The Orange and Alexandria Railroad (O&A) was a railroad in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, United States. Chartered in 1848, it eventually extended from

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

to Gordonsville, with another section from

Charlottesville Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in Virginia, United States. It is the seat of government of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Quee ...

to Lynchburg. The road played a crucial role in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, saw the first of many mergers in 1867, and eventually became an important part of the modern-day

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

rail system.

Antebellum period

The

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, and the first elected legislative assembly in the New World. It was established on July 30, ...

issued a charter to the O&A on May 28, 1848, to run from Alexandria to Gordonsville. Construction began in 1850 and was completed in April 1854, when it connected with the

Virginia Central Railroad The Virginia Central Railroad was an early railroad in the U.S. state of Virginia that operated between 1850 and 1868 from Richmond westward for to Covington. Chartered in 1836 as the Louisa Railroad by the Virginia General Assembly, the railr ...

in Orange County. Its longtime president was John S. Barbour Jr., a Virginia lawyer, part-time delegate and son of U.S. Representative John Strode Barbour. In 1854, the General Assembly granted the O&A the right to build southward from Charlottesville to Lynchburg. O&A paid for

trackage rights Railway companies can interact with and control others in many ways. These relationships can be complicated by bankruptcies. Operating Often, when a railroad first opens, it is only a short spur of a main line. The owner of the spur line may c ...

over Virginia Central tracks from Gordonsville to Charlottesville. In 1860, the southern extension was completed, including lucrative connections to the

Virginia and Tennessee Railroad The Virginia and Tennessee Railroad was an historic gauge railroad in the Southern United States, much of which is incorporated into the modern Norfolk Southern Railway. It played a strategic role in supplying the Confederacy during the American ...

and the South Side Railroad. The O&A also connected with the

Manassas Gap Railroad The Manassas Gap Railroad (MGRR) ran from Mount Jackson, Virginia, to the Orange and Alexandria Railroad's Manassas Junction, which later became the city of Manassas, Virginia. Chartered by the Virginia General Assembly in 1850, the MGRR was a n ...

(chartered in 1850), at Tudor Hall (today named

Manassas Manassas (), formerly Manassas Junction, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. The population was 42,772 at the 2020 Census. It is the county seat of Prince William County, although the two are separate jurisdi ...

for this junction) which gave it access to the

Shenandoah Valley The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia in the United States. The Valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the east ...

. The railroad boosted Virginia commerce. Farmers from Virginia's Piedmont region, and later, the Shenandoah Valley could more cheaply ship their products, produce, and goods to the markets of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

, and to ocean-going vessels berthed at the Potomac River port of Alexandria. Alexandria, Richmond, and Lynchburg also became manufacturing centers. Passengers could travel from Washington to Lynchburg in eight hours instead of enduring a three-day stagecoach journey.

American Civil War

Image:Barricades on duke street.jpg, 1861 barricades on Alexandria's Duke Street, erected to protect the Orange and Alexandria Railroad from Confederate cavalry File:The photographic history of the Civil War - thousands of scenes photographed 1861-65, with text by many special authorities (1911) (14762820815).jpg, Repairing damage after a Confederate cavalry raid File:Union Mills Station, Orange & Alexandria Railroad LCCN2004680110.jpg, Union Mills Station File:Eastern view of round house and depot, Orange & Alexandria Railroad 08260v.jpg, The O&A depot and roundhouse in Alexandria were located in today's Carlyle/Eisenhower East area File:HermanHauptnearBullRun1863.jpg, The locomotive, "General Haupt" is being used for work detail. Standing on the bank is USMRR Supt for the O & A railroad, John Henry Devereux. He and his "boss" Herman Haupt are often confused. Devereux is slightly more portly than the very slim Haupt. Haupt USUALLY wore his BG uniform. This image is of work being done on a "Y" on the O & A. Possibly close to Devereux Station in 1863 File:Orange & Alexandria Railroad Bridge over Bull Run (ca. 1863).jpg, Orange & Alexandria Railroad Bridge over Bull Run (ca. 1863) The O&A was strategically important during the Civil War (1861–1865) and was repeatedly fought over and wrecked. In connection with the Virginia Central, it was the only rail link between the belligerents' capitals at Washington and Richmond. An 1861 Union Army attempt to gain control of Manassas Junction led to the

First Battle of Bull Run The First Battle of Bull Run, called the Battle of First Manassas
. by Confederate States ...

, and the junction traded hands numerous times during the war.

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson attacked it in the Battle of Manassas Station Operations to draw the Union into the 1862

Second Battle of Bull Run The Second Battle of Bull Run or Battle of Second Manassas was fought August 28–30, 1862, in Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the American Civil War. It was the culmination of the Northern Virginia Campaign waged by Confederate ...

. The 1863

Battle of Brandy Station The Battle of Brandy Station, also called the Battle of Fleetwood Hill, was the largest predominantly cavalry engagement of the American Civil War, as well as the largest ever to take place on American soil. It was fought on June 9, 1863, around ...

and

Second Battle of Rappahannock Station The Second Battle of Rappahannock Station took place on November 7, 1863, near the village of Rappahannock Station (now Remington, Virginia), on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. It was between Confederate forces under Maj. Gen. Jubal Ear ...

were also fought near the railroad line.

Reconstruction

The railroad entered

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

in dire shape, with much of its track ripped up and most of its rolling stock destroyed. However, Barbour rebuilt the railroad with the help of various politically connected financiers and his brother-in-law J.S.B. Thompson. In 1867, the O&A merged with the Manassas Gap Railroad (led by

Edward Carrington Marshall Edward Carrington Marshall (January 13, 1805 – February 8, 1882) was a Virginia farmer, planter, businessman, and politician. He represented Fauquier County in the Virginia House of Delegates 1834-1838 and became president of the Manassas Ga ...

