The Washington and Old Dominion Railroad (colloquially referred to as the W&OD) was an intrastate short-line railroad located in Northern Virginia, United States. The railroad was a successor to the bankrupt Washington and Old Dominion Railway and to several earlier railroads, the first of which began operating in 1859. The railroad closed in 1968.
The Railroad's oldest line extended from Alexandria on the Potomac River northwest to Bluemont at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Snickers Gap, not far from the boundary line between Virginia and West Virginia. The railroad's route largely paralleled the routes of the Potomac River and the present Virginia State Route 7. The single-tracked line followed the winding course of Four Mile Run upstream from Alexandria through Arlington County to Falls Church. At that point, the railroad was above the Fall Line and was able to follow a more direct northwesterly course in Virginia through Dunn Loring, Vienna, Sunset Hills (now in Reston), Herndon, Sterling, Ashburn and Leesburg. The line turned sharply to the west after passing through Clarke's Gap in Catoctin Mountain west of Leesburg. Its tracks then continued westward through Paeonian Springs, Hamilton, Purcellville and Round Hill to reach its terminus at Bluemont. A branch connected the line to Rosslyn.
The W&OD was one of the major commercial and transportation corridors of the northern Virginia area from the mid-nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth century. Though it never reached the Shenandoah Valley or the West Virginia coal country, or allowed Alexandria to compete with Baltimore for western trade as envisioned, it did play a significant role in the development of northern Virginia. It served as a local carrier that was extensively used and fought over during the Civil War; served Washington vacationers headed to the Blue Ridge mountains; hauled agricultural products into Washington; aided the development of Falls Church and Dunn Loring; and, at the end of its operational life, hauled materials used in the construction of Dulles Airport and the Capital Beltway. It is one of the few steam railroads in America to have transitioned to both electric and diesel operations.
After the closure of the railroad, the track was removed. The Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Trail (W&OD Trail), the Bluemont Junction Trail, the Mount Jefferson Park and Greenway Trail, several other trails, Interstate 66 (I-66), and Old Dominion Drive (VA Route 309) have replaced much of the railroad's route.
History W&OD predecessors (1855–1911)
The Washington and Old Dominion Railroad was originally incorporated as the Alexandria and Harper's Ferry (A&HF) Railroad in 1847. The goal of the A&HF was to connect to the Winchester and Potomac River Railroad in Harper's Ferry and thus redirect trade from the Shenandoah that had started going to Baltimore via the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad. But in 1848, the Winchester and Potomac became part of the B&O putting an end to that plan.
In 1853 the charter of the A&HF was amended to change the name to the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire (AL&H) Railroad and change the route to pass as close as possible to Leesburg, then through Clarke's Gap and into the Blue Ridge Mountains through the Bloomery Gap of Cacapon to Paddytown in what is now West Virginia and there connect with a railroad serving the coal fields. Construction on the line began in 1855, under the presidency of Lewis McKenzie.Williams, p. 3. Still intending to cross the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Shenandoah River to reach the coal fields that are now within Mineral County, West Virginia, the AL&H began operating to Vienna in 1859 from a terminal near Princess and Fairfax Streets in Alexandria's present Old Town neighborhood.Harwood, pp. 12–15.
In early 1860, service was extended to Ashburn and in May to Leesburg in Loudoun County, and the right-of-way had been graded all the way to Clarke's Gap. One of the early passengers was President James Buchanen when visiting his summer White House, the Sterling Hotel in Sterling.
Because of its proximity to Washington, D.C., the line saw much use and disruption during the Civil War.Multiple sources: Williams, pp. 8–10. In May 1861 it was seized by Union forces and incorporated into the U.S. Military Railroad. A month later, under General Lee's orders, retreating Confederate troops destroyed much of the line west of Vienna. The Union primarily used the railroad to bring wood into Washington and to supply Union troops at camps south of the city. On June 17, 1861, it was the site of a small battle, when troops from South Carolina ambushed the train near Vienna. The line also benefited from the war, because the Union built connections from it to the Alexandria & Washington railroad and the Orange and Alexandria as well as a new railroad bridge across the Potomac with the AL&H was able to access. At the end of the war, the railroad helped transport the Army of the Potomac back to Washington and on August 8, 1865, it was returned to its original owners. Because of the damage and neglect, service was not restored to Herndon until 9 January 1866 and to Leesburg until 1867.
After the war, the line was extended along the grade built before the war, reaching Clarke's Gap in 1868; and the planned western terminus was changed from Paddy Town via Vestal's gap to Piedmont, WV via Snicker's Gap. In 1870 the western terminus was changed again, this time to Point Pleasant, WV, which required a charter with the new state of West Virginia. In compliance with the new charter the name of the line was changed to the Washington and Ohio Railroad. At the same time, the line was extended to Hamilton (then called Irene Station) and passenger service was doubledMultiple sources: Harwood, pp. 20–21. In 1874, the line was extended to Purcelleville and then Round Hill, grading began on the Winchester extension (which included a cup through rocks at Scotland Gap between Round Hill and Snickersville) and a new 131-foot Howe truss bridge was erected over Broad Run.Multiple sources: Williams, p. 27. Harwood, pp. 20–22.
