When the Roanoke Navigation Canal opened in 1824, the terminus at "Welden's Orchard" soon replaced Halifax as the region's commercial trading hub. Shallow-draft batteau coming downstream transferred their goods to larger commercial vessels bound east to the Albemarle Sound and then north through the Dismal Swamp Canal to the seaport at Norfolk, Virginia. This efficient and cost-effective trade route soon faced competition from the railroad. North Carolina leaders disliked seeing goods moving through their state only to be exported from Virginia, and they watched Virginian investors use steam train technology to bridge the Roanoke River in 1837 and connect Weldon to Petersburg and Norfolk by rail. In 1840, the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad began operations, linking the busy wharfs at Weldon to the state's only deep-water port, and at the time it was the longest railroad in the world, running 161 1/2 continuous miles. Eventually four major railroads converged at Weldon: the Seaboard and Roanoke and the Raleigh and Gaston running east-west, later merged into Seaboard Air Line, and the Petersburg and Roanoke and the Wilmington and Weldon running north-south, later becoming the Atlantic Coast Line. By the early 1900s, Weldon had become a vibrant rail hub with train sheds, freight buildings, passenger depots, hotels, and switching yards, while the canal and river boats were forced out of business because shipping by train was safer, more efficient, and more cost-effective. Although Weldon's rail industry prospered for decades, it eventually declined along with railroads nationwide, and many of the town's railroad landmarks disappeared. Three important structures survived: the Seaboard Air Line freight terminal, originally built in 1838 and enlarged in 1881, which remained in railroad use until 1967 before conversion into offices and later housing local radio stations and the WNVN television studio; and two structures completed in 1911, the overhead viaduct built by the Atlantic Coast Line and the Union Station passenger depot built jointly with Seaboard Air Line. In 1908, the Atlantic Coast Line began constructing a 3,700 foot viaduct and bridge over the Roanoke River to replace the 1837 structure. Because of Weldon's sloping landscape, the Atlantic Coast Line tracks crossed 20 feet above those of Seaboard Air Line, at the very point where both companies most needed to exchange freight and passengers. A joint Union Station was therefore built, with Seaboard Air Line constructing the lower terminal building and the Atlantic Coast Line building the elevated platforms and waiting rooms above, the two levels connected by stairs and an elevator for easy transfer of goods and people. These facilities served for sixty years until Weldon's passenger service ended in 1971, after which the upper platforms, stairs, waiting rooms, and elevator were removed, the lower Union Station became the town library, and the overhead viaduct continued in use as part of CSX Transportation's main north-south line.