during the Civil War, the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad ended at Aquia Landing on the Potomac River
Source: Library of Congress, Central Virginia: showing Lieut. Gen'l. U.S. Grant's campaign and marches of the armies under his command in 1864-5 (US War Department. Engineer Bureau, between 1864 and 1869)
the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad connected to the Potomac River at Aquia Creek in 1862
Source: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection, Surveys for military defenses. Map of northeastern Virginia and vicinity of Washington. Sheet 2 (by J.J. Young and W. Hesselbach, August 1, 1862)
the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad connected Richmond to a steamboat pier at Aquia Creek; the direct link to Washington DC was not built until 1872 (after the Civil War)
Source: Library of Congress, Chronological history of the Civil War in America and hand atlas of the slave states ("Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware" map by J. H. Colton, 1863)
the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad was unable to block the Virginia Central from building a competing line between Richmond and Hanover Junction (modern Doswell)
Source: Library of Congress, Map showing from Richmond to Fredericksburg, Va (Robert Knox Sneden, 1864-65)
the 1945 topographic map shows the Richmond, Fredercksburg and Potomac (RF&P) Railroad between Potomac Yard and Long Bridge
Source: US Geological Survey, Alexandria, VA 1:31,680 scale topographic quadrangle (1945)
in 1905, the tracks of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac (RF&P) Railroad still used Belvidere and Byrd streets
Source: Library of Congress, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Richmond, Independent Cities, Virginia (1905)
the railroad gap between Fredericksburg and Alexandria was finally closed in 1872
Source: Library of Congress, A map showing the Atlantic Mississippi & Ohio R.R. and its connections from Norfolk to Cumberland Gap via Bristol (1867)
The Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad (RF&P) was a rarity in Virginia. All other railroads chartered before the Civil War were intended to draw agricultural products from the Piedmont and Shenandoah Valley to a port city - Alexandria, Richmond, Petersburg, Portsmouth, or Norfolk. In contrast, the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad was designed to connect two existing port cities and facilitate north-south traffic along the Fall Line with Washington, DC via steamboat. It was unique in that passenger traffic generated more revenue that freight traffic until after the Civil War.1
C. Coleman McGehee, "I've been working on the railroad: the saga of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad Company," Masters Thesis, University of Richmond, 1992, p.10, https://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1748&context=masters-theses (last checked July 3, 2020)
The Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad was chartered on February 25, 1834, orginially as the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potowmac Railroad. A year later the state agreed to purchase 40% of the shares, providing government support for a public-private partnership. Private support for the company was so great that not enough shares were available, so the state acquired 2,752 shares (slightly less than 40%) in 1835 for $275,200. Those shares grew in value over the next 156 years, when the state finally sold them for $136,874,400, though inflation would account for much of the increase.1
"The Virginia Retirement System's Investment in the RF&P Corporation," Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, House Document No. 53, 1994, p.2, http://jlarc.virginia.gov/pdfs/reports/Rpt158.pdf (last checked August 1, 2020)
The state appointed two people to the company's board between 1836-1851, then one member between 1852-1970. The state appointed two members again until the railroad was sold to the CSX in 1991.
It was granted a 30-year monopoly on railroad traffic between Richmond and Washington. The charter required building through Fredericksburg, and permitted construction north:1
C. Coleman McGehee, "I've been working on the railroad: the saga of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad Company," Masters Thesis, University of Richmond, 1992, pp.5-6, https://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1748&context=masters-theses; Fairfax Harrison, A History of the Legal Development of the Railroad System of Southern Railway Company, 1901, pp.1478-79, https://books.google.com/books/about/A_History_of_the_Legal_Development_of_th.html?id=0IkjAQAAMAAJ (last checked July 3, 2020)
Track in Richmond started at 8th and Broad ("H") streets. The railroad built its headquarters, shops, and passenger/freight station there.1
"Engine Trouble," Richmond Magazine, April 14, 2014, https://richmondmagazine.com/news/richmond-history/history-of-trains-in-richmond/ (last checked June 23, 2020)
the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad depot was located on Broad Street
Source: Library of Congress, Illustrated atlas of the city of Richmond, Va. (Section G, 1877)
The 61 miles of track was completed between Richmond and Fredericksburg at the beginning of 1837. North of Richmond, a branch line to the coal fields in Henrico County provided revenue-generating freight traffic.
the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad carried coal from Henrico County
Source: Library of Congress, Map of Richmond, Va., and surrounding country showing Rebel fortifications (1864)
The Washington and Fredericksburg Steamboat Company provided the water link from Fredericksburg to Washington, using a wharf at Belle Plain on Potomac Creek. Steamboats had been operating on the Potomac River between Washington, DC and Aquia Creek, and then Potomac Creek, since 1815.
