Great Falls and Old Dominion Railroad

Diagram of Washington area trolley lines (enlargeable image showing Great Falls and Old Dominion Railroad in dark green)

The Great Falls and Old Dominion Railroad (GF&OD) was an interurban trolley line that ran in Northern Virginia during the early 20th century.

History

Chartered in 1900 by a group of local landowners and acquired in 1902 by John Roll McLean (owner of The Washington Post) and Senator Stephen Benton Elkins, the 15-mile electrified railroad began operating from Georgetown in Washington, D.C. in 1906. The first scheduled car reached Great Falls Park in Fairfax County, Virginia on July 3 of that year.

From Georgetown, the railroad crossed the Potomac River on a superstructure built on the upstream side of the old Aqueduct Bridge to Rosslyn in Arlington, where it made connections with an older electric trolley line, the Washington, Arlington & Falls Church Railroad. From Rosslyn, the railroad traveled northwest along the north side of Lee Highway (now part of U.S. Route 29) to Cherrydale and then on its own right-of-way (now Old Dominion Drive, Virginia State Route 309) in Arlington and Fairfax Counties through forests, farmland and fruit orchards, bypassing the existing villages of Lewinsville and Langley. At Great Falls, the GF&OD constructed a trolley park, which became a popular destination.

The owners gave their own names to two stations located at the railroad's crossings of major roads: McLean Station at Chain Bridge Road (Virginia State Route 123) and Elkins Station at Old Georgetown Pike (Virginia State Route 193). The station at Chain Bridge Road became a focus for development that evolved into the community of McLean, Virginia.

In 1911, McLean and Elkins incorporated the Washington & Old Dominion Railway (W&OD). In 1912, the Georgetown-Great Falls line became the Great Falls Division of the W&OD, sharing trackage with the W&OD's Bluemont Division between Rosslyn and Thrifton Junction. In 1935, Fairfax and Arlington counties obtained the right-of-way west of Thrifton Junction in settlement of delinquent taxes. Most of the right-of-way was converted into Old Dominion Drive.

Interstate 66, the Custis Trail, and Lee Highway were built on the former GF&OD roadbed between Rosslyn and Thrifton Junction.

Stations

The stations on the GF&OD and on the Great Falls Division of the W&OD (with locations of sites in 2008) were:

