the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad reached Leesburg before the start of the Civil War
Source: Library of Congress, Part of map of portions of the mility. dep'ts of Washington, Pennsylvania, Annapolis, and north eastern Virginia (1862)
the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad reached Leesburg before the start of the Civil War
Source: Library of Congress, Part of map of portions of the mility. dep'ts of Washington, Pennsylvania, Annapolis, and north eastern Virginia (1862)
In 1847, as the Virginia portion of the District of Columbia was retroceded to Virginia, the General Assembly chartered the first railroad in Alexandria. The Alexandria and Harpers Ferry Railroad planned to build across the Blue Ridge. It was authorized to consolidate with the Winchester and Potomac Railroad, which ran from Winchester to Harpers Ferry.
The new railroad would bring more Shenandoah Valley trade directly to the port of Alexandria. It would bypass rival Georgetown, unlike the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, and compete with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad which carried agricultural products to Baltimore.
The Alexandria and Harpers Ferry Railroad was unable to attract investors, and the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad gained control over the Winchester and Potomac Railroad. Local and state financing went instead to the Orange and Alexandria (O&A) Railroad and the Manassas Gap Railroad, which would bring business to Alexandria rather than Baltimore.
West of the Blue Ridge, the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad invested in improving its access to the Shenandoah Valley by upgrading the Potomac River bridge used by the Winchester and Potomac Railroad at Harpers Ferry. An iron truss replaced the wooden spans in 1851, and Shenandoah Valley trade continued to go north to Baltimore by rail rather than east to Alexandria.
The supporters of a railroad from Alexandria to Winchester continued to pursue the project, getting extensions to the required start date for the Alexandria and Harpers Ferry Railroad. In 1853, another amendment changed the name to the Alexandria, Loudoun & Hampshire Railroad. The investors targeted the coal trade. The re-chartered railroad was authorized to build from Alexandria to the coal mining area in Hampshire County at Paddytown. Paddytown is now called Keyser and is located in Mineral County, West Virginia.
the route planned for the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad extended to Paddy Town (now Keyser) on the Potomac River
Source: Library of Congress, Railroad map of the eastern, western and northern states, and Canada (1859)
The railroad's directors also considered in 1853 if they should construct a branch from Alexandria upstream along the Potomac River to a location opposite Washington, DC. That plan was proposed before the Alexandria and Washington Railroad was chartered in 1854.
To prevent diversion of traffic to Baltimore, the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad charter prohibited connecting to any railroad (i.e., the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad) east of Cumberland, Maryland.1
"An Archeological Assessment of the Southern Plaza Project Area Alexandria, Virginia," John Milner Associates, 1988, p.12, https://www.alexandriava.gov/uploadedFiles/historic/info/archaeology/SiteReportSeifertSouthernPlazaUSMRR.pdf; Ames W. Williams, "The Washington and Old Dominion Railroad," Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, DC, Volume 66/68 (1966/1968), pp.231-232, https://www.jstor.org/stable/40067258; John F. Burns, "The History of the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad," Arlington Historical Magazine, Arlington Historical Society, Volume 1, Number 1 (October 1957), p.32, http://arlingtonhistoricalsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/1957-WOD.pdf (last checked May 29, 2020)
the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad crossed over the Alexandria Canal, a competitor for freight traffic
Source: Library of Congress, Topographical map of the District of Columbia (by Albert Boschke, 1861)
One proposed route went west of Leesburg through Clark's Gap, now used by US 7, to Hillsborough. It veered north to Vestal's Gap (also known as Keyes' Gap), a route which is now followed by Route 9. A tunnel 1,600' long would be required to cut through to the western slope of the Blue Ridge.