The railroad wanted to eliminate the need to use a stagecoach between Fredericksburg and the steamboat landing, but did not choose to build to Belle Plain. Instead, it found a site on Aquia Creek with deeper water, where larger steamboats could dock.
In 1842, a wharf was completed at Aquia Creek, with 14 miles of track linking Fredericksburg to the new steamboat landing and northern terminal of the original Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad (RF&P). The railroad purchased half the shares of the Washington and Fredericksburg Steamboat Company and took control of freight and passengers all the way between Richmond-Washington. After later acquiring all the shares, the railroad renamed it the Potomac Steamboat Company.
the RF&P railroad built to Aquia Creek in 1842, replacing the stagecoach/wagon connection to Belle Plain on Potomac Creek used for five years
Source: Library of Congress, A map of the state of Virginia (by Lewis Von Buchholtz, L. V., Herman Böÿe, Benjamin Tanner, 1859)
Until 1872, steamboats on the Potomac River carried passengers and cargo between Aquia Landing and Washington, DC. The trip took nine hours, five and a half by rail and three and a half by steamboat. In comparison, travelers by stagecoach took 38 hours for the equivalent trip by road, or 24 hours by using the Potomac River steamboat.1
Inventory of the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad, Records, 1834-1997," Library of Virginia, https://www.lva.virginia.gov/findaid/36460.htm; "Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad," Annual Report, Virginia, Railroad Commissioner, 1898, p.34, https://books.google.com/books?id=mCUaAQAAIAAJ; "Fairfax County Civil War Sites Inventory," Fairfax County Park Authority, August 2002, p.12, https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/sites/parks/files/assets/documents/naturalcultural/civil%20war%20inventory.pdf; "Richmond and Chesapeake Bay Railway," Pantograph: Exploring Rail Transit, August 11, 2009, http://pantographblog.blogspot.com/2009/08/richmond-and-chesapeake-bay-railway.html; C. Coleman McGehee, "I've been working on the railroad: the saga of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad Company," Masters Thesis, University of Richmond, 1992, p.3, p.9, https://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1748&context=masters-theses (last checked July 2, 2020)
the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad stopped at Aquia Landing until 1872
Source: Library of Congress, Central Virginia
the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad sent stagecoaches to Belle Plain until it built track to Aquia Landing
Source: Library of Congress, Map showing from Richmond to Fredericksburg, Va (Robert Knox Sneden, 1864-65)
since track from Aquia Landing was destroyed, the Union Army used Belle Plain briefly as the supply point during the 1864 Overland Campaign
Source: Library of Congress, Bacon's new army map of the seat of war in Virginia (Bacon & Co., 1862)
to supply the 1864 Overland March, the Union Army reconstructed the Belle Plain landing rather than the old Aquia Landing steamship wharf
Source: Library of Congress, Fredericksburg to Petersburg, VA (by Robert Knox Sneden, c.1863)
the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad abandoned Aquia Landing, after building a direct line to Alexandria in 1872
Source: Library of Congress, Map of northern Virginia (1894)
In 1837, the Lousia Railroad started constructing track westward from the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad at Hanover Junction. In 1850, the General Assembly granted the Louisa Railroad the right to build its own track, parallel to the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, between the junction and Richmond. The re-named Virginia Central built that new track to eliminate the high fees charged by the RF&P for use of that segment.
The Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad also lost business in 1850 when it proposed to charge a high fee for allowing a telegraph line to be contructed within the right-of-way. Samuel F. B. Morse chose to build the line instead on another route, known since as Telegraph Road. As a result, the railroad lacked telegraph serrvice for coordinating trains until 1862, when military traffic required greater efficiency.1
C. Coleman McGehee, "I've been working on the railroad: the saga of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad Company," Masters Thesis, University of Richmond, 1992, p.10, https://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1748&context=masters-theses (last checked July 2, 2020)
In 1856, the General Assembly authorized the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad to extend north to Manassas Junction, starting from a point betweeen Fredericksburg and Aquia Creek. That would create a connection to Alexandria via the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, facilitating north-south rail traffic following roughly the Fall Line. A connection at Manassas Junction would also have linked Fredericksburg by rail to the Shenandoah Valley via the Manassas Gap Railroad. Had the track been built, Fredericksburg would have been far more competitive with Alexandria as a destination port for agricultural products from the Piedmont and west of the Blue Ridge.
The charter revision also permitted the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad to build north to Occoquan as part of its branch to Manassas Junction. No extension beyond Aquia Landing was started before the Civil War.1
Charles Minor Blackford, Legal History of the Virginia Midland Railway Co., and of the Companies which Built Its Lines of Road, J.P. Bell, 1881, p.11, https://books.google.com/books?id=vV4EAAAAMAAJ (last checked June 20, 2020)
the Manassas Gap Railroad was granted authority in 1856 to extend northwest to Manassas Junction
Source: Library of Congress, Map of the proposed line of Rail Road connection between tide water Virginia and the Ohio River at Guyandotte, Parkersburg and Wheeling (1852)
In the earliest days of the Civil War, the Federal government seized all four steamboats of the Potomac Steamboat Company and attacked the railroad wharf at Aquia Landing. US Navy vessels, including the USS Pawnee, fired abut 600 shells at the wharf on May 29, 1861. Confederate batteries defending the site hit the USS Pawnee nine times. Damage was slight and there were no serious injuries on either side that day. A day later, the ships were able to suppress the Confederate batteries on the hills and force a retreat from the wharf.1
"Before Fredericksburg, there was Aquia Creek," Free Lance-Star, March 27, 2011, https://www.fredericksburg.com/local/before-fredericksburg-there-was-aquia-creek/article_772a26e3-a4f9-5323-985a-de95d280a2cb.html; "USS Pawnee," US Navy "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive, http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/86/86060.htm (last checked June 14, 2020)
the US Navy attacked Aquia Landing on May 29, 1861
Source: Library of Congress, Aquia Creek Landing, Va. Wharf with transport and supplies (1863) and US Navy, USS Pawnee
the USS Pawnee was hit nine times by Confederate shells as it attacked Aquia Landing in 1861
Source: Library of Congress, The Pawnee (by Alfred R. Waud, 1860-65)
starting in 1862, Union steamships brought supplies to Aquia Landing for transport via the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad to troops near Fredericksburg
Source: Library of Congress, Aquia Creek Landing, Va. Wharf with transport and supplies (1863)
In 1861, the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad terminal in Richmond was isolated; none of the railroads entering the city were connected to each other there. The Virginia Central terminal was eight blocks east, in the valley of Shockoe Creek.
Confederate officials called for the railroads to be connected in order to increase efficiency of moving supplies through Richmond to support the armies in Northern Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley. City officials allowed the connections, but on condition that the tracks be removed when military conditions no longer required the connection.1
Lou Manarin, ed., Richmond at War: The Minutes of the City Council, 1861 – 1865, in Civil War Richmond, http://www.mdgorman.com/Other_Sites/city_council_minutes,_4_26_1861.htm (last checked July 3, 2020)
the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad and the Virginia Central terminals in Richmond were not connected by track when the Civil War started
Source: Library of Congress, Map of the city of Richmond, Virgini (by US Coast Survey, 1864)
The Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac and the Richmond and Petersburg railroads were connected in August, 1861. Track was built on 8th Street between the Byrd Street station of the Richmond and Potomac Railroad and Broad Street, providing a connection which streamlined delivery of military supplies through Richmond.1
"Connecting tracks for the RF&P and Petersburg RRs (running up 8th st) will be completed in a few days," Richmond Whig, August 5, 1861, in "Civil War Richmond," https://www.civilwarrichmond.com/other-sites/railroads/3212-1861-08-05-richmond-whig-connecting-tracks-for-the-rf-p-and-petersburg-rrs-running-up-8th-st-will-be-completed-in-a-few-days; "Railroad up 8th street, connecting RF&P & Petersburg Railroad is nearly complete," Richmond Enquirer, August 10, 2861, in "Civil War Richmond," https://www.civilwarrichmond.com/other-sites/railroads/2331-1861-08-10-richmond-enquirer-railroad-up-8th-street-connecting-rf-p-petersburg-railroad-is-nearly-complete (last checked July 5, 2020)
The
in 1861 the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad (red) was not connected in Richmond to any other railroad
Source: Harpers Weekly, The Army of Virginia (August 9, 1862, p.502)
In March, 1862, Confederate forces moved south to defend Richmond from General George McClellan's Peninsula Campaign. As they evacuated Fredericksburg, they destroyed the port facilities at Aquia Landing and three miles of Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad track. They left the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad bridge over the Rappahannock River intact.
