Northern Virginia trolleys

Washington-Virginia Railway
Mount Vernon trolley terminal between 1910 and 1920
Mount Vernon trolley terminal between 1910 and 1920
Operation
Began operation1892
Ended operation1941
Map all coordinates in "Northern Virginia trolleys" using OpenStreetMap

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A 1901 map showing early trolley lines in Arlington County, Virginia
Diagram of 1915 electric railroad routes near the later routes of the George Washington Memorial Parkway, showing: * The Washington-Mount Vernon line of the Washington-Virginia Railway (the "Washington, Alexandria, and Mount Vernon Electric Railroad"); * The Rosslyn branch of the Washington-Virginia Railway (to the east of Arlington House); * The Great Falls Division of the Washington and Old Dominion Railway (the "Great Falls Electric Railroad"); and, * The Washington and Great Falls Electric Railway (the "Glen Echo Electric Railroad")
Enlargeable diagram of Washington area trolley lines:
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 up to three companies connecting Rosslyn, Great Falls, Bluemont, Mount Vernon, Fairfax, Camp Humphries, and Nauck across the Potomac River to Washington, D.C.[1]

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. A number of communities developed along their routes. In 1910, they merged into the Washington-Virginia Railway, which entered receivership after a dozen years,[2] was split into two companies in 1927, and stopped operating trolleys by 1939.

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 today's Key Bridge and adjacent to a W&OD station.

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.

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. Much of the system was shut down in 1932 after the trolleys lost their direct connection to Washington, D.C., and the last trolley ran in 1941.

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.

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ "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.
  3. ^ 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.