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Northern Virginia trolleys
| 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. At its peak, the network consisted of six lines that connected Rosslyn, Great Falls, Bluemont, Mount Vernon, Fairfax, Camp Humphries, and Nauck, with two of the lines crossing the Potomac River into Washington, D.C.[1]
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.[2] Its major lines converged at Arlington Junction, 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. From Arlington Junction, the W-V's trolleys crossed the Potomac near the site of the present 14th Street bridges and traveled to a terminal in downtown Washington on a site that is now near the Federal Triangle Metro station. The W-V entered receivership in 1922, 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. The W&OD terminated in Georgetown at a station on the west side of the Georgetown Car Barn after crossing the Potomac from Rosslyn over the Aqueduct Bridge. After 1923, the W&OD no longer crossed into D.C.; instead, Washington streetcars crossed to a turnaround loop in Rosslyn.
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.
- ^ 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.
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