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Northern Virginia trolleys

Encyclopedia : N : NO : NOR : Northern Virginia trolleys

200px
map from 1901 showing trolley lines in Arlington
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map from 1901 showing trolley lines in Arlington

The earliest electric railway, or streetcar line, in Northern Virginia opened in 1892. At their peak, when merged into a single system (the Washington-Virginia Railway), the successors of this and several other lines ran between downtown Washington, D.C., Rosslyn and Arlington Junction – present day Crystal City – and out to Mount Vernon, Fairfax City and Nauck (in Arlington). Electric rail also went west from Georgetown and Rosslyn on the Washington and Old Dominion Railway via Leesburg to the town of Bluemont at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains and via Cherrydale and McLean to Great Falls Park. Despite early success, the streetcars were unable to compete with the automobile and with each other, and, plagued with management and financial problems, ceased operations in the 1930s and 1940s.

Northern Virginia's trolleys were originally operated by three different companies and were never integrated with the Washington streetcar network. The lines were laid when most of the area was undeveloped, and so the trains ran mostly on separate right-of-ways.

The lines of the Washington-Virginia Railway terminated in downtown Washington, D.C., at 12th and D Streets, NW, (within the present Federal Triangle near Pennsylvania Avenue) after crossing the Potomac River near the site of the present 14th Street bridges over the Long Bridge and, beginning in 1906, the Highway Bridge. The Washington and Old Dominion Railway entered Georgetown in Washington, D.C., after crossing the Potomac River from Rosslyn over the Aqueduct Bridge.

The Washington-Virginia Railway and the Washington and Old Dominion Railway used adjacent terminals in Rosslyn near the present location of the Key Bridge Marriott Hotel. After the Key Bridge replaced the Aqueduct Bridge, all of the Virginia lines terminated in Rosslyn, but D.C. streetcars now crossed the river into Rosslyn where there was a turnaround loop. There, passengers could transfer to the Virginia lines. 



Contents




Washington-Virginia Railway



Washington, Alexandria, and Mount Vernon Railway




Washington, Alexandria, and Mount Vernon Electric Railway near Dyke Marsh, 1930

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Washington, Alexandria, and Mount Vernon Electric Railway near Dyke Marsh, 1930






Opened in 1892 between Alexandria and Mount Vernon, the Washington, Alexandria, and Mount Vernon Railway was extended in 1896 across the Long Bridge to downtown Washington, terminating at 12th and D Streets, NW (within the present Federal Triangle near Pennsylvania Avenue).  The streetcars ran in Arlington on S. Eads Street near and along the former towpath on the west side of the Alexandria Canal and on Commonwealth Avenue in Alexandria.  The St. Elmo station in the Del Ray neighborhood allowed transfers with the Washington and Old Dominion.  By 1906, the railway had transported 1,743,734 passengers along their route with 92 daily trains.


At Mount Vernon, when the electric railway began service, the estate's proprietors insisted that only a modest terminal be constructed next to the trolley turn around.  They were afraid that the dignity of the site would be marred by unrestricted commercial development and persuaded financier Jay Gould to purchase and donate thirty-three acres outside the main gate for protection.  


During World War I, the line was extended to Camp Humphreys (now Fort Belvoir).


In 1913, the Washington, Alexandria, and Mount Vernon Railway merged with the Washington, Arlington & Falls Church Railroad to form the Washington-Virginia Railway.  The trolley company went into receivership in 1923 when buses became the dominant form of local public transportation.  In 1927, the two railways were separated and sold at auction.  The last trolleys of the line ran on January 18, 1932.  Later that year the tracks were removed when some of the right-of-way was used for the George Washington Memorial Parkway.


Stations (with locations of sites in 2006):



Terminal at Mount Vernon

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Terminal at Mount Vernon








A branch line was later built which ran on Arlington Ridge Road through what is now Arlington Cemetery from Arlington Junction to Rosslyn.  The Junction was located near the intersection of 11th St. S. and S. Eads St. in Arlington.


Remnants of the Washington, Alexandria, and Mount Vernon Railway





Washington, Arlington & Falls Church Railroad


During its forty years of life, the company operated under a variety of names, as it repeatedly expanded or reorganized (voluntarily or involuntarily).


Washington & Arlington — 1892–1896


The system started in 1892, under the name Washington & Arlington Railway, as a horsecar line with tracks from Rosslyn up the hill to Ft. Myer.  In late 1895 it was electrified.  


Washington, Arlington & Falls Church — 1896–1913


In 1896, track was laid from Rosslyn through Clarendon to Falls Church and the name was changed to the Washington, Arlington & Falls Church (WA&FC).  The track to Ft. Myer was extended through Penrose in 1900 and to Nauck, just north of Four Mile Run, in 1901.  That same year saw the opening of about a mile of additional track, extending from East Falls Church to West Falls Church.  Work on a far more ambitious extension began at West Falls Church in 1903, and the line eventually reached Fairfax City in 1904.


Washington - Virginia — 1913–1927


In 1913, the WA&FC and Washington, Alexandria & Mt. Vernon were merged to form the Washington - Virginia (W-V) railway.  The company fell upon hard times and in 1924 declared bankruptcy.  In 1927, the two companies were split and sold at auction. 


Arlington & Fairfax — 1927–1936


The Arlington & Fairfax was organized by local governments to take control of the WA&FC line after the W-V went bankrupt.  In 1932, the company lost the right to travel into D.C., and, on January 17, 1932, the last Arlington & Fairfax streetcar departed from 12th & D Streets, NW, abandoning all service in Washington, D.C.