the route planned for the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad via Vestal's Gap to Winchester
Source: Library of Congress, Part of map of portions of the milit'y dep'ts of Washington, Pennsylvania, Annapolis, and north eastern Virginia (1861)
The alternative route was further south. It ran past the Oatlands plantation and through the gap in the Catoctin Mountain formed by Goose Creek. The Loudoun Branch of the Manassas Gap Railroad planned to use the same passage. The Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad considered going west towards Snickersville, then excavating a 4,500' tunnel through the Blue Ridge near Snicker's Gap. It would reach the Shenandoah River one mile downstream of Castleman's Ferry, where Route 7 crosses today.1
"Chief Engineer's Report to the President of the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad," October 15, 1853, in Annual Report of the Board of Public Works to the General Assembly of Virginia, Board of Public Works, 1854, pp.272-273, https://books.google.com/books?id=GpYAAAAAMAAJ (last checked May 29, 2020)
To encourage construction through the Blue Ridge, Clarke County committed to purchasing $100,000 of the railroad's stock. To tap into the coal-hauling traffic at Paddytown, west of Winchester, the easier water-level route along the Potomac River was not available; the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad had already laid its track along that route. To get across the Blue Ridge, expensive tunnels would be required at South Branch Mountain and Knobly Mountain.1
Herbert H. Harwood Jr., Rails to the Blue Ridge: The Washington and Old Dominion Railroad, 1847-1968, Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, 2000, p.14, http://www.scc.virginia.gov/docketsearch/DOCS/198_01!.PDF (last checked June 4, 2020)
in 1853, the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad considered crossing the Blue Ridge at Vestal/Keyes' Gap or via tunnel near Snicker's Gap
Source: ESRI, ArcGIS Online
the Manassas Gap Railroad's Loudoun Branch, if it had been built, would have been a major competitor of the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad
Source: Library of Congress, Map of the Manassas Gap Railroad and its extensions; September, 1855
The passenger terminal and company headquarters were located at the northeast corner of North Fairfax and Princess streets in Alexandria. The railroad had no track connecting it in Alexandria with the Orange and Alexandria Railroad or the Alexandria and Washington Railroad. Traffic on all three lines was expended to be to and from the port city, and the investors did not plan to develop a connected railroad network.
at the start of the Civil War in 1861, the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad did not connect with the other two railroads inside Alexandria
Source: Library of Congress, Map of Alexandria, Virginia (by Robert Knox Sneden, 1861)
Track construction required multiple bridges over Four Mile Run and streams west of Falls Church:1
"Out of the Attic: Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad," Alexandria Times, September 9, 2010, https://alextimes.com/2010/09/alexandria-loudoun-and-hampshire-railro/
Herbert H. Harwood Jr., Rails to the Blue Ridge: The Washington and Old Dominion Railroad, 1847-1968, Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, 2000, p.9, http://www.scc.virginia.gov/docketsearch/DOCS/198_01!.PDF; "Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Historic District," Nomination Form, National Register of Historic Places, July 25, 2000, http://www.scc.virginia.gov/docketsearch/DOCS/198_01!.PDF (last checked January 4, 2025)
the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad followed the valley of Four Mile Run westward to Falls Church
Source: Library of Congress, Atlas of fifteen miles around Washington, including the counties of Fairfax and Alexandria, Virginia (by G.M. Hopkins, 1879)
Operations finally started in 1859, and initial service stopped at Vienna. Later service ended at Farmwell (modern Asburn) until trestles were built across Broad Run and Goose Creek. On May 17, 1860, trains reached Leesburg. There were two trains each day, with the trip between Alexandria-Leesburg requiring two hours.
Passengers traveling further west had to take a stage, pulled by horses, to cross the Blue Ridge. Construction continued until the Civil War, using Irish immigrants. The company chose to build on the route through Clarke's Gap, which at 635 feet in elevation ultimately became the highest point on the line. The 1860 Census recorded a "Railroad Contractor" and about 30 Irish immigrants living in a camp there.1
"Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Historic District," Nomination Form, National Register of Historic Places, July 25, 2000, http://www.scc.virginia.gov/docketsearch/DOCS/198_01!.PDF; Herbert H. Harwood Jr., Rails to the Blue Ridge: The Washington and Old Dominion Railroad, 1847-1968, Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, 2000, p.16, https://archive.org/details/railstoblueridge0000harw; "Construction of the railroad through Ashburn was arduous," Ashburn Magazine, December 17, 2024, https://www.ashburnmagazine.com/features/construction-of-the-railroad-through-ashburn-was-arduous/; "Leesburg Historic District: A Survey of the Nicholas Minor Section," Historic and Architectural Resources (HaAR), August 31, 1998, p.9, https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/pdf_files/SpecialCollections/LD-168_LeesburgHD_Survey_Nicholas_Minor_section_1998_HAAR_report.pdf (last checked January 4, 2025)
The first tactical use of a railroad in the Civil War occurred on June 17, 1861. Ohio troops were being carried to Vienna by train. During an ambush by Confederates, the engineer disconnected the locomotive and retreated, forcing the Union soldiers to fight briefly.
