Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park

File:Washington and Old Dominion Trail, looking east; Arlington, VA; 2014-05-17.jpg|Looking east towards the start of the W&OD Trail in Arlington County (May 2014) File:W&OD Trail east of Wiehle Avenue.jpg|The W&OD crushed bluestone bridle path just east of the junction with Wiehle Avenue (VA-828) in Reston, Virginia in August 2021. File:2018-08-23 12 37 36 Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park map near the west end of the Washington and Old Dominion Trail in Purcellville, Loudoun County, Virginia.jpg|Marker at end of the W&OD Trail in Purcellville showing the trail's route (August 2018) File:W&OD elevation.png|W&OD Trail Elevation Map (2008) The W&OD Trail begins in the Nauck neighborhood near 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 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). Park south of Arlington Boulevard (U.S. Route 50) (July 2020)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 trail climbs in 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. When crossing Tuscarora Creek in Leesburg, the trail's elevation of is only higher than the highest elevation that it reached in Arlington. After crossing that stream, the trail climbs northwest in to reach its highest elevation () while traveling on a bridge carrying VA 9 (Charles Town Pike) over VA 7 near the saddle point of Clarke's Gap in Catoctin Mountain. before this crossing, the trail travels under an old stone arch that formerly carried VA 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 above sea level. == Trail features ==

