Railroad Forums 

Discussion relating to the B&O up to it's 1972 merger into Chessie System. Visit the B&O Railroad Historical Society for more information. Also discussion of the C&O up to 1972. Visit the C&O Historical Society for more information. Also includes the WM up to 1972. Visit the WM Historical Society for more information.
 #117716  by Semaphore Sam
 
After crossing over the Potomac from VA via the Chain Bridge, and and turning right (south), upon reaching Arizona Ave. I found what looks like a truss bridge, obviously railroad, crossing the highway and the C & O Canal. The row proceeds further south on an embankment; north of the bridge it joins the side of the hill, and is now used as a bike path.

Anybody know the history of this line? I assume it's B & O, but I'm curious about the opening and closing dates, whether it was single or double line, and what was its function (commuter, coal, general industry).
Thanks, Sam

 #117736  by BaltOhio
 
Yes indeed, this was the B&O -- specifically its Georgetown Branch, which left the Met Branch mainline at Georgetown Jct., west of Silver Spring, and ran in an arc around the west side of Washington via Chevy Chase Lake, Bethesda, and Dalecarlia. There was a tunnel under McArthur Blvd., after which the line turned east and descended the bluff to the C&O Canal, which it crossed over on the bridge you mentioned and then followed on the canal's south side into Georgetown.

The line was built in stages beginning in the 1890s and completed into Georgetown in 1910. When the line was first conceived, B&O had no direct rail access between Washington and the Southern Ry. (now NS) and RF&P (now CSXT), and the branch was to be the first link in such a connection. The plan was to bridge the Potomac just south of the Dalecarlia tunnel and build overland to connect with the SOU and RF&P. That, of course, never happened. It was made unnecessary when PRR, B&O, SOU, RF&P, and C&O got together to form the Richmond-Washington Co. to control the RF&P and to build Potomac Yard. But grading for the B&O's aborted direct line still exists at Dalecarlia.

The Georgetown branch was always strictly a freight line, primarily carrying inbound building materials and coal. For a while, a major coal customer was the Capital Traction Co. power plant in Georgetown, and the last major customer was a federal steam heat plant at the end of the line. Briefly too, the line carried stone for the various monuments on the Mall.

Service on the branch ceased in 1985, although it was not formally abandoned until 1988. Part is now a hiking trail, and there is a perennial (and controversial) plan to built a light rail line over the right-of-way between Silver Spring and Bethesda.

 #117760  by Semaphore Sam
 
BaltOhio: Thanks for the comprehensive answer...so this little backwater line was once considered a potential link for the B & O to the south, around the west side of DC. Amazing. From the west (Harper's Ferry, etc) it would have been relatively direct, but the line from the northeast would have made a great, tortuous loop; in 1890 it must have looked logical, I guess.

I assume now it was single, but built (from the junction to the planned crossing of the Potomac) for later double track.

Thanks for that fascinating response, Mr. BO (railway meaning intended!) Sam

 #117886  by BaltOhio
 
You're right that the original plan of a line into Virginia via Silver Spring would have been awkward for Eastern traffic, and that probably would have been the predominant traffic flow. But in the late 19th century, B&O was desperate. After the Civil War the PRR took control of the Long Bridge as well as the small independent RR that ran between Alexandria and Washington. It also built what later became the RF&P line between Alexandria and Quantico (where the original RF&P from Richmond ended). All this effectively froze the B&O out of the North-South traffic.

B&O then tried several abortive strategies. One was to build the Alexandria branch from Hyattsville to Shepherd's Landing, opposite Alexandria, and operate a carferry connection with what later became the Southern, using a tugboat and carfloats. IIRC, this operation started in 1873 and continued until Potomac Yard opened in 1906.

A concurrent plan was to extend the Winchester branch south up the Shenandoah Valley to meet the N&W at Salem, VA, thereby creating a route to Bristol, TN/VA, to connect with the line to Chattanooga and Atlanta. This involved extending the Winchester line to Strasburg, leasing the present SOU/NS line between Strasburg and Harrisonburg, then building south from Harrisonburg to Salem. Beginning in the late 1860s, a lot of this was actually accomplished, but the new line south from Harrisonburg (built by a B&O affliliate, the Valley RR of Virginia) had only reached Staunton when the 1873 panic and subsequent depression hit. That essentially ended the project, although the line was later extended as far as Lexington, where it connected with a C&O branch. When the B&O went into receivership in 1896, it defaulted on its lease of the Strasburg-Harrisonburg line, and the line reverted to Southern Ry. operation. The line between Harrisonburg and Staunton still exists, although no longer owned by B&O/CSXT.

What finally ended all this foolishness was the J. P. Morgan-PRR-NYC "community of interest" program at the turn of the 20th century. The idea was to stop all this wasteful overcompetition by controlling the weaker RRs (including the B&O, which the PRR took under its wing) and consolidating facilities where practical. One major result was to set up the RF&P as a neutral connecting line between Washington and Richmond and build Potomac Yard as the single clearinghouse for all North-South traffic. (Another product of the same program was Union Station, owned jointly by B&O and PRR.)

More than you ever wanted to know.

 #118121  by hutton_switch
 
Two recent issues of the B&O RR Historical Society's magazine, The Sentinel, had a two-part article on the Georgetown Branch. Go to http://www.borhs.org, and you can obtain copies of the issues containing the articles from the Society's Company Store. Just look at the listing of contents of each issue to see which ones to get on the Georgetown Branch.

 #157516  by SPUI
 
Semaphore Sam wrote:BaltOhio: Thanks for the comprehensive answer...so this little backwater line was once considered a potential link for the B & O to the south, around the west side of DC. Amazing. From the west (Harper's Ferry, etc) it would have been relatively direct, but the line from the northeast would have made a great, tortuous loop; in 1890 it must have looked logical, I guess.
The junction with the Metropolitan Branch was facing the right way for Baltimore-Richmond traffic - it might have been a bit long but nothing hard.
 #157808  by hutton_switch
 
Semaphore Sam,

If you had been at the B&O RR Historical Society's Baltimore area Mini-Conference this past Sat. Aug. 13 at the Brunswick, MD Railroad Museum, you would have seen an excellent PowerPoint presentation on the Georgetown Branch, amply illustrated with photos from both the steam and diesel eras, as well as the bridge you mention in your original post.