Triple Crossing is a one-of-a-kind oddity. This is the only known situation in the world where three trains can cross each other at different levels. Although the three levels of track are shown here without trains, several photos of trains, passing concurrently at each level, can be seen at the web site http://www.piedmontsub.com/Richmond.shtml.

Directly across from Triple Crossing is the canal system originally designed to bring boats into the downtown area of the city. Today, the canals are used for tour boats only, but this intricate system of locks and hand-made stone work was used heavily during previous centuries. Built at the request of George Washington in 1784, the canal system provided a means of circumnavigating the seven miles of falls on the James River at Richmond. By linking the James River with the Kanawha River in western Virginia, which eventually flowed into Ohio River, he hoped to improve transportation and trade with inland areas of the country.

By 1800, a Great Basin was situated in the heart of the city. Located partially under the present-day James Center, the basin was surrounded by mills and warehouses which gave rise to the City of Richmond as a center of commerce and industry..

Another feature of this Downtown Richmond area is the Farmers' Market. Here, farmers can sell their produce in open-air stalls reminiscent of public markets in major cities in the early part of the last century.

Often called the "ghost tunnel" this attempt to penetrate Church Hill with a railroad tunnel ended in disaster. A cave-in during construction trapped members of the crew. A further attempt to rescue the workers ended in a second cave-in which also trapped the rescue workers who were attempting to rescue the original victims. Folklore surrounding this site is intense, and workers in an ice house, which backs up to the hill, have claimed for years to hear the scratching of "ghosts" of the workers trapped and entombed in the abandoned tunnel.