Global InformationNorthern Virginia trolleys information
| Washington-Virginia Railway | |
|---|---|
 Mount Vernon trolley terminal between 1910 and 1920 | |
| Operation | |
| Began operation | 1892 |
| Ended operation | 1941 |
Orange = Washington, Arlington & Mount Vernon Electric Railway.
Blue = Washington, Arlington & Falls Church Railway (WA&FC).
Yellow = Nauck (Fort Myer) line of WA&FC.
Light green = W&OD Bluemont Division.
Dark green = W&OD Great Falls Division.
The Northern Virginia trolleys were the network of electric streetcars that moved people around the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., from 1892 to 1941. They consisted of six lines operated by as many as three separate companies connecting Rosslyn, Great Falls, Bluemont, Mount Vernon, Fairfax, Camp Humphries, and Nauck across the Potomac River to Washington, D.C.[1]
After early success, the trolleys struggled. They were unable to set their own prices and found it difficult to compete with automobiles and buses. As roads were paved and improved, they gradually lost customers. A final blow came in 1932, when they were forced to give up their direct connection to Washington, D.C.; much of the system was shut down that year. The Great Depression led to further contractions of the system. The last passenger service was terminated in 1941.
Northern Virginia's trolleys were originally operated by three companies that all planned to operate within the District of Columbia, but were never integrated into the Washington streetcar network. Two companies were founded in 1892: the Washington, Arlington and Falls Church Railway Company and the Washington, Arlington and Mount Vernon Railway. Their tracks were laid when most of Northern Virginia was undeveloped and had few streets and roads. As a result, the trolleys mostly operated on private right-of-ways that their companies leased or owned. After they began operating, a number of communities developed along their routes.
In 1910, following bankruptcy, they merged into one system, the Washington-Virginia Railway. Twelve years later, that company went into receivership.[2] In 1927, two companies emerged. They were eventually purchased or transformed into bus companies and by the end of 1939 were no longer operating trolleys. A third company operated electric cars from 1911 to 1936 as the Washington and Old Dominion Railway; then from 1936 to 1941, and again briefly in 1943, as the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad.
At its peak, the system consisted of lines that ran from downtown D.C. to Fort Humphries/Mount Vernon, to Fairfax via Clarendon and to Rosslyn; from Rosslyn to Fairfax and Nauck; From Alexandria to Bluemont via Bon Air; from Georgetown to Bon Air and from Georgetown to Great Falls.
The major lines of the Washington-Virginia Railway converged at Arlington Junction, which was located in the northwest corner of present-day Crystal City south of the Pentagon[3] and in Rosslyn at the south end of the Aqueduct Bridge, near the spot where the Key Bridge is now. There it had a terminal next to the Rosslyn station of the W&OD.
From Arlington Junction, the W-V Railway's trolleys crossed the Potomac River near the site of the present 14th Street bridges over the 1872 Long Bridge and then, beginning in 1906, the old Highway Bridge. They traveled to a terminal in downtown Washington along Pennsylvania Avenue NW, and D Street NW, between 12th and 13+1⁄2 Streets NW, on a site that is now near the Federal Triangle Metro station and the Old Post Office building within the Federal Triangle.
The Washington and Old Dominion (W&OD) Railway terminated in Georgetown at a station on the west side of the Georgetown Car Barn after crossing the Potomac River from Rosslyn over the Aqueduct Bridge. After the Francis Scott Key Bridge replaced the Aqueduct Bridge in 1923, the W&OD was no longer allowed to cross into D.C. Instead, Washington streetcars crossed the river on the new bridge, reaching a turnaround loop in Rosslyn where passengers could transfer to Northern Virginia trolleys.
Most of what remains of the system was affiliated with the W&OD, whose right-of-way has been turned into two trails, a park, part of I-66, and Old Dominion Drive. Little remains of the W-V system: three stations; a rail yard that is now bus garages; an old abutment where the Fairfax trolley crossed over the W&OD; part of a bridge over Accontink Creek in Fairfax; and, in a few places such as the gap in Center Street in Fairfax, embankments or cuts. The most prevalent remnant of the W-V system are the roads built on the right of way, most notably Electric Ave, Potomac Avenue, Wittington Blvd and parts of the George Washington Memorial Parkway and E. Boulevard in Fairfax County; Kenmore St., Eads St and parts of both Walter Reed Dr and I-66 in Arlington County; and Commonwealth Ave in Alexandria.
- ^ Multiple sources:
- Washington—Virginia Railway system map (c. 1915). Washington—Virginia Railway Company (publisher). In "Figure 18: A map of the electric train line" (PDF). South Railroad Street Park Master Plan: General Management Plan and Conceptual Development Plan. Fairfax County Park Authority. September 27, 2006. p. 19. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2019. Retrieved October 7, 2019.
- "Map of electric railroads, steam railroads and streets in Washington and vicinity". Rand McNally & Co.'s Pictorial Guide to Washington. New York and Chicago: Rand McNally & Company. 1904. p. 5. Retrieved January 13, 2013 – via Internet Archive.
- Reynolds, Charles A. (1907). "Map of Arlington and vicinity". Washington: The Nation's Capital. New York: Foster & Reynolds. p. 141. Retrieved January 13, 2013 – via Internet Archive.
- 1900 map of Alexandria County, Virginia (now Arlington County), showing the routes of the Washington, Arlington & Falls Church Railway and the Washington, Alexandria & Mt. Vernon Electric Railway: "Map of Alexandria County, Virginia for the Virginia Title Co". Alexandria, Virginia: The Company. 1900. Archived from the original on September 28, 2021. Retrieved October 7, 2019 – via Library of Congress website.
- Circa 1907 map of Alexandria County, Virginia (now Arlington County), showing the routes of the Washington, Alexandria and the Mt. Vernon Railway (W. A. & Mt V. Ry.) and the Washington, Arlington & Falls Church Railway (W. A. & F. C. Ry.): Noetzel, Gregor; Boteler, G. G. (1907). "Map of Alexandria County, Virginia: formerly part of the District of Columbia". Washington, D.C.: G.G. Boteler. Archived from the original on July 18, 2021. Retrieved October 8, 2019 – via Library of Congress website.
- 1938 Alexander Gross street and rail map of Arlington and vicinity[dead link] in J. A. Weyraugh Document Collection Archived July 9, 2012, at archive.todayin Accessed April 24, 2009.
- ^ "Congress to Act on Giant Merger Street Railways". Richmond Virginian. November 27, 1912. Archived from the original on February 28, 2023. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
- ^ Multiple sources:
- 1900 map of Alexandria County, Virginia (now Arlington County), showing the routes of the Washington, Alexandria & Mt. Vernon Electric Railway near Arlington Junction: "Map of Alexandria County, Virginia for the Virginia Title Co". Alexandria, Virginia: The Company. 1900. Archived from the original on September 28, 2021. Retrieved October 7, 2019 – via Library of Congress website.
- Circa 1907 map of Alexandria County, Virginia (now Arlington County), showing the routes of the Washington, Alexandria and the Mt. Vernon Railway (W. A. & Mt V. Ry.) and the Washington, Alexandria and Mt. Vernon Railway (W. A. & Mt V. Ry.) near Arlington Junction: Noetzel, Gregor; Boteler, G. G. (1907). "Map of Alexandria County, Virginia: formerly part of the District of Columbia". Washington, D.C.: G.G. Boteler. Archived from the original on September 28, 2021. Retrieved October 8, 2019 – via Library of Congress website.