the Orange and Alexandria Railroad provided better, faster, cheaper transportation between the port of Alexandria and the Piedmont east of the Blue Ridge
Source: Library of Congress, A map of the internal improvements of Virginia (Claudius Crozet, 1848)
The Orange and Alexandria Railroad was designed to bring business to Alexandria, increasing business in that port city. The railroad was completed through the Piedmont before Fredericksburg built a transportation link upstream. The railroad got there first, and farmers in the Rappahannock River watershed traded with merchants at a Potomac River port rather than at a closer Rappahannock River port.
the Orange and Alexandria railroad bypassed Fairfax Courthouse, to minimize the need for locomotives to pull trains uphill
Source: Library of Congress, Map and profile of the Orange and Alexandria Rail Road with its Warrenton Branch and a portion of the Manasses [sic] Gap Rail Road, to show its point of connection
The railroad built its workshop for maintenance and repair of locomoives and railcars in Alexandria. There was also a rounddhouse located at Wolfe and Henry streets.1
the Alexandria waterfront was industrial in 1907
Source: Library of Congress, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Alexandria, Independent Cities, Virginia (Sanborn Map Company, November 1907)
durng the Civil War, Union soldiers rebuilt bridges to put the Orange and Alexandria Railroad back into service
Source: National Archives, The engine "Firefly" on a trestle of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad
1. Jay Roberts, "Rails in the Seaport: A Brief Look at the History of Railroads and Their Tracks in Alexandria," Jay's Jottings blog, January 28, 2015, https://jay.typepad.com/william_jay/2015/01/rails-in-the-seaport-a-brief-look-at-the-history-of-railroads-and-their-tracks-in-alexandria.html (last checked December 27, 2018)