After Union forces seized Alexandria on May 24, 1861, Virginia military officials led by Robert E. Lee recognized that they could not retain control over the land near the Potomac River. West of Vienna, trestles and tracks of the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad were destroyed by Confederates in 1861.
Confederates took two of the railroad's locomotives before they could be captured by the Union Army. Locomotives were valuable items. Southern factories would be devoted to manufacturing military materials, and Southern railroads would struggle throughout the Civil War to find and replace equipment. Between July 2-11, 1861, the two locomotives were removed from the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad tracks at Leesburg and pulled by horses to Piedmont Station (now Delaplane). At the depot, they were placed on the tracks of the the Manassas Gap Railroad and hauled to Richmond.1
"Diary of Thomas R. Sharp - 1861," Confederate Railroads, http://www.csa-railroads.com/Essays/Diary_of_Thomas_R._Sharp_1861.htm (last checked June 15, 2020)
the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad headquarters and passenger station in Alexandria was used as a Union military office during the Civil War
Source: Southern Methodist University, o. 170. Headquarters Capt. J. G. C. Lee, A. Q. M., Alexandria, Va.
The western end of the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad was not rebuilt between 1861-65; it offered no value to either side. the US Military Rail Road maintained the tracks and ran trains on the 15 miles of track east of Vienna, mostly to carry supplies for troops stationed outside of Alexandria. Trains headed east brought firewood into the city from Fairfax County.1
"Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad," Annual Report, Virginia, Railroad Commissioner, 1898, p.34, https://books.google.com/books?id=mCUaAQAAIAAJ; "Fairfax County Civil War Sites Inventory," Fairfax County Park Authority, August 2002, p.13, https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/sites/parks/files/assets/documents/naturalcultural/civil%20war%20inventory.pdf (last checked June 15, 2020)
during the Civil War, the US Military Railroad continued service to Vienna
Source: Library of Congress, A map of Fairfax County, and parts of Loudoun and Prince William Counties, Va., and the District of Columbia
After the Confederate armies surrendered in 1865, two Union Armies (Army of the Tennessee and the Army of Georgia) came to Northern Virginia briefly. They camped along the eastern edge of the roadbed of the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad before General William Sherman led them down Pennsylvania Avenue in the Grand Review on May 24, 1865.1
"Fairfax County Civil War Sites Inventory," Fairfax County Park Authority, August 2002, p.30, https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/sites/parks/files/assets/documents/naturalcultural/civil%20war%20inventory.pdf (last checked June 20, 2020)
The US Military Railroad returned the railroad to the Virginia Board of Public Works on August 8, 1865. Due to the early seizure and late return, the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad spent the longest time under control of the US Military Rail Road. The track to Leesburg was not restored quickly; the first train did not steam into town until June 1, 1867.
Business was slow in Virginia after the Civil War and railroads were not profitable. The Board of Public Works sold its stock in all railroads except the Richmonfd, Fredericksburg and Potomac (RF&P) Railroad. The Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad sold bonds in order to raise the funds needed to purchase the state's share of the company's stock. That ended the public-private partnership.1
"Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Historic District," National Register of Historic Places nomination form, July 25, 2000, https://web.archive.org/web/20170928171959/http://www.scc.virginia.gov/docketsearch/DOCS/198_01!.PDF; "Bluemont Branch," TrainWeb, http://www.trainweb.org/bluemontbranch/Pages/History.html; "Leesburg Historic District: A Survey of the Nicholas Minor Section," Historic and Architectural Resources (HaAR), August 31, 1998, p.54, https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/pdf_files/SpecialCollections/LD-168_LeesburgHD_Survey_Nicholas_Minor_section_1998_HAAR_report.pdf (last checked January 4, 2025)
In 1870, the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad went bankrupt and reorganized as the Washington & Ohio Railroad. Investors were willing to look towards future profits, and in 1870 the Washington & Ohio Railroad extended track eight miles further west through Clark's Gap to Hamilton. The railroad reached Purcellville and then Round Hill in 1874.