When the W&OD Railroad closed in 1968, its wide right-of-way extended from Potomac Yard in Alexandria to the center of Purcellville. In October 1968, the Virginia State Highway Department started condemnation proceedings to acquire the right-of-way, which was eventually donated to the state, where it crossed Shirley Highway. The section where it crossed the future Interstate 66 was also donated. In the same year that the railroad closed, the land that lay west of the Alexandria/Arlington boundary was sold for $4.91 million to Virginia Electric and Power Company (VEPCO) (part of which was incorporated into Dominion Energy in 2000) for power line right-of-way. Also in 1968, the Town of Vienna rejected a proposal to ask the State Highway Commission to add the railroad ROW to the urban road system for Northern Virginia and instead sought to purchase the ROW and include part of it in the new Northside Park. In 1969, Vienna asked VEPCO to give them the ROW through town. In 1971, voters in Fairfax County approved a $35 million park bond referendum that was to be used in part to buy the W&OD right of way in the county and buy another 590 acres of land along the route for campgrounds and picnic areas (but due to slow negotiations with VEPCO, that money was spent elsewhere). In 1972, voters approved the construction of a trail, then called "The Virginia Creeper," along the right-of way. In 1973 a study of the right-of-way proposed using it for a linear park. Trail construction and extension 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 VEPCO and the NVRPA. It extended from Little Falls Street to Railroad Avenue. By late 1976 a second, 1-mile long section opened in Vienna - again with permission from VEPCO. VEPCO agreed to sell the entire right-of-way to NVRPA on December 19, 1977 for $3.6 million, allowing regular purchases of it between 1978 and 1982; and Fairfax County voters passed another $51.1 million bond referendum that included money to pay for it. 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. The NVRPA was not able to acquire from the power company the portion of the right-of-way that lay within the City of Alexandria. The 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. The NVRPA extended the trail east and west of Falls Church as it acquired portions of the right-of-way until it stretched from Alexandria to Purcellville. In 1979, the trail was extended westward from Falls Church to Goose Creek with the aid of a federal Rails-to-Trails grant, although it was only paved as far as Maple Avenue East (VA Route 123) in Vienna - a distance of ; and by 1979 Fairfax County had built Buckthorn Lane on a raised area across the right-of-way, forcing the trail to leave the ROW and climb up to the road. Beyond that it was only suitable for hiking. In 1981, the NVRPA paved the trail from Vienna to Herndon. During the same year, the NVRPA also converted a section long from Herndon to Leesburg from a hiking trail to a gravel path. In 1982, the NVRPA completed a trail underpass at U.S. 15 (Leesburg Bypass) east of Leesburg, increasing the trail's total distance to over . The trail's route west of Leesburg remained accessible only by foot. Also in 1982, the trail was extended and paved eastward from Little Falls Street in Falls Church to Patrick Henry Drive in Arlington as part of the construction of I-66. During that same time period, the NVRPA began paving the easternmost section of trail from Shirlington Road to Columbia Pike (VA 244) in Arlington, with that work completed by the end of 1983. In September 1984, the NVRPA finished paving two sections of the trail, an extension westward from Herndon to Sterling and, two weeks later, an extension east from I-66 to Columbia Pike. Prior to the 1984 completion, the Arlington section of the trail from Columbia Pike to Lee Highway had been a dirt and gravel path. A sewer construction project that traveled along Four Mile Run delayed the paving for years. The paved trail reached its western terminus in Purcellville in 1988. 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 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. Spot changes After constructing most of the trail, the NVRPA focused on grade-separating the trail and making other spot changes, sometimes in collaboration with the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) or with developers of nearby properties. In 1989, the VDOT completed the Herndon Parkway on the east side of Herndon, which included a trail bridge over the Parkway. In 1990, a trail bridge was constructed over VA 28 in eastern Loudoun County as part of a project to widen that road. In 1991, the trail crossing of Reston Parkway (VA 602) in Reston was moved from Sunset Hills Road (VA 675) to Bluemont Way. On October 3, 1993, the NVRPA completed a bridge over West Broad Street (VA 7) in Falls Church. In 1999, a developer, Terrabrook Communities, built a wide and high arched-concrete trail underpass beneath Reston Parkway as part of an agreement with the NVRPA. The of old trail in that section became connectors to the parkway at Bluemont Way. The western section of the Herndon Parkway, with another trail bridge over it, was completed in 1997. In 2001, the VDOT expanded the Fairfax County Parkway (VA 286) across the W&OD Trail right-of-way, building an overpass for the trail at about the same time. In 2005, the Sugarland Run Valley Stream Trail in Herndon was extended to connect to the trail. In May 2006, the VDOT completed work on an extension of Claiborne Parkway (VA 901) that crossed NOVA Parks' right-of-way. As part of the project, the VDOT constructed a bridge that carried the W&OD Trail over the extended Parkway. On June 15, 2011, VDOT opened a new trail bridge over I-495 that was constructed as part of the Capital Beltway High Occupancy Toll (HOT) Lanes project. The new bridge was both wider and higher than the one built in 1979. In 2013-2015, an Arlington County streetscape and utilities project realigned the W&OD's Trail's crossing of Columbia Pike (VA 244). An associated Arlington County project constructed a plaza and a bicycle "learner's loop" adjacent to the realigned trail in the County's Glencarlyn Park. In late 2015, a truck-climbing lane project was completed on VA 7 in Clarke's Gap. The project realigned the trail to move its crossing of Charles Town Pike (VA 9) at Dry Mill Road (VA 699) to a new underpass beneath the Pike on the south side of VA 7. The realigned trail bypassed the trail's former high point, reducing the trail's highest elevation above sea level from to . In 2017, a bridge carrying Belmont Ridge Road (VA 659) over the W&OD Trail and a trail parking lot was constructed in Loudoun County as part of a project to widen the road. Also in 2017, NOVA Parks made within the County a set of safety improvements at the trail's crossing of S. Sterling Boulevard (VA 846), including removing one left turn lane to reduce the trail's crossing distance, installing Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons, and widening the Boulevard's median On March 12, 2021, the VDOT opened a W&OD Trail pedestrian and bicycle bridge over Lee Highway (U.S. 29) in Arlington County's East Falls Church neighborhood as part of its "Transform 66 - Inside the Beltway" I-66 eastbound widening project. When planning the project, the VDOT hosted several public meetings that provided information about the bridge, which had raised concerns among neighborhood residents. In 2023, a campaign failed to name the bridge for Peter Beers, whom a falling tree had killed in 2020 while he was cycling. Nevertheless, a local online newspaper gave Beers' name to the bridge in 2024 and 2026. On July 24th, 2024 the Fairfax County Department of Transportation opened a new trail bridge over Wiehle Avenue in Reston. The bridge was recommended in an April 2008 study by the Reston Metrorail Access Group, an advisory committee created in spring 2006 to prepare for the arrival of Metro’s Silver Line. The Wiehle Metro station opened in 2014, but the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors didn’t approve a final design for the bridge crossing until July 2018. Preliminary work relocating utilities started in 2021, and construction started in March 2023. W&OD Dual Trails project Around 2017, NOVA Parks commissioned a feasibility study for a potential widening of the W&OD Trail or for adding a parallel trail to it within Falls Church and Arlington County because of high use at peak times. The study's author recommended that NOVA Parks make plans to construct a or wide trail within the two jurisdictions, while temporarily widening the trail to . In June 2018, NOVA Parks received a $3.2 million grant from the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority that enabled it to expand a long W&OD Trail segment within the City of Falls Church. The project converted an wide section of the trail and part of its adjacent green space into a dual paved path containing a wide bicycle trail and an wide pedestrian trail. A wide strip of pavement separated the two routes, creating a wide transportation corridor that doubled the W&OD Trail's width. The two imperviously-surfaced trails traveled through a urban open space that a 2016 Falls Church master plan had called "The City's Greenest Street". The master plan's "Vision Statement" stated that the project would help "Develop the W&OD Park as a Great Street and greenway". The widened trail formally opened during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on October 7, 2021. The executive director of NOVA Parks, Paul Gilbert, stated during the event: "I envision over the next decade, more and more urban sections of the W&OD Trail will take on this dual trail methodology." ==Designations==

In 1987, the U. S. Department of the Interior designated the trail as a National Recreation Trail. In 1999, Virginia Department of Historic Resources staff determined that the "Washington and Old Dominion Railroad Historic District" (053-0276) was eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). A 2000 NRHP registration form states that the Historic District is eligible for the listing because the District "is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history". The form contains an in-depth description of the District's historical resources and of the railroad's history, as well as maps that show the locations of the Districts's major historical features. ==Historic structures==

