the northern portion of the Washington Southern Railway was the Alexandria and Fredericksburg Railway
Source: US Geological Survey (USGS), Mount Vernon, VA 1:125,000 topographic quadrangle (1894)
the northern portion of the Washington Southern Railway was the Alexandria and Fredericksburg Railway
Source: US Geological Survey (USGS), Mount Vernon, VA 1:125,000 topographic quadrangle (1894)
The Washington Southern Railway was formed in 1890, merging together the Alexandria and Washington Railway and the Alexandria and Fredericksburg Railway.1
"Washington Southern Railway," Annual Report, Virginia, Railroad Commissioner, 1898, pp.3-4, https://books.google.com/books?id=mCUaAQAAIAAJ (last checked June 2, 2020)
The Pennsylvania Railroad had acquired control of those two railroads in 1872, purchasing the Alexandria and Washington Railroad and building the Alexandria and Fredericksburg Railway south from the Potomac River to Quantico. Together, they provided the 32-mile link between the Pennsylvania Railroad's Long Bridge over the Potomac River south to the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad at Quantico. The Alexandria and Fredericksburg Railway had built track from Long Bridge to Alexandria, parallel to the Alexandria and Washington Railway, because legal claims of previous owners made the the Pennsylvania Railroad's control of that railroad unclear.
the Washington Southern maintained parallel tracks between Long Bridge and Alexandria in 1918
Source: Library of Congress, Baist's map of the vicinity of Washington D.C (1918)
The Baltimore and Potomac Railroad operated trains on the Washington Southern Railway only briefly. Another Pennsylvania Railroad subsidiary, the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad, took charge of operations in 1891.1
In 1892, the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad replaced its wooden trestle over the Occoquan River, which had been damaged by flooding. That metal bridge survived for 80 years. It was repurposed as the Route 1 highway bridge in 1914. The former railroad bridge was heavily damaged by Hurricane Agnes in 1972, then removed.1
"Architectural Intensive Investigations for the Washington, D.C. to Richmond Southeast High Speed Rail (DC2RVA) Project (Report A)," Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, March 2018, p.3-3, https://railroads.dot.gov/sites/fra.dot.gov/files/fra_net/18712/Part28_Appendix%20D4%20Intensive%20Architecture%20Report%20A_DC2RVA%20FEIS.pdf (last checked July 16, 2020)
In 1896, the Washington Southern Railway built a mile of track parallel to the Potomac River between Long Bridge and Aqueduct Bridge. That branch provided a connection through the Arlington Cemetery, using the old bed of the Alexandria Canal, to Rosslyn.1 Fairfax Harrison, A History of the Legal Development of the Railroad System of Southern Railway Company, 1901, p.1503, https://books.google.com/books/about/A_History_of_the_Legal_Development_of_th.html?id=0IkjAQAAMAAJ
the Washington Southern Railway before the Rosslyn Branch
Source: Library of Congress, Map of Washington D.C. metropolitan area showing roads and ferries as of 1792 (1895)
The Pennsylvania Railroad, through the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad, continued to control the Washington Southern Railway until it was sold in 1901. By that time, the Pennsylvania Railroad no longer needed to control track south of Washington, DC or to force the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to use a "car ferry" to float rail cars across the Potomac River from Shepherd's Landing to Alexandria.
The Pennsylvania Railroad and New York Central had agreed to the Community of Interest Plan in 1899. Together they acquired a controlling interest in competing railroads, and arranged rates so all could earn adequate profits rather than try to force each other into bankruptcy. The Community of Interest Plan was possible because Federal regulation of railroad rates was not a factor at the time.
In 1900 the Seaboard Air Line obtained a charter from the Virginia General Assembly for the Richmond-Washington Air Line, which would have been a direct competitor to the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad. The threat of the Seaboard Air Line to build a new line between Richmond and Washington spurred all the railroads serving Alexandria to establish a cooperative agreement for managing railroad traffic in Northern Virginia.
The Pennsylvania Railroad, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, the Southern Railway, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, the Seaboard Air Line Railway, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad organized the Richmond and Washington Company in 1901. It was a holding company, and was given control over the Washington Southern Railway track.
A new Long Bridge with two railroad tracks was completed in 1904. All the railroads had rights to use it. THe Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in particular benefitted from the new arrangement. It no longer needed to maintain an inefficient car float to get rail cars across the Potomac River.
Creation of the Richmond and Washington Company allowed it, as a neutral" organization, to construct a new union station for passengers in Alexandria in 1905. In 1906, the new Potomac Yard facilitated classification and interchange of freight cars by the six railroads serving Alexandria. The Washington Southern Railway track between Long Bridge and Alexandria was doubled, increasing capacity to get trains from Alexandria to the new Union Station in the District of Columbia.
The new Alexandria passenger station was built outside the western edge of the city, within what was know then as Alexandria County. That location stimulated new development along King Street, and the city of Alexandria annexed it in 1915. Today's King Street Metrorail platform occupies the site of a small local freight facility built at the passenger station in 1905.
The new passenger station was designed by the Pennsylvania Railroad, probably by its engineers in Philadelphia. It was not fully consistent with Virginia's Jim Crow laws and cultural patterns. There were three waiting rooms - a General Waiting Room, a White Women's Waiting Room, and a Colored Women's Waiting Room. As noted by the form nominating the station for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places:1
The Pennsylvania Railroad did not abandon interest in Northern Virginia when it disposed on the Washington Southern Railwway. In 1904, its subsidiary, the 1
The traffic between Long Bridge-Quantico was heavy enough for the railroad to build a new two-track bridge across the Occoquan River in 1914. The old one-track metal bridge, which had been built by the Alexandria and Fredericksburg Railway in 1892, was converted into the highway bridge for Route 1. Automobiles and trucks used it until 1972, when damage from Hurricane Agnes forced its replacement.
the 1892 bridge constructed by the Alexandria and Fredericksburg Railway was converted to a highway bridge in 1914, and lasted until Hurricane Agnes in 1972
Source: Library of Virginia, Occoquan Bridge Damage, View of Occoquan Bridge Damage, Repairs begin at Occoquan Bridge, and Looking Down from the Occoquan Bridge
The two-track railroad bridge constructed by the Phoenix Bridge Company in 1914 was more sturdy, designed for the heavy steam locomotives of the day. It is still in use. As the only metal Parker through-truss bridge on the
the 124-mile route of what was the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, it is eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.1
"Architectural Intensive Investigations for the Washington, D.C. to Richmond Southeast High Speed Rail (DC2RVA) Project (Report A)," Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, March 2018, p.3-3, p.3-10, https://railroads.dot.gov/sites/fra.dot.gov/files/fra_net/18712/Part28_Appendix%20D4%20Intensive%20Architecture%20Report%20A_DC2RVA%20FEIS.pdf (last checked July 16, 2020)
The Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad absorbed the Washington Southern Railway in 1920.1
"100-0124 Alexandria Union Station," National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, December 19, 2012, https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/100-0124/ (last checked July 16, 2020)