At only 9 miles in length, the C&O’s Washington Sub doesn’t seem
likely to inspire its own Web site. As a result, I’ve decided to
include some information on it here. The Sub began in Orange, Virginia,
9.04 miles north of Gordonsville. It terminated in a junction with the
Piedmont Sub in Gordonsville (but see here). North of
Orange, C&O trains operated over Southern tracks to Alexandria, the RF&P’s
Potomac yard, and Washington’s Union Station.
The line was built by the Orange and Alexandria Railroad in 1850 to 1854. The C&O began running trains
over it in 1891 under trackage rights negotiated with the Virginia Midland. By that point the Midland had built
its own line from Orange to Charlottesville in order to avoid running over the C&O between Gordonsville
and Charlottesville. Under the agreement reached with the Virginia Midland, the C&O leased the tracks from
Gordonsville to Orange and then ran over Midland tracks to Alexandria. From Alexandria the C&O reached the
Virginia end of the Long Bridge over the Potomac using the Washington Southern Railway. From there, the C&O
reached Sixth Street Station in DC on the tracks of the Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington. Later, the crossing
of the Potomac was on Pennsylvania rails and the final leg was on the tracks of the Washington Terminal Company.
At the time of the agreement with the Virginia Midland, the line from Gordonsville to Alexandria was single track.
There were long stretches of straight track and few steep grades. The C&O was given the right to build coaling
stations and oil and sand houses along the line, but never exercised that right. Water tanks were located at
Manassas, Calverton, Remington, and Rapidan. A fifth tank was later built at Burke. Between 1902 and 1904
the Southern double-tracked the line from Alexandria to Orange. The Southern retired the water tanks after
dieselization. The last tank, Remington, remained open until 1953 as a courtesy to the C&O.
The lease and trackage rights agreement was up for renewal in 1990. CSX had acquired control of the RF&P and no longer
needed the Orange to Washington section and so that part of the agreement was allowed to lapse. The lease on the Gordonsville
to Orange section, however, was renewed. In December, 2004 the Buckingham Branch Railroad
entered into a 20 year lease that allows them to operate, among other former C&O lines, the former Piedmont and Washington Subs.
In March, 2011 the Buckingham Branch eliminated the Washington Sub and extended the North Mountain Sub (the former C&O Mountain Sub)
to Gordonsville. The line to Orange is now known as the Orange Sub.
The C&O operated no local freight or passenger trains over this line. Through passenger trains could
stop to pick up or discharge passengers from C&O points.
Photos
This shed stands just outside Orange near a grade crossing and the former
site of a siding. If you look closely in the large version of the photo, you can
see the rails of the siding behind and to the right of the shed. The siding
served the industry visible in the left background. (2001 photo)
During a 2010 trip I found that all that was left of the siding visible in the photo above was
the rails embedded in the grade crossing. (2010 photo)
This siding still exists, but looks like it hasn’t been used in a long time. (2010 photo)
Bridge number 02 is on the C&O line just outside of Orange where it
crosses over Route 20. The top photo is from 1995, when I got my first look at it as an adult .
The bottom photo is from a 2010 trip.
This is the Southern Railway’s station in Orange. Both Southern and
C&O trains stopped here. The station was built in 1910 to replace an
older station destroyed by fire in 1908. It was purchased by the city of
Orange in 1993 and is now a visitor’s center.(Top: 1998 photo, bottom: postcard in the collection of Larry Z. daily)
This postcard photo shows the Southern’s Culpepper depot. The postcard is postmarked 1906. (From the collection of Larry Z. Daily)
In this photo, from a 1956 postcard, E8 4006 leads the Sportsman through
Culpepper, Virginia. (From the collection of Larry Z. Daily)
I won this photo on eBay. The seller wasn’t sure that it shows the Remington station in Virginia, but the station
in the photo is a match for the one shown in a monograpgh on Virginia stations released by Traser through the Railroad Station
Historical Society. According to the C&O’s track charts, Remington’s water tower, water columns, and station
were still in place in 1963. (From the collection of Larry Z. Daily)
This postcard view shows the Manassas station in 1968. At least, that’s the year hand-written on the
back of the card. C&O track charts show that Manassas still had its passenger and freight stations and a
water tank in 1963.(From the collection of Larry Z. Daily)
Burke was one of 5 water stops on the line. The depot was a standard design on the Southern.
According to the C&O’s 1963 track charts, the Burke station was still in place in 1963.
(Photographer and date unknown. Photo in the collection of Larry Z. Daily)
A Southern freight train entering Potomac Yard. The photo was taken from the window of a Southern Railway steam
excursion in 1987.
This is Alexandria Union Station. The Federal Revival-style station
stands across from Northern Virginia’s Masonic Temple. Its waiting and
baggage rooms are separated by an open breezeway. It was originally
built by the Washington Southern Railway Company which later became
part of the RF&P. The station served the RF&P, the Southern, and, of
course, the C&O. The top image is from an undated postcard, but seems to be
quite early. The middle image is from a postcard postmarked in 1914. The bottom image
is from a photograph (photographer unknown) dated 1933.(All images from the collection of
Larry Z. Daily)
Here’s a photo of the C&O’s premier passenger train - the
George Washington - at Alexandria station in 1941. (Wayne Kendrick photo.
Used with permission)
C&O E8 #4000 at Alexandria Union Station on July, 21, 1966. The
George Washington Masonic Temple is visible in the background.
(from the collection of Joseph Testagrose, photographer unknown,
used with permission)
C&O E8 #4017 passes a Southern freight at Alexandria, June 26, 1965.
(from the collection of Joseph Testagrose, photographer unknown,
used with permission)
This photo was acquired in an eBay auction in 2011. The back of the photo is labelled “The Sportsman No. 4 Oct. 4, 1936.”
(Photo in the collection of Larry Z. Daily)
A Washington Terminal switcher. The photo was taken at the Washington Rail Exhibit in 1983.
Map
These maps were prepared from U.S.G.S. topological maps, C&O track charts dated 1963, C&O Side
Track Records dated 1937, a copy of the Side Track Records updated through the 1990’s, and
C&O Valuation maps, also updated through the 1990’s.
Please note that, due to a huge volume of spam coming in on my email account, I’ve had to change my email address.
The new address is lzdaily@nospam.piedmontsub.com (but remove the nospam and the dot before piedmontsub.com).
All materials on this Web site are protected by United States
copyright law. This includes, but is not limited to, articles and graphics. Unless
otherwise indicated, these materials are the property of Larry Z. Daily and may not
be used without prior written permission of Larry Z. Daily
