Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park

Trail route

The W&OD Trail begins near the Nauck neighborhood in the Shirlington section of Arlington County, close to the boundary between the County and the City of Alexandria. The trail ends in Purcellville in western Loudoun County. Its route largely parallels the routes of the Potomac River and Virginia State Route 7 (VA Route 7).

The trail connects at its origin to the paved Four Mile Run Trail, which travels eastward through Arlington along a stream embankment to meet the Mount Vernon Trail at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, near the Potomac River. The start of the trail is also accessible from the Shirlington exit (Exit 6) of Interstate 395 (I-395) (the Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway).

The trail parallels the more curving and hilly Four Mile Run Trail throughout its route in Arlington. Although they coincide in several locations, the two trails generally travel on opposite sides of the Run. There are no restrooms and few water fountains alongside the W&OD Trail in the County. Restrooms and additional water fountains are available near ball fields and picnic areas along the Four Mile Run Trail.

The W&OD trailhead (Mile 0) is at the intersection of South Shirlington Road and South Four Mile Run Drive. The trail starts in the Atlantic Coastal Plain at the trail's lowest elevation 141 feet (43 m) above sea level.

The trail climbs 195 feet (59 m) in 5.9 miles (9.5 km) while traveling northwest through Arlington County. While in Arlington, the trail ascends through the Atlantic Seaboard fall line while climbing upstream in the valley of Four Mile Run. The trail crosses the Run seven times in the valley on bridges whose abutments were constructed before the Civil War by the Alexandria, Loudoun & Hampshire Railroad, a predecessor of the W&OD Railroad.

After crossing Columbia Pike (VA Route 244), the trail enters a steeply-sloped woodland that covers both sides of the valley. Near the end of the woodland, the trail intersects the Bluemont Junction Trail, a paved rail trail that travels to Ballston on the bed of a former W&OD Railroad branch that once ran to Rosslyn and Georgetown. 0.6 miles (1.0 km) past that intersection, the W&OD Trail meets the Custis Trail, which travels along I-66 (the Custis Memorial Parkway) between East Falls Church and Rosslyn and which provides access to Washington, D.C. After joining at their intersection, the W&OD and Custis Trails share the same path as they travel northwest near an I-66 soundwall for most of their remaining courses in Arlington.

After leaving the fall line, the W&OD Trail enters the Piedmont plateau region near the west corner of the County. The trail continues to climb in the Piedmont while traveling northwest through Falls Church and Fairfax County. The trail reaches an elevation of 450 feet (140 m) at its crossing of I-66 in Fairfax County. When it reaches this point, the trail has risen 309 feet (94 m) while traveling 8.4 miles (13.5 km).

After crossing I-495 (the Capital Beltway) and passing Dunn Loring, the trail begins a long descent as it travels through Vienna. After leaving Vienna, the trail continues to descend until it reaches Difficult Run (Mile 14.3), where its elevation of 240 feet (73 m) is only about 100 feet (30 m) higher than is the elevation at the trail's origin.

After the trail crosses Difficult Run, it ascends and descends between additional streams (including Sugarland Run, Broad Run, Beaverdam Run, Goose Creek, Sycolin Creek and Tuscarora Creek) as it travels further northwest in the Piedmont through or near Reston, Herndon, Sterling, Ashburn, and Leesburg. When crossing Tuscarora Creek in Leesburg, the trail's elevation of 273 feet (83 m) is 63 feet (19 m) lower than the highest elevation that it reached in Arlington.

After crossing Tuscarora Creek, the trail climbs 337 feet (103 m) northwest in 6.3 miles (10.1 km) to reach its highest elevation (610 feet (190 m)) when crossing a bridge carrying VA Route 9 (Charles Town Pike) over VA Route 7 near the saddle point of Clarks Gap in Catoctin Mountain. 0.3 miles (0.48 km) before this crossing, the trail travels under an old stone arch that formerly carried VA Route 7 over the W&OD Railroad.

