The Potts Valley Branch was built in the early 1900s and was constructed to serve an extensive iron ore field. The Big Stony Railway was the first portion of the line and it was built by private investors as an independent company. The Big Stony Railway was purchased by the Norfolk and Western Railway in 1905 by acquiring a majority of the stock of the corporation. The Big Stony Railway remained independent and the N&s;W chartered two additional companies to extend the railroad.
The Big Stony charter was amended to permit it to extend its line an additional 6 miles to reach the West Virginia state line. The Interior and West Virginia Railroad was chartered in West Virginia to build a rail line from the end of the Big Stony through Monroe County, West Virginia, to the state line at Craig County, Virginia. This 17.5-mile line would then connect with the Virginia and Potts Creek Railroad. This line was chartered to build a line extending 11 miles to the Potts Creek Post Office, near Paint Bank, Virginia.
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