Arlington & Fairfax Auto Railroad — 1936–1939


In 1936, the company was sold to Detroit's Evans Products Company, an innovative railway and automotive industry supplier that had developed the first version of the present hy-rail system called auto-railers, small busses that can run on rails on flanged wheels or on roads with rubber.  In 1937, Evans replaced the trolleys with auto-railers.  On rail, they went to Rosslyn where they were intended to switch to tires and cross the Key Bridge into Georgetown, eliminating the change in Rosslyn, but Capital Transit prevented that service by objecting that its franchise gave it exclusive service across the bridge.  The auto-railers last ran in September 1939



Nauck line

The Nauck line ran south in Arlington from Rosslyn through Fort Myer, entering near today’s Wright Gate, followed a path that today is essentially McNair Road, and arrived at a station that stood at what is now the intersection of McNair Road and Lee Avenue.  It left Fort Myer near the Hatfield Gate and followed the route of Uhle Street, Walter Reed Drive, and Kenmore Street ending at a railway turntable at 24th Road S. and Kenmore. 



Stations

The stations of the Nauck line (with locations of sites in 2006) were:

Fort Myer trolley station

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Fort Myer trolley station









Remnants of the Nauck Line




Fairfax line

The Fairfax line ran from downtown Fairfax City to Washington by way of Clarendon.  Through Vienna, the line ran parallel to Maple Avenue through the blocks immediately south.  East of the Vienna Station (across the Washington and Old Dominion Railway tracks from Freeman House), the line ran on the present Ninovan Road, Electric Avenue, and Railroad Street. Through Falls Church, the line followed Lincoln Avenue. In Arlington, the line followed Fairfax Drive (now partially replaced by I-66). At Clarendon, the line branched.  The North Arlington branch followed Fairfax Drive (now partially replaced by Clarendon Blvd.) and N. Lynn Street, terminating in Rosslyn near the Aqueduct Bridge and later the Frances Scott Key Bridge.  The South Arlington branch followed Washington Boulevard and Southgate Drive, meeting the Arlington Ridge Road branch line at Mount Vernon Junction and the Alexandria-Mount Vernon line at Arlington Junction. In conjunction with the Alexandria-Mount Vernon line, the North Arlington Branch crossed the Long Bridge and, later, the Highway Bridge to terminate in downtown Washington, D.C. at 12th & D Streets, NW.  


I-66 and the Custis Trail now run on or near the Fairfax line's right of way along the route of the former Fairfax Drive from Ballston to Lee Highway in East Falls Church. Metrorail's Orange Line now follows the Fairfax line and the North Arlington branch from N. Lynn Street in Rosslyn to Lee Highway in East Falls Church. 

Stations

The stations of the Fairfax line (with locations of sites in 2006) were:
The stations on the line (with locations of sites in 2006) were:






1903 plan showing rail alignment in Vienna, Virginia

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1903 plan showing rail alignment in Vienna, Virginia









Remnants of the Fairfax Line




Former Oakton station

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Former Oakton station











North Arlington branch


Stations

The stations of the North Arlington branch (with locations of sites in 2006) were:


Remnants of North Arlington Branch



South Arlington branch


Stations

The stations of the South Arlingon branch (with locations of sites in 2006) were:


Remnant of South Arlington Branch



Great Falls and Old Dominion Railway






Interurban -- *
Bluemont Division electric interurban trains ran on the W&OD Railway's Great Falls Division's line from Georgetown over the Aqueduct Bridge through Rosslyn to Thrifton Junction. From Thrifton Junction, the trains ran on a connecting line to Bluemont Junction, where they met other Bluemont Division electric trains that ran from Alexandria Junction at Alexandria's Potomac Yards, following Four Mile Run in Arlington. Some of the Bluemont Division trains then continued their trips through Falls Church, Vienna, Herndon, Sterling, Ashburn, Leesburg, Clarkes Gap and Purcellville to terminate in Bluemont, Virginia, at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains, following a route that was similar to that of Virginia Route 7.  Electric rail service ended in April 1944, when the line was completely dieselized. 


A paved trail in Alexandria's linear Mt. Jefferson Park and Greenway has replaced part of the Bluemont Division's course through that city.  The Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Trail (W&OD Trail) travels within the Bluemont Division's former right-of-way from the Alexandria/Arlington boundary through Bluemont Junction to Purcellville.


I-66 now travels on the right-of-way of the W&OD Railway's Great Falls Division between Rosslyn and Thrifton Junction.  I-66 continues to Washington Blvd. in Ballston along the former route of the Bluemont Division's Thrifton - Bluemont Junction connecting line. The [Bluemont Junction Trail] now runs on the connecting line's right-of way from Washington Blvd. to meet the W&OD Trail at Bluemont Junction. 



Washington and Old Dominion Railway, Bluemont Division, Alexandria-Bluemont Line


Stations


The stations on the Alexandria-Bluemont line of the Bluemont Division (with locations of sites in 2006)were:





Remnants of the Washington and Old Dominion Railway, Bluemont Division, Alexandria-Bluemont Line



Washington and Old Dominion Railway, Bluemont Division, Thrifton-Bluemont Junction Connecting Line


Stations

The stations on the Thrifton-Bluemont Junction connecting line of the Bluemont Divisionwere:


Remnants of the Washington and Old Dominion Railway, Bluemont Division, Thrifton-Bluemont Junction Connecting Line




See also



References



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