In April 1862, Union forces occupied the area. The US Military Railroad, under Colonel Herman Haupt, rebuilt the Aquia Landing infrastructure in three days so supplies could be transported south from the steamboat landing to the fortifications at Frredericksburg.
U.S. Military Railroad trains carried supplies from Aquia Landing to Union troops stationed near Fredericksburg in 1862
Source: Harper's Pictorial History of the Civil War, Burnside's Campaign - Fredericksburg (p.408)
When President Lincoln visited, he complimented the quick completion of the 80-foot high trestle over Potomac Creek under the circumstances, saying it appeared to have been constructed from "beanpoles and cornstalks."
Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad bridge over Potomac Creek, rebuilt in 1862 with what President Lincoln claimed were just "cornstalks and beanpoles"
Source: National Archives, Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad's Potomac Creek Bridge after reconstruction (1882)
In May, 1862, Union forces abandoned Fredericksburg during the Peninsula Campaign. They burned the railroad bridge over the Rappahannock River. After the Confederate Army reoccupied Fredericksburg, the railroad rebuilt the bridge.
When General Burnside led the Union Army and established the front line on the Rappahannock River at the end of 1862, the US Military Railroad rebuilt the Aquia Landing wharf, track, and trestle. However, the Confederates destroyed the Rappahannock River bridge again, forcing Burnside to use pontoon boats to provide temporary river crossings. The bridge was not rebuilt again until after the Civil War ended.
both sides in the Civil War destroyed the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad bridge over the Rappahannock River
Source: Library of Congress, View of Fredericksburg, Va. Nov. 1862
General Burnside's Fredericksburg offensive in 1862 required building pontoon bridges because older bridges had been destroyed
Source: Library of Congress, Plan of the Battle of Fredericksburg, Va., Decr. 13, 1862 (by Robert Knox Sneden, 1862-65)
The Union Army abandoned Fredericksburg again in late June, 1863, in response to General Robert E. Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania that ended at Gettysburg. Before the Union army returned back to Fredericksburg, the Confederates once again destroyed the Aquia Landing infrastructure at the northern end of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad. 1
"Architectural Intensive Investigations for the Washington, D.C. to Richmond Southeast High Speed Rail (DC2RVA) Project (Report A)," Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, March 2018, p.3-13, https://railroads.dot.gov/sites/fra.dot.gov/files/fra_net/18712/Part28_Appendix%20D4%20Intensive%20Architecture%20Report%20A_DC2RVA%20FEIS.pdf (last checked July 16, 2020)
the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad bridge over the Rappahannock River was burnt again in 1863
Source: Library of Congress, Burning the Rappahannock Railway bridge. Oct. 13th 1863 (by Alfred R. Waud, 1863)
During the 1864 Overland Campaign, the US Military Railroad needed to supply its forces as they marched south of Fredericksburg. Because the Overland Campaign was not intened to pause near Fredericksburg, the Aquia Landing track was not restored.
