and to the communities which it served.  Aside from the connection with the R&D at Stokesland, there was a connection with the N&W at Koehler (4 miles west of Martinsville) after the Roanoke & Southern opened in 1892.
    In 1899 a third rail was laid between Stokesland and Leaksville, down the old DM&SW, to serve the textile mills there.  By 1902, the standard gauge track had reached Martinsville.  Narrow gauge, and therefore presumably dual gauge, operations finally ended around 1905, at which time the entire line had been converted to standard gauge.  Nothing is known regarding the disposition of the narrow gauge equipment.

Standard Gauge D&W
    After conversion to standard gauge, the D&W continued operation as little more than a rural short line.  Plans to extend the line to Christiansburg or Bristol, as well as south to Winston-Salem, were tossed about occasionally, but the money was never found, and the railroad never grew beyond its original narrow gauge footprint.  The Leaksville branch had long been the most profitable portion of the line, and business on the western end decreased to the point that, in 1942, the track between Koehler and Stuart was abandoned.
    For many years, the D&W had been considered a part of the Carolina & Northwestern Ry. (at least to the extent of appearing in C&NW financial records in the mid '30s), which was itself a subsidiary of Southern Ry.  Southern equipment was frequently used on the D&W, and many of the wooden cars were built by Southern's Lenoir Car Works.  After around 1950, the D&W ceased to exist as a separate company, and all operations were conducted under the C&NW name.  By the mid '60s, the C&NW was absorbed into the Southern Ry. system, and after that date, the D&W existed as a Southern branch line, operated out of Danville.

The D&W Today
    The D&W exists today as a branch line on Norfolk Southern.  The main line exists between Stokesland and Leaksville Jct. as the DW line, but is abandoned west of there.  Part of the Leaksville branch exists as the DL line, extending from Leaksville Jct. and Spray, a few miles short of Eden (formerly Leaksville).  The primary customers on the line are Duke Power and Miller Brewing, both in Eden.  These and a handful of other customers keep a local busy 5 days a week,  along with unit coal trains to the Duke Power plant on occasion.  There is also a short segment of the old main line in service at Koehler, served from the former N&W Pumpkin Vine, to serve a few businesses in Martinsville.
    The old Martinsville branch and a portion of the old main line are being converted to a walking/biking trail, as reported here.  Other portions of the old main line, especially between Martinsville and Stuart, can be found with some effort.  Some are now paved, but most exist as a grassy remnant of the old roadbed.  The D&W also exists in the collective memory of railroaders, who still refer to the line as the Dick & Willie, some 60 years after the railroad ceased to exist.