The expense of expansion, the Panic of 1873 and the burden of debt took their toll and in 1878, the Washington and Ohio went into receivership. It was acquired by new owners in 1882 and they changed the name to the Washington and Western Railroad, but it only lasted a year before defaulting on their debt. It was sold again in 1883 and the name changed to the Washington, Ohio and Western (WO&W) Railroad.Williams, pp. 27–28. During this time, owners purchased new rolling stock and upgraded the rail and several bridges.
In 1886, through a series of consolidations, purchases and leases the Richmond and Danville Railroad took control of the WO&W through a lease agreement.Multiple sources: 1882 system map of Richmond and Danville Railroad 1893 system map of Richmond and Danville Railroad The Richmond and Danville also acquired a branch that paralleled the WO&W while traveling between Manassas and Strasburg, Virginia, where it connected to railroads in the Shenandoah Valley west of the Blue Ridge that the WO&W did not reach (see: Manassas Gap Railroad).Multiple sources: Harwood, p. 24. Williams, p. 28. In 1888, the Richmond and Danville began to operate the WO&W's trains between Washington, D.C., and Round Hill. During this time, President Grover Cleveland frequently rode the train to Leesburg to fish and the town of Dunn-Loring was platted along the tracks.
In 1894, the newly formed Southern Railway absorbed the Richmond and Danville Railroad and acquired the WO&W.Williams, pp. 42–43.Harwood, p. 26. In 1900, the Southern Railway extended the line westward for four miles from Round Hill to Snickersville, which was then renamed Bluemont; but abandoned all plans to go to West Virginia. The extension was done to service tourist and day-trippers from Washington. The Southern Railway designated the line as its Bluemont Branch.
When the Spanish-American War broke out, the War Department built Camp Alger near Dunn Loring and the WO&W found new business ferry soldiers back and forth to the base. It even carried President William McKinley to Camp Alger to see the troops.
By 1908, steam locomotives were hauling Southern Railway passenger trains from Washington Union Station in Washington, D.C., to Alexandria Junction north of Old Town Alexandria, where they switched to travel westward on the Bluemont Branch. Connecting trains shuttled passengers between Alexandria Junction and the former AL&H terminal in old town Alexandria. On weekends, express trains carried vacationers from Washington to Bluemont and other towns in western Loudoun County in which resorts had developed.
Meanwhile, in 1906, electric trolleys began to run on the Great Falls and Old Dominion Railroad (GF&OD) northwest to Great Falls from Georgetown in Washington, D.C.Harwood, pp. 33–41.Williams, pp. 44, 71. The line, which John Roll McLean and Stephen Benton Elkins owned at the time, crossed the Potomac River on the old Aqueduct Bridge and passed through Rosslyn. The trolleys then traveled northwest on a double-tracked line through Arlington and Fairfax County to reach an amusement park (trolley park) that the railroad company constructed and operated near the falls. The GF&OD had been such a success, that they began to look for opportunities to expand and the Bluemont Branch made a desirable target.
Maps
Washington and Old Dominion Railway (1911–1936)
In 1911, McLean and Elkins formed a new corporation, the Washington and Old Dominion Railway.Harwood, p. 45. In that year, they concluded negotiations with the Southern Railway to lease the Southern's Bluemont Branch and to take over all service on the branch on July 1, 1912.Harwood, p. 46. The lease excluded the portion of the Southern's route that connected Potomac Yard with the former AL&H terminal in old town Alexandria.
In 1912, the GF&OD became the "Great Falls Division" of the W&OD Railway, while the Southern's Bluemont Branch became a part of the W&OD Railway's "Bluemont Division".Harwood, pp. 46, 49. The W&OD electrified all of its operations over the next four years, becoming an interurban electric trolley system that carried passengers, mail, milk and freight.Williams, pp. 45, 72.
From that time onward, W&OD trains crossed over Potomac Yard, which opened in 1906, on a 1300-foot long trestle constructed around the same time for the Southern Railway.Multiple sources: Harwood, pp. 32, 46–47. In contrast to the Southern Railway's earlier Bluemont Branch service, the W&OD Railway's Bluemont Division did not serve Washington Union Station.Williams, pp. 43–44.
In the first few months, they invested in several upgrades to the system. To join its two lines, the W&OD Railway constructed a double-tracked Bluemont Division connecting line that traveled between two new junctions in Arlington: Bluemont Junction on the Alexandria-Bluemont line and Thrifton Junction on the Georgetown-Great Falls line.Williams, p. 72. They also constructed a turning wye at Bluemont Junction which ended between 7th and 8th street N. The connecting line passed through Lacey (near the west end of Ballston), crossing on a through girder bridge over a competing interurban electric trolley line, the Fairfax line of the Washington-Virginia Railway (see Northern Virginia trolleys).Williams, pp. 107, 144, 156. By October 1912 they had electrified the Bluemont Division from Bluemont Junction to Leesburg and by December all the way to Bluemont.