General Ulysses S. Grant relied upon supplies delivered by steamboat to Belle Plain, then carried to the troops by wagon, for two weeks. Once he established his major supply depot at City Point next to Petersburg, there was no military reason to use or even protect the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad. Union cavalry destroyed the bridges over the North and South Anna and other segments of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad in various raids, in order to hamstring the ability of the Confederate forces to obtain supplies from north of Richmond.1
Catherine Wright, "Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad during the Civil War," Encyclopedia Virginia, Virginia Humanities, October 27, 2015, https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/richmond_fredericksburg_and_potomac_railroad_during_the_civil_war (last checked June 14, 2020)
Federal supplies were brought by steamboat to Belle Plain in 1864, since the railroad to Aquia Landing had been destroyed
Source: Library of Congress, Bell-Plains [sic], the principal depot for stores (1864)
the RF&P track from Aquia Landing was not restored in 1864; the Union Army chose instead to haul supplies by wagon from Belle Plain until shifting its base of operations south
Source: Harpers Weekly, Belle Pain Virginia - General Grant's Late Base of Supplies (June 11, 1864, p.372)
the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad bridge over the North Anna River was burnt in 1864
Source: Library of Congress, Fredericksburgh [sic] and Richmond RR Bridge over N. Anna, in flames (by Alfred R. Waud, 1864)
Throughout the Civil War, the Union Army had an inside operator to help interfere with the railroad's operations. The superintendent of the railroad, Samuel Ruth, was from Pennsylvania. He kept his job in Richmond when the Civil War started, but arranged for trains to be inefficient in the delivery of supplies to the Army of Northern Virginia. He also served as a spy working with Elizabeth Van Lew, helping Federal soldiers escape from Richmond and reach Union lines.
Ruth was arrested for treason in January, 1865 and imprisoned for nine days. He was released after convincing officials that the accusation that he was a spy was a false claim, made by jealous people to whom he had refused to grant free passes for travel on the railroad. He retained his job as railroad superintendent until 1871, though his relationships with co-workers was stressful.1
Webb Garrison, Amazing Women of the Civil War: Fascinating True Stories of Women Who Made a Difference, Thomas Nelson, 1999, pp.100-101, https://books.google.com/books?id=c-nhVUKzhhkC; C. Coleman McGehee, "I've been working on the railroad: the saga of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad Company," Masters Thesis, University of Richmond, 1992, pp.15-16, https://scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1748&context=masters-theses (last checked July 16, 2020)
After the Civil War, new railroads were chartered to close the gaps on the northern and southern ends of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad.
On the northern end, the charters of two railroads were used to create a link from Aquia Landing to the Alexandria and Washington Railroad in Alexandria. On the southern end in Richmond, one new railroad was chartered to close a much smaller, but equally significant, gap separating the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac and the Richmond and Petersburg railroads.
The Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad's northern connection replaced the steamship segment from Aquia-Washington. The Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad both sought to expand their networks from Alexandria south into Virginia, in order to capture traffic coming north from the Carolinas, Georgia and Alabama.
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad acquired control over the Orange and Alexandria and Manassas Gap railroads. However, the Pennsylvania Railroad outmaneuvered the B&O and gained control over the connection between the District of Columbia and the northern end of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad.
First, the Pennsylvania Railroad gained control over the Long Bridge in 1870. Then in 1872, it gained control of the Alexandria and Washington Railway, the connection in Virginia between Long Bridge to Alexandria.
The Pennsylvania Railroad also arranged in 1872 for physical removal of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad tracks in Washington, DC that connected its rival to Long Bridge. Not being able to cross the Long Bridge and use the Alexandria and Washington Railway blocked the B&O from connecting to the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. To restore the link, the B&O built new track to the edge of the Potomac River and implemented a car float. From Shepherd's Landing in Maryland, rail cars were ferried to Alexandria on barges. Several loaded cars were moved on and off each ferry, which had its own tracks. No unloading and reloading of freight was required, but the process was inefficient.
The Pennsylvania Railroad guaranteed it would have the only track that connected to the northern end of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad by financing construction by the Alexandria and Fredericksburg Railway. It completed track south from Alexandria to Quantico in 1872.
At the same time the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad built north from Aquia Landing. The RF&P charter allowed construction of branch lines 10 miles in length, but Quantico was almost 12 miles away.