Station	Location	Coordinates	Jurisdiction	Side of Tracks	Photo	Notes
Georgetown	M Street, N.W., between 35th and 37th Streets, N.W.		District of Columbia	West		Terminal station of GF&OD and W&OD until 1923. Adjacent to Georgetown Car Barn, which served Washington's electric street cars.
Rosslyn	Passenger Terminal: Fort Myer Drive (west side) between George Washington Memorial Parkway and Lee Highway		Arlington County	West	undated colorized postcard & 1923 interior photo of passenger terminal	The GF&OD and W&OD stopped at a passenger shelter from 1904 to 1923. The W&OD terminated behind a passenger station on Fort Myer Drive from 1923 to 1938 and in the present route of I-66 from 1938 to 1968. All of the stations and termini were near the present site of the Key Bridge Marriott Hotel. Historical Marker: Rosslyn Station
Colonial	I-66 at N. Nash Street		Arlington County	South
Rosslyn Freight House	I-66 near N. Oak Street		Arlington County	North
Mackeys	I-66 at N. Quinn Street		Arlington County	Northwest
Park Lane	I-66 east of N. Uhle Street; north of Lee Highway		Arlington County	Southwest
Pearce	I-66 near N. Adams Street		Arlington County	South
Clark	I-66 near N. Calvert Street		Arlington County	South		Near east side of Spout Run.
Thrifton	I-66 between Lee Highway and Spout Run Parkway		Arlington County	South		North of Lyon Village shopping center. Named for Hugh A. Thrift. East of junction with Thrifton – Bluemont Junction connecting line.
Dominion Heights	Lee Highway (between traffic lanes) at N. Monroe Street (east side)		Arlington County	South
Cherrydale	Intersection of Lee Highway and Old Dominion Drive at Military Road (east side)		Arlington County	Southwest	circa 1908
Harrison	Old Dominion Drive at N. Thomas Street		Arlington County	South
Greenwood	Old Dominion Drive at Lorcom Lane (northwest side); east of N. Vermont Street		Arlington County	South
Maplewood	Old Dominion Drive between traffic lanes north of Lee Highway; west of N. Abingdon Street		Arlington County	South
Livingston	Old Dominion Drive at 24th Street N. (north side)		Arlington County	Southwest		24th Street N. was Livingstone Street prior to 1932 (named for Colin H. Livingstone)
Lyonhurst	Old Dominion Drive at 25th Street N.		Arlington County	Southwest		Named for the nearby estate of Frank Lyon (now Missionhurst)
Summit	Old Dominion Drive at 26th Street N. (southeast side)		Arlington County	Southwest
Rixey	Old Dominion Drive at N. Glebe Road (east side)		Arlington County	Northeast	undated	Named for the nearby estate of Dr. Presley Marion Rixey. Marymount University now occupies the Rixey estate. Later station on southwest side of tracks.
Jewell	Old Dominion Drive at Rock Spring Road (north side)		Arlington County	Southwest	undated	Named for Charles Jewell
Vanderwerken	Old Dominion Drive at Little Falls Road (northwest side)		Arlington County	North		Named for Gilbert Vanderwerken
Franklyn Park	Old Dominion Drive at Franklin Park Road		Fairfax County	Northeast	undated
Rockwell	Old Dominion Drive near Dominion Crest Lane		Fairfax County	Southwest
Chesterbrook	Old Dominion Drive at Kirby Road (northwest side)		Fairfax County	Northeast
El Nido	Old Dominion Drive at Birch Road		Fairfax County	North
Selva	Old Dominion Drive at 6th Place		Fairfax County	Southwest
Viresco	Old Dominion Drive between Pimmit Run and Linway Terrace		Fairfax County	Northeast		Southeast side of B&O Railroad right-of-way
Lawnvale	Old Dominion Drive near Holmes Place		Fairfax County	Southwest
McLean	Old Dominion Drive at Chain Bridge Road (northwest side)		Fairfax County	Northeast		Named for John Roll McLean
Ingleside	Old Dominion Drive at Ingleside Avenue		Fairfax County	Northeast
Balls Hill	Old Dominion Drive at Balls Hill Road (east side)		Fairfax County	West
Hitaffer	Old Dominion Drive at Swinks Mill Road (south side)		Fairfax County	Northeast
Jackson	Old Dominion Drive northwest of Swinks Mill Road		Fairfax County	Southwest	undated
Spring Hill	Old Dominion Drive at Spring Hill Road (east side)		Fairfax County	Northeast
Prospect Hill	Old Dominion Drive at Bellview Place		Fairfax County	Northeast	undated
Belleview	Old Dominion Drive at Bellview Road		Fairfax County	Southwest	undated
Glendale	Old Dominion Drive at Towlston Road		Fairfax County	Southwest
Peacock	Old Dominion Drive at Peacock Station Road (east side)		Fairfax County	Southwest	undated
Fairview	Old Dominion Drive at Falls Run Road		Fairfax County	West
Elkins	Old Dominion Drive at Georgetown Pike (north side)		Fairfax County	West	undated	Named for Stephen Benton Elkins.
Dickeys Road	Old Dominion Drive in Great Falls Park		Fairfax County (National Park Service)			Named for Dickey's Inn. Near former site of Matildaville.
Great Falls	Old Dominion Drive in Great Falls Park		Fairfax County (National Park Service)	Inside turnaround	1. undated postcard 2. undated photo	Terminal station of GF&OD and Great Falls Division of W&OD.

See also

• Northern Virginia Trolleys
• Washington and Old Dominion Railroad

Further reading

• King, W.E. (1934-07-19). Index map showing Washington & Old Dominion Railway's line abandoned in relation to other railroads and common carriers in lower left corner of

External links

• * At Google Books.
• Yahoo group discussing W&OD and GF&OD
• In Map shows stations and route of Great Falls Division of W&OD (former route of GF&OD).