With visionary dreams of post-war expansion, the Washington & Ohio Railroad obtained authorization from the new state of West Virginia to build track all the way to the Ohio River. It was allowed to connect to the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) and/or the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) between the Little Kanawha and the Big Sandy rivers. Despite western dreams, the Blue Ridge remained an expensive barrier requiring a tunnel; plans for extension to the Ohio River were never realized.1 "Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Historic District," National Register of Historic Places nomination form, July 25, 2000, https://web.archive.org/web/20170928171959/http://www.scc.virginia.gov/docketsearch/DOCS/198_01!.PDF (last checked January 6, 2025)
The Washington & Ohio Railroad went into receivership in 1876. The company was reorganized again in 1878 as the Washington and Western Railroad, then reorganized once more in 1883 by New York investors as the Washington, Ohio & Western Railroad. The Virginia General Assembly authorized it in 1884 to build westward and connect with other railroads, so long as the western extension went through Winchester.
the Washington & Ohio Railroad lasted from 1870-1878
Source: Library of Congress, Atlas of fifteen miles around Washington, including the counties of Fairfax and Alexandria, Virginia
In 1886, the Washington, Ohio & Western Railroad was leased to the Richmond and Danville Railroad for 999 years. Operating the Washington, Ohio & Western Railroad would not generate profits for the Richmond and Danville Railroad, based on the recent financial history.
Control of the Washington, Ohio & Western Railroad ensured that the Norfolk and Western Railroad, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, the Pennsylvania Railroad, or some other competitor would not use the charter to build new track across the Blue Ridge to Alexandria. A rival railroad would divert traffic off various railroads also controlled by the Richmond and Danville Railroad, particularly the Virginia Midland using the route built originally by the Manassas Gap Railroad.
The Richmond and Danville Railroad was reorganized together with the Richmond Terminal and became the Southern Railway in 1894. The Southern Railway retained the 999-year lease of the Washington, Ohio & Western Railroad.1 "A Guide to the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Collection, 1914-2000," Virginia Heritage, http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=fcpl/vif00120.xml; "Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Historic District," National Register of Historic Places nomination form, July 25, 2000, https://web.archive.org/web/20170928171959/http://www.scc.virginia.gov/docketsearch/DOCS/198_01!.PDF (last checked January 6, 2025)
Passenger business boomed briefly in 1898. During the Spanish-American War, Camp Alger was established near Dunn Loring. Every day some of the 20,000 soldiers traveled into Washington DC for business or while on leave. One, the poet Carl Sandburg, is remembered today by Sandburg Street in Dunn Loring.
Development of Dunn Loring depended upon the railroad. General William Dunn and Dr. George Loring bought 600 acres of farmland in 1886 and created what may be the earliest platted transit-oriented subdivision in Virginia. That same year Carl Wiehle began purchasing land near the Thornton Station on the Washington, Ohio & Western Railroad. He planned a new community there, with an industrial area where the Virginia Serpentine and Talc Company quarried soapstone near the station.
Later, the land acquired by Wiehle was renamed Sunset Hills. A. Smith Bowman built a distillery there after Prohibition ended in 1933. Wiehle's vision was later realized by Robert E. Simon with the development of Reston, but by that time the railroad was closing down.
In 1898, the Washington, Ohio & Western Railroad was incorporated formally into the Southern Railway and lost its independent identity. The Washington, Ohio & Western Railroad became another "fallen flag" railroad company.
In 1900, the Southern Railway extended track westward towards the Blue Ridge from Round Hill to Snickersville. The extension was not justified by an anticipated increase in shipments of mineral or agricultural products; the railroad anticipated an increase in passengers. Snickersville, the final destination, was renamed Bluemont in hopes of attracting more tourists interested in a mountain vacation.
after acquiring the Washington, Ohio & Western Railroad in 1894, the Southern Railway extended track in 1900 from Round Hill to Snickersville (Bluemont)
Source: Library of Congress, Map of northern Virginia (1894)
The Southern Railway interchanged with the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad at Alexandria Junction. Construction of Potomac Yard in 1906 provided a more efficient location for interchanging freight cars.1 "Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Historic District," National Register of Historic Places nomination form, July 25, 2000, https://web.archive.org/web/20170928171959/http://www.scc.virginia.gov/docketsearch/DOCS/198_01!.PDF (last checked January 6, 2025)
Sandburg Street honors Carl Sandburg, who stayed at Camp Alger in 1898
Source: ESRI, ArcGIS Online
The Southern Railway operated the line to Snickersville until 1912. It then granted a 50-year lease of the track to the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad, which was carrying passengers from Georgetown to Great Falls Park. The Southern Railway retained control over the connection into Potomac Yard, including the track stretching to the Alexandria waterfront.