The solution was to use the charter of the Potomac Railroad to build a technically independent railroad. The General Assembly had issued a charter for the Potomac Railroad in 1867. At the time, it was not clear if any construction would occur on the Alexandria and Fredericksburg Railway, and the Potomac Railroad was granted the right to construct track all the way between Fredericksburg and Alexandria.
The Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad leased the Potomac Railroad and used that charter to finance construction of the 1.7 miles of extra track needed to reach Quantico.
The steamboats controlled by the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad shifted from Aquia Landing to Quantico, once the railroad reached that point in 1872. The Alexandria and Fredericksburg Railway was completed south to Quantico and tracks were connected two months later.
Even after trains could use the track north of Fredericksburg to reach Washington, steamboats continued to operate between Quantico-Washington. They ran for five more years.
Traffic by rail north of Quantico benefitted only the Pennsylvania Railroad, which owned the Alexandria and Fredericksburg Railway and the Alexandria and Washington Railway. Maintaining the steamboats generated revenue for the RF&P over that segment. The inconvenience and delays caused by shifting from rail to steamboat was significant, and the steamboat service was cancelled in 1877.
In 1890, the Pennsylvania Railroad merged the Alexandria and Fredericksburg Railway and the Alexandria and Fredericksburg Railway into the 32-mile long Washington Southern Railway.
Expanding the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad from Quantico to Long Bridge was possible because the Pennsylvania Railroad had initiated the Community of Interest Plan in 1899, in cooperation with the New York Central.
With loans from New York banks, the two railroads acquired sufficient control of other major shippers to end the rate-cutting on shipments which had cut deeply into profits. It was designed in part to block financier Jay Gould from building a new trunk line across the eastern states.
The US Supreme Court had ruled in 1898 that the Joint Traffic Association violated the Sherman Antitrust Act, but the Community of Interest Plan created an alternative way for acomplishing the same objective. The Interstate Commerce Commission lacked the power to block an anti-competitive maneuver arranged through shared ownership.
Under the Community of Interest Plan, the Pennsylvania Railroad purchased control of the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad and the Norfolk and Western Railroad. The Pennsylvania and New York Central railroads combined to get control of the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Railroad. By 1901, the Pennsylvania Railroad no longer needed to control track south of Washington, DC to ensure rates would not be undercut by a competitor.
In 1901, the six railroads using Alexandria formed the Richmond-Washington Company. It acquired 64% of the voting shares of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, so each of the six railroads owned an equal share in the it, apart from the percentage owned by the state of Virginia. The General Assembly had sold the state's shares in all the other railroads after the Civil War, but retained the stake in the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad.
After acquisition by the Washington Southern Railway, the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad was given control of the track connecting Alexandria to Washington, DC via Long Bridge. That included rights for the RF&P to operate its trains all the way to the depot in Washington DC.
the Washington Southern Railway was created in 1890, merging the two Pennsylvana Railroad subsidiaries between Quantico and Washington DC
Source: Library of Congress, Map of Washington D.C. metropolitan area showing roads and ferries as of 1792 (1895)
The US Congress passed the Elkins Act in 1903, amending the Interstate Commerce Act to reduce the ability of railroads and shippers to compete unfairly though rebates for major shippers. By that time, six railroads other than the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac (RF&P) Railroad were providing service to Alexandria.
The Southern Railway had acquired the route of the original Orange and Alexandria Railroad in 1894, but trackage rights had been granted on that route to the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Railway. The Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Coast Line had acquired trackage rights from the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad [STORY!]. The Pennsylvania connection came across Long Bridge, while the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) connection required use of a car float from Maryland to a wharf on the Alexandria waterfront.1
Charles Thomas, "The Development of the Railroads in Washington," The Railway and Locomotive Historical Society Bulletin, Number 105 (October 1961), p.28, https://www.jstor.org/stable/43520286; Paul J. Westhaeffer, History of the Cumberland Valley Railroad 1835-1919, Washingon DC Chapter National Railway Historical Society, 1979, p.237, https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/h5k7AAAAMAAJ; Fairfax Harrison, A History of the Legal Development of the Railroad System of Southern Railway Company, 1901, p.1476, pp.1479-81, https://books.google.com/books/about/A_History_of_the_Legal_Development_of_th.html?id=0IkjAQAAMAAJ; "CSX merger family tree," Trains, June 2, 2006, https://trn.trains.com/railroads/railroad-history/2006/06/csx-merger-family-tree; "United States v. Joint-Traffic Ass'n," 171 U.S. 505 (1898), Cornell Law School, https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/171/505 (last checked August 3, 2020)
The Pennsylvania Railroad, the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, the Southern Railway, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, the Seaboard Air Line Railway, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad cooperated with each other to create the Richmond-Washington Company in 1901. It built a single passenger station in Alexandria in 1905, and opened the joint Potomac Yard for transferring freight traffic in 1906.