The trail then turns west, descends through Paeonian Springs to Hamilton Station and climbs to reach Purcellville. When the trail terminates in Purcellville, its elevation is 564 feet (172 m) above sea level.

History of the regional park

When the W&OD Railroad closed in 1968, its 100-foot (30 m) wide right-of-way extended from Potomac Yard in Alexandria to the center of Purcellville. Soon after the railroad closed, the Virginia Department of Highways purchased the railroad's property from the line's owner, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, with the intent of using a portion of the right-of-way for the construction of I-66. Shortly thereafter, the Virginia Electric and Power Company (part of which was incorporated into Dominion Virginia Power in 2000) purchased most of the property from the highway department, as the company's electric power transmission lines were travelling within the right-of-way.

The first portion of the W&OD Trail opened in 1974 within the City of Falls Church under a lease agreement between the City government, the power company and NVRPA. As the trail proved to be popular, NVRPA purchased this and additional segments of the right-of-way from the power company between 1978 and 1982. The power company retained an easement that permitted the company to maintain its lines and to extend them along the right-of-way if needed.

NVRPA was not able to acquire from the power company the portion of the right-of-way that lay within the City of Alexandria. NVRPA also could not acquire the portion of right-of-way that the highway department had retained for construction of I-66 near East Falls Church in Arlington and various portions of the right-of-way that contained existing or potential highway crossings.

NVRPA extended the trail east and west of Falls Church as it acquired portions of the right-of-way. In 1987, the National Park Service designated the trail as a National Recreation Trail. The trail reached Purcellville in 1988. After encountering opposition from the public because of its potential environmental impacts, the final section of the trail opened in and near Arlington's Bluemont Park in 2002.

In February 1999, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) determined that the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Historic District (DHR No. 053-0276) was eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

On October 20, 2007, construction began for a paved trail that would connect the W&OD Trail at its origin with the Four Mile Run Trail by traveling for 3,000 feet (910 m) along a bank of the Run while passing beneath the Henry G. Shirley Memorial Highway (I-395) in Alexandria and West Glebe Road in Arlington. On May 30, 2009, a ribbon-cutting ceremony heralded the completion and opening of the connecting trail.

There have been formal plans to extend the trail west to Bluemont and the Appalachian Trail since the 1980s. Problems with identifying a route and acquiring land have prevented construction, but it has been included in Loudoun County's 2003 Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan and Virginia's 2013 Outdoors Plan.

Historic structures in the regional park

The park and its immediate surroundings contain a number of historic structures, some of which date to the pre-Civil War period. Most of these structures are railroad remnants, including intact stations at Vienna, Sunset Hills, Herndon, Hamilton and Purcellville, stone arches and culverts, the piers and abutments of bridges, and a relocated passenger shelter (formerly at Clarks Gap; now at Paeonian Springs).

Part of the reinforced concrete floor of a brick electrical substation that the railroad constructed in 1912 to help supply power to its new electric locomotives and trolley cars is visible in Arlington County's Bluemont Junction Railroad Display south of Wilson Boulevard. The floor is located in the space between a soccer field and a Southern Railway caboose.

A remnant of a coal trestle stands south of the W&OD Trail, west of the trail's crossing of Lee Highway (U.S. Route 29) in Arlington. In June 2014, the owner of a property adjacent to the regional park demolished part of the structure to provide space for a planned self-storage facility. At the time, the Arlington County government was considering a proposal to designate the structure as a local historic district. In September 2014, the Arlington County Board designated the remaining portion of trestle, which was located on NVRPA property, as a local historic district. The trestle was once adjacent to the west side of the railroad's Falls Church (East Falls Church) station, which was dismantled after the railroad closed.

A white metallic marker post lettered in black with the words "Station 1 Mile" stands on the north side of the trail west of Little Falls Road near the boundary between Arlington and Falls Church. This post, which once stood next to the W&OD Railroad's tracks, is one mile (1.6 km) east of the site of the railroad's demolished West Falls Church Station. The station was located near the east side of the railroad's crossing of W. Broad Street (VA Route 7) in Falls Church.

