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. 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 from 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 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)
This bridge is on the C&O line just outside of Orange where it
crosses over Route 20. (1995 photo)
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.(1998 photo)
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)
This postcard view shows the Manassas station in 1968. At least, that’s the year hand-writtein on the
back of the card. (From 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. This image is from a postcard postmarked in 1914. (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)
A Washington Terminal switcher. The photo was taken at the Washington Rail Exhibit in 1983.
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