) to become the Orange, Alexandria and Manassas Railroad. After the

Panic of 1873 The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered an economic depression in Europe and North America that lasted from 1873 to 1877 or 1879 in France and in Britain. In Britain, the Panic started two decades of stagnation known as the "L ...

, the railroad was consolidated into the

Virginia Midland Railway Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, which was controlled by the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the oldest railroads in North America, oldest railroad in the United States and the first steam engine, steam-operated common carrier. Construction of the line began in 1828, and it operated as B&O from 1830 ...

. It later became part of the

Richmond and Danville Railroad The Richmond and Danville Railroad (R&D) Company was a railroad that operated independently from 1847 until 1894, first in the U.S. state of Virginia, and later on of track in nine states. Chartered on March 9, 1847, the railroad completed its ...

, which went bankrupt in the

Panic of 1893 The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States. It began in February 1893 and officially ended eight months later. The Panic of 1896 followed. It was the most serious economic depression in history until the Great Depression of ...

. The following year it was merged into the Southern Railway. A cutoff between

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

and

was incorporated in 1876 as the Charlottesville and Rapidan Railroad and opened in 1880. The Southern Railway acquired the line in 1914.

Modern times

Most of the O&A right-of-way is now the

Washington District The Washington District is a Norfolk Southern Railway line in the U.S. state of Virginia that connects Alexandria and Lynchburg. Most of the line was built from 1850 to 1860 by the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, while a small portion in th ...

line of the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

. The main exceptions are a short segment between

and Gordonsville, which is part of the similarly named

Washington Subdivision The Washington Subdivision is a railroad line in Virginia owned by CSX Transportation and leased and operated by the Buckingham Branch Railroad. The line is part of the BB's Richmond & Alleghany Division. The line splits from the Norfolk Southern ...

of the

Buckingham Branch Railroad Buckingham Branch Railroad is a Class III short-line railroad operating over 275 miles (443 km) of historic and strategic trackage in Central Virginia. Sharing overhead traffic with CSX and Amtrak, the company's headquarters are in Dill ...

; and the easternmost portion that traveled through

Old Town Alexandria Old Town Alexandria is one of the original settlements of the city of Alexandria, Virginia, and is located about 8 miles from the United States Capitol. It lies across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., of which it used to make up the far ...

to its waterfront, which no longer exists aside from the Hoofs Run Bridge and the Wilkes Street Tunnel. Parts of the former O&A right-of-way are also used by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

and

Virginia Railway Express Virginia Railway Express (VRE) is a commuter rail service that connects outlying small cities of Northern Virginia to Washington Union Station in Washington, D.C. It operates two lines which run during weekday rush hour only: the Fredericksbur ...

(VRE).

Wilkes Street Tunnel

The O&A built the first transportation tunnel in Virginia: the Wilkes Street Tunnel in Alexandria, Virginia, opened in 1851 but completed in 1856. Located just a few hundred yards west of the Potomac River, it connected the wharves to the rest of the line. The area around the tunnel became known as "Tunneltown", part of an African-American neighborhood called "Hayti". By the mid-20th century. it was a shantytown and squatter's haven known as "Owens Beach". Revival efforts began in 1968 when an old row tenement on the NE corner of Royal and Wilkes was turned into luxury apartments called Tunnel Flats. As wharf traffic declined and Alexandria became more suburban, daily trains through the tunnel decreased to two a day. One, the Southern train to the

PEPCO The Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO) is an American utility company that supplies electric power to the city of Washington, D.C., and to surrounding communities in Maryland. It is owned by Exelon. The company's current trademarked slogan ...

plant, last ran on November 25, 1969. This was a symbolic run, made at walking speed with children hanging from the train and dignitaries on hand. An employee walked in front of the locomotive as it went down Union Street, stopping to let shoppers and diners move cars that were parked on the tracks. The other train, to the

Robinson Terminal Robinson Terminal Warehouse LLC is a warehouse and logistics company operating in Springfield, Virginia, and formerly along the Potomac River in Alexandria, Virginia. Founded in 1939 by Clarence J. Robinson, the company served as the longtime fr ...

at Duke Street, ceased in 1974, and the tracks were pulled up in mid-October 1975. By 1980, the city was seeking federal funding to turn the tunnel into a

bike trail A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or a small paved road (though it can also be a route along a navigable waterways) generally not intended for usage by motorized vehicles, usually passing through a natural area. Howe ...

, which was done before 1999. In 2003, the city added a crosswalk to Union Street to connect the tunnel to the park on the other side. In 2007-2008, the tunnel was refurbished, receiving steel reinforcement ribs, more and brighter lighting, drainage improvement, and extensive pavement repairs.

References

External links

Csiegel's Orange & Alexandria Railroad page

1948 photo of Springfield StationFairfax Station Railroad MuseumCivil War photographs of the Orange & Alexandria at the Library of Congress1851 map1854 map1861 map"Map of Warrenton Junction, Orange and Alexandria R.R., Virginia shewing destruction of R.R. by enemy, October 1863."
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Orange Alexandria Railroad Defunct Virginia railroads Predecessors of the Southern Railway (U.S.) Railway companies established in 1848 Railway companies disestablished in 1867 1848 establishments in Virginia 1867 disestablishments in Virginia American companies established in 1848 American companies disestablished in 1867