Near the east end of Vienna, the poured concrete abutment of a bridge that carried an interurban trolley line, the Washington-Virginia Railway, over the W&OD Railroad remains on the north side of the trail. An inscription showing the month and year of the abutment's construction (July 1904) is visible on the structure's east side.

The trail crosses Goose Creek in Loudoun County on a span that NVRPA built on top of the piers and abutments of the highest and longest (268 feet (82 m)) bridge that the railroad constructed within the present boundaries of the regional park. Visitors can view these remnants and the intact span, pier and abutments of the railroad's deck girder bridge over Sycolin Creek from unpaved paths that travel between the streams in NVRPA's Two Creeks Trail Area on the north side of the trail.

The Sycolin Creek bridge bears the only remaining span that once carried trains of the W&OD Railroad. As the trail travels on the concrete deck of the bridge, visitors can only see the span and the structures below if they leave the trail.

The piers and abutments of the railroad's bridge over Tuscarora Creek are visible south of the trail near the east end of Leesburg. The bridge was the second longest (149 feet (45 m)) that the railroad built within the present boundaries of the regional park. The piers and abutments are the only ones along the trail's route that do not presently support a bridge.

Remnants of the facilities of a 19th-century lime company are visible in Leesburg on the northeast side of the trail, southeast of Harrison Street SE. Limestone (calcium carbonate) from a company quarry was mixed with coal and burned in a nearby kiln that was adjacent to the railroad's tracks. Quicklime (calcium oxide) was brought out of the kiln through two arched openings that visitors can see from the trail. The company also supplied farmers with agricultural lime and provided builders with lime plaster for walls and stone for roads.

Near the saddle point of Clarks Gap, a stone arch crosses over the trail. Constructed around 1867-1868 soon after the end of the Civil War, the masonry arch once carried the original VA Route 7 over the railroad's tracks at the railroad's highest point. The arch now carries Dry Mill Road (VA Route 699) over the trail.

A registration form prepared to support the nomination of the park for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places contains an in-depth description of the park's historical resources and of the railroad's history, as well as maps that show the locations of the park's major historical features. The form states that the park is eligible for listing on the Register because its property "is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history."

Displays and museums along the W&OD Trail

The Norfolk Southern Railway and its predecessors have donated three cabooses for display along the W&OD Trail. While none of these resemble the cabooses that once travelled along the route of the W&OD Railroad, two of the three cars house exhibits of materials relating to the W&OD Railroad and Trail.

A Southern Railway bay window caboose within the Bluemont Junction Railroad Display in Arlington exhibits photographs, maps and other information related to the County's railroads and trolleys. Staffed by a County park ranger, the caboose is open to the public on weekend afternoons from May through October. The display also contains outdoor signage and photographs that describe and illustrate the history of the W&OD Railroad and of its junction that once operated at the site of the exhibit, as well as a metallic crossbuck and a metallic marker post that was once located 1 mile (1.6 km) from a station.

A cupola caboose near the Trail in Vienna Centennial Park contains a museum that houses materials that the W&OD Railroad once used. Staffed by members of the Optimist Club of Greater Vienna, bearing on its sides the name "WASHINGTON & OLD DOMINION RAILROAD" and numbered 503, the caboose is open to the public during the afternoons on selected weekends and holidays. Near the caboose is a historical marker, an NVRPA information sign, a metallic crossbuck on a wooden post and a metallic marker post that was once located 1 mile (1.6 km) from a station. A metallic white railroad whistle post with black markings is located in Vienna Centennial Park on the north side of the Trail between Church Street NE and the caboose.

Adjacent to the Trail in Vienna, the Freeman Store houses a museum of the town's history. The museum contains maps, books and other materials that relate to the W&OD Railroad. Operated by Historic Vienna, Inc., the museum is open to the public during the afternoons of each week from Wednesdays through Sundays.

The W&OD Railroad station in Vienna houses a museum and a model railroad layout. Operated by the Northern Virginia Model Railroaders, Inc., the museum displays materials that the W&OD Railroad once used and a model of the station as it appeared when steam locomotives stopped at the station. The model railroad and museum is open to the public during the afternoon of one Saturday of each month except June and August.

