The Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad was chartered on February 25, 1834, to run from
Richmond north via
Fredericksburg to the
Potomac River. It opened from Richmond to
Hazel Run in 1836, to Fredericksburg on January 23, 1837, and the rest of the way to the Potomac River at
Aquia Creek on September 30, 1842. Steamboat service to Washington, D.C., and the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was provided by the
Washington and Fredericksburg Steamboat Company, later renamed the
Potomac Steamboat Company, controlled by the railroad after 1845. Badly damaged during the
Civil War, on October 11, 1870, an extension to the north toward
Quantico was authorized at a special meeting of the company's stockholders. The company's charter limited this branch to 10 miles, leaving it 1.7 miles short of the Alexandria and Fredericksburg Railroad. This split from the existing line at
Brooke and ran north to Quantico, also on the Potomac. The old line to the Aquia Creek wharf was abandoned on the opening of the Quantico wharf on May 1, 1872. On the other end of the line, the
Alexandria and Washington Railroad was chartered on February 27, 1854, to build from the south end of the
Long Bridge over the Potomac River south to
Alexandria. That line opened in 1857. The railroad went bankrupt and was sold July 9, 1887, being reorganized November 23, 1887, as the
Alexandria and Washington Railway. In 1873 the
Baltimore and Potomac Railroad's branch over the Long Bridge opened, giving a route into
Washington, D.C., over which the A&W obtained
trackage rights. The
Alexandria and Fredericksburg Railway was chartered February 3, 1864, to continue the line from Alexandria to Fredericksburg. It opened on July 2, 1872, only reaching Quantico, the north end of the RF&P. At Quantico the 1.7-mile (2.7 km)
Potomac Railroad, chartered April 21, 1867, and opened May 1, 1872, connected the two lines. It was leased to the RF&P for 28 years from May 17, 1877. On March 31, 1890, the two companies terminating in Alexandria merged to form the
Washington Southern Railway. Until November 1, 1901, it was operated by the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad and its successor the
Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad (part of the
Pennsylvania Railroad system). The Potomac Railroad lease was transferred to the Washington Southern on June 30, 1904. On February 24, 1920, the Washington Southern was formally merged into the RF&P. The
Richmond-Washington Company was incorporated September 5, 1901, as a
holding company, owning the entire capital stock of the two railroads. The stock of the company was owned equally by the Pennsylvania Railroad, Baltimore and Ohio Railroad,
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad,
Southern Railway,
Seaboard Air Line Railway and
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. Four of these companies (B&O, ACL, SAL, C&O) have since become part of
CSX. The Southern Railway is now part of
Norfolk Southern and does not use the former RF&P; the former Pennsylvania Railroad, in its later incarnation as Conrail, has been split between CSX and Norfolk Southern with most of PRR's routes becoming part of Norfolk Southern. However, the portion of the former PRR that connected to the very north of the RF&P's former Potomac Yard, across the Long Bridge and into Washington DC, became part of CSX following the takeover of Conrail by NS and CSX. On December 31, 1925, RF&P operated 118 miles of road and 432 miles of track; on December 31, 1970, mileages were 118 and 518. == Passenger service ==