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 the site of the Clarks Gap station at the present crossing of the trail and Dry Mill Road (VA 699); now at the former site of the Paeonian Springs station near Simpson Circle). 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 Park, 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, near the west end of the trail's bridge over Lee Highway (U.S. 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 7) in Falls Church. over the W&OD Railroad near the east end of Vienna (December 2006) Near the east end of Vienna, the poured concrete abutment of a bridge that carried an interurban trolley line, the Arlington & Fairfax 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. Portions of track were visible near the W&OD Trail's crossing of Ruritan Circle (Old Church Road, VA 859) in Sterling during 2023. 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. 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 7 over the railroad's tracks at the railroad's highest point. The arch now carries Dry Mill Road (VA 699) over the trail. ==Displays and museums==

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 (number X441) within Arlington's Bluemont Junction Park exhibits photographs, maps, and other information related to the County's railroads and trolleys. The caboose was built in 1971, three years after the W&OD Railroad closed. The park 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 from a station. 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. 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 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. 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. 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. A railroad whistle post is located near the caboose. An overlook at the Luck Stone Quarry east of Goose Creek displays a large trap rock quarry. This mineral provides bulk for concrete, macadam and paving stones. 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. ==Natural resources==

Most of the landscaping in the park is left in a natural state to preserve green space and to provide wildlife habitat. Brandymore Castle and Four Mile Run in Arlington, Piney Branch and Difficult Run in Fairfax County, and the confluence of Goose Creek and Sycolin Creek in Loudoun County. Park interpreters, local teachers, environmental groups and amateur naturalists use the park as a resource for plant and animal study. These groups have identified approximately 450 species of wildflowers and more than 100 species of birds in the park. Wildlife in the park includes mammals such as foxes, river otters and beavers, and reptiles such as turtles and snakes. A variety of hawks and owls and other resident, non-resident and migratory birds, both upland and aquatic, find habitat in the park. ==Transmission lines==

The W&OD Trail lies beneath a set of electric power transmission lines between its trailhead and the Dominion Energy'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 Energy 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 Energy'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 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." 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 Energy 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. In 2024, Dominion Energy backed out of a voluntary agreement to limit tree cuttings to only those directly at risk of tangling with power lines, and began clearcutting trees with potential to grow over 15 feet. This drew condemnation from the boards of Fairfax, Arlington, and Loudoun counties, prompting Dominion Energy to pause the clearings in March 2025. ==Future plans==

Arlington County In July 2020, NOVA Parks received a $650,000 grant from the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority (NVTA) that enabled NOVA Parks to make plans to extend the organization's "Dual Trails" project for eastward from the City of Falls Church into Arlington County (from North Roosevelt Street to North Carlin Springs Road). Although NOVA Parks had asked NVTA for sufficient funds ($5,646,000) to complete the project, the NVTA awarded only the amount that NOVA Parks had requested for design, engineering and environmental work. The reduced award followed an NVTA public comment period that attracted more than 300 responders. Most comments supported the expansion. Loudoun County There have been plans to extend the trail west to Bluemont and the Appalachian Trail since the 1980s. Loudoun County's 2003 Bicycle and Pedestrian Mobility Master Plan and Virginia's 2013 and 2018 Outdoors Plans recommend such extensions. The right-of-way itself is unavailable to the county and planners have struggled to identify a route or acquire land. Because of these difficulties, the Loudoun County government stopped considering such a route. Instead, the County is now constructing a trail that will travel between Purcellville and Round Hill along VA 7 (Business). The first three sections built connect Leesburg Pike (VA 7) to the Lake Point subdivision near the east side of Round Hill. These include an underpass of Leesburg Pike built with the road in the 1990s; the trail north of it built with the Newberry Crossing development ~2008, and the trail south of the Pike built with the Lake Point subdivision ~2016. The County solicited bids on the next shared-use trail between Main Street (VA 719) in Round Hill and Franklin Park west of Purcellville along East Loudoun Street (VA 7 (Business)) in 2019. Construction started on the project in 2020 and reached completion at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on September 27, 2022. It included a sidewalk along Round Hill's Main Street from the former Washington & Old Dominion railroad station to E. Loudoun Street (VA 7 (Business)); a sidewalk on both sides of E. Loudoun Street from the intersection of Main Street to Evening Star Drive where it connected to the previously constructed trail; and a 10-foot wide, shared-use path connecting the Lake Point subdivision to the Franklin Park pool. The existing portion of the Bluemont-Purcellville trail will connect to another trail, currently under design, that will follow West Main Street (VA 7 (Business)) to connect Franklin Park and downtown Purcellville. County planners estimated in 2025 that the Franklin Park - Purcellville trail would reach substantial completion during the summer of 2030. Proposed transit use The advocacy group NOVA-TRAC has proposed utilizing the W&OD right-of-way to construct a commuter rail line from Purcellville and Leesburg to the Washington Metro's East Falls Church station, where riders can transfer to the Orange and Silver lines. The Hamilton town council voted to support NOVA-TRAC's plan on February 10, 2025. The council passed a resolution that supports studying the use of the W&OD rail trail corridor for rapid transit. ==See also==