Starting in 1874, after the Pennsylvania Railroad acquired control of access to Alexandria from Washington DC, The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad floated rail cars across the Potomac River from Shepherd's Landing to Alexandria. That car float continued until the six railroads servicing Alexandria negotiated an interchange agreement and built Potomac Yard. During World War II, a rail bridge was constructed between Shepherd's Landing and the waterfront to handle the extra traffic during the war. The track connecting the waterfront to Potomac Yard was useful again.1
"The history of Baltimore & Ohio’s Shepherd Branch," Trains Magazine, December 14, 2001, https://www.trains.com/ctr/railroads/railroad-operations/the-history-of-baltimore-and-ohios-shepherd-branch/ (last checked January 6, 2025)
Potomac Yard in 1945
Source: US Geological Survey (USGS), Alexandria, VA 1:31.680 topographic quadrangle (1945)
After leasing the original Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad track between Alexandria and Bluemont, the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad had to build a three mile extension to connect to its existing track. The connection was named Bluemont Junction, and the leased line was designated as the Bluemont Branch.
The lease was converted to a purchase by the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad in 1944.
The Washington and Old Dominion Railroad was abandoned in 1968. The right-of-way was converted into a powerline transmission corridor and a trail. The Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) trail through Northern Virginia today follows the route of the historic Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad.1
"A Guide To The Alexandria, Loudoun & Hampshire Railroad Account Book, Guilford, VA, 1860-1868," Virginia Heritage, https://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaxtf/view?docId=tbl/viletbl00005.xml; John F. Burns, "The History of the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad," Arlington Historical Magazine, Arlington Historical Society, Volume 1, Number 1 (October 1957), pp.33-35, http://arlingtonhistoricalsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/1957-WOD.pdf; "Bluemont," The History of Loudoun County, Virginia, https://www.loudounhistory.org/history/bluemont/; "Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Historic District," National Register of Historic Places nomination form, July 25, 2000, https://web.archive.org/web/20170928171959/http://www.scc.virginia.gov/docketsearch/DOCS/198_01!.PDF (last checked May 29, 2020)
in 1878, the original Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad was called the Washington and Ohio Railroad
Source: Library of Congress, Atlas of fifteen miles around Washington (by G. M. Hopkins, 1878)
the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad was planned to cross the Blue Ridge, pass through Winchester, then connect to the coal mines at Paddytown
Source: Library of Congress, Map showing route of Norfolk & Petersburg Rail Road and its connections with Ohio & Mississippi Rivers (1858)
in 1906, a railroad connected Alexandria with the Blue Ridge at Bluemont
Source: Library of Congress, Post route map of the states of Virginia and West Virginia (Postmaster General, 1906)
the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire Railroad planned to cross the Blue Ridge at Clarks Gap
Source: Library of Congress, Map showing the location of railroads, canals, navigation projects and public institutions in which the Commonwealth of Virginia had invested money as of date January 1st. 1861
the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad is now a bike trail, passing next to the Loudoun County Fairgrounds
long before Metrorail, Vienna and Herndon were stations on a railroad
Source: Library of Congress, A map of Fairfax County, and parts of Loudoun and Prince William Counties, Va., and the District of Columbia
the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire planned to build across the Blue Ridge to, initially, intercept traffic floating on the Shenandoah River (red X) to Harpers Ferry
Source: Library of Congress, Map of portions of Virginia and Maryland, extending from Baltimore to Strasburg (186__)
the Alexandria, Loudoun and Hampshire paralleled existing roads in Loudoun County, competing for business by offering cheaper transportation to the port city
Source: Library of Congress, Map of portions of Virginia and Maryland, extending from Baltimore to Strasburg (186__)
track ran from Alexandria to Round Hill in 1896
Source: Library of Congress, Post route map of the state of Virginia and West Virginia (1896)