An overlook at the Luck Stone Quarry east of Goose Creek displays a large trap rock quarry. This mineral provides bulk for concrete and macadam.

The W&OD Railroad station in Herndon houses the Herndon Depot Museum, which the Herndon Historical Society operates. The museum, which is open on Sundays from noon to 3:00 p.m. from March to mid-December, displays photographs and newspaper articles relating to the history of the Town of Herndon and the W&OD Railroad. The museum also contains materials that the railroad once used. The museum additionally contains information about the history of a nearby Norfolk and Western Railway cupola caboose whose sides bore the name and logo of the W&OD Railroad and the number 504 in 2006. A railroad whistle post is located near the caboose

The W&OD Railroad station in Purcellville houses the Loudoun Visitors Center. The Visitors Center contains a W&OD Railroad historical display and hosts wine-tasting events. The Visitors Center is open from noon to 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays from late April through October.

Transmission lines in the regional park

The W&OD Trail lies beneath a set of electric power transmission lines between its trailhead and the Dominion Virginia Power's Pleasant View Substation in Loudoun County southeast of Leesburg. The power company removes trees along this section of the trail to protect its lines, at times eliciting protests from members of the public and elected officials in the impacted jurisdictions. Trees shade much of the remainder of the trail.

In 2004, Dominion Virginia Power announced plans to extend its transmission lines in Loudoun County above ground from the Pleasant View Substation northwestward along the route of the W&OD Trail. In response, on November 15, 2005, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted a resolution of continued opposition to the installation of the proposed transmission lines along the Trail.

Citing the impending loss of trees along its trail, the NVRPA asked the public on December 13, 2005, to oppose Dominion Virginia Power's application for the transmission line project in hearings that the State Corporation Commission (SCC) was planning to conduct as part of its review of the project. During 2005, 2006 and 2007, the NVRPA submitted testimony and briefs to the SCC that opposed the construction of transmission lines along the route of the trail.

In January 2007, an SCC hearing examiner recommended the construction of an overhead transmission line that would follow a wooded segment of the W&OD Trail between Leesburg and Clark's Gap. After the SCC ordered the examiner to consider construction of an underground line along that segment of the trail, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted on June 5, 2007, a resolution that supported the location of the line along that segment only if the SCC required Dominion to "install the line underground at a minimum width with the least amount of impact".

The SCC nevertheless approved on February 15, 2008, a transmission line route that would travel above ground for 1.8 miles (2.9 km) along the same segment of the trail. The Commission's approval order stated that the SCC had adopted the Examiner's recommendation against underground construction "due to both the physical, and the cost to the ratepayers, of the impacts that would result therefrom."

Less than three weeks later, on March 4 and March 5, 2008, the Senate and the House of Delegates of the Virginia General Assembly unanimously passed emergency legislation that ordered the SCC to approve the underground construction of the line along that segment of the trail as part of a statewide pilot program for the development of such types of transmission lines. Sponsored by Delegate Joe T. May (Republican - Loudoun), the legislation exempted the project from any requirements for further SCC analyses relating to the impacts of the route, including environmental impacts and impacts upon historical resources. The legislation went into effect when Virginia Governor Tim Kaine approved it on April 2, 2008. Soon afterwards, the power company asked the SCC to approve construction of the underground transmission line in accordance with the terms of the legislation. The SCC approved construction of the underground line on May 28, 2008.

The NVRPA expected the project to result in a significant loss of trees, as the power company planned to dig trenches on each side of the paved trail while installing duct banks to house its conduits. Supporting the NVRPA's expectation, Dominion Virginia Power noted that the environmental impacts associated with underground cable installation in suburban and rural areas are significantly greater than are those of overhead line construction. The W&OD Trail closed for a year in the project area while the power company constructed its underground lines. The trail reopened to the public in November 2010.

Gallery of W&OD Trail

Views along the W&OD Trail from east to west:

Cycling videos