In 1907, the Union Station in Washington DC opened as a partnership between the Baltimore and Ohio and the Pennsylvania railroads. The Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad passenger trains stopped there, after using tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad between Long Bridge and Union Station.1
"Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac," TrainWeb, http://www.trainweb.org/rf&p/archive/stations/stations.htm; "100-0124 Alexandria Union Station," National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, December 19, 2012, https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/100-0124/
(last checked July 16, 2020)
the Alexandria and Fredericksburg Railway connected with the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad at Quantico in 1872
Source: Library of Congress, Virginia, Tennessee, and Georgia Air Line Railroad (1882)
On the southern end of the the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, after the Civil War new track created a permanent connection with the Richmond and Petersburg Connection Railroad
The General Assembly chartered the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac and the Richmond and Petersburg Connection Railroad, the "Connection Railroad," in 1866. That 1.25 mile long stretch ran west from the Byrd Street station to Belvidere Street, then north to Broad Street. That was a different route than the temporary track up 8th Street used during the Civil War.
The two railroads each owned 50% of the Connection Railroad and shared revenues equally, but the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad paid for over 75% of the costs.1
Fairfax Harrison, A History of the Legal Development of the Railroad System of Southern Railway Company, 1901, pp.1485-1486, https://books.google.com/books/about/A_History_of_the_Legal_Development_of_th.html?id=0IkjAQAAMAAJ; "Annual Report of the State Corporation Commission of Virginia. Compilations from Returns of Railroads, Canals, Electric Railways and Other Corporate Companies," Virginia State Corporation Commission, 1917, p.414, https://books.google.com/books?id=BN8lAQAAIAAJ; "Richmond Rail History," Richmond Railroad Museum, https://www.richmondrailroadmuseum.com/railroad-history (last checked July 5, 2020)
As Richmond expanded to the west, the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad trains disrupted pedestrian traffic and wagons/stages drawn by horses on Broad Street.
Richmond's city council finally prohibited locomotives on Broad Street in 1872. The railroad did not comply until the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals upheald a fine imposed in 1874. The short-term solution was to use horses to pull cars on Broad Street. The passenger station was moved west to where the "Connection" Railroad, officially the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac and the Richmond and Petersburg Connection Railroad, linked up with the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad.
It was considered so far from the settled area of the city that the mansion house there was called Elba, the name of the distant island to which Napoleon was originally exiled in 1814. The site is currently occupied by the Virginia Commonwealth University's Institute for Contemporary Art, at Broad and Pine streets.
the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad kept its office on Broad Streeet, but removed the tracks
Source: Virginia Comonwealth University, Baist Atlas of Richmond - Outline & index map Richmond and vicinity (1899)
In 1887, the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad and the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad opened a joint Byrd Station for passengers at the intersection of Seventh and Byrd streets. That site was next to the freight station of the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad.1
"Engine Trouble," Richmond Magazine, April 14, 2014, https://richmondmagazine.com/news/richmond-history/history-of-trains-in-richmond/ (last checked July 5, 2020)
Traffic increased to the point that the disruptions by trains using the downtown streets were excessive. The Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad cooperated with the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad to build a bypass around downtown. The partners constructed a Belt Line east of Richmond in 1891. The new Acca Yard was built to handle interchange of freight cars, replacing the Bolton Yard of the RF&P.
The Belt Line served just freight traffic; passengers continued to use the Byrd Street Station. When the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad became part of the Atlantic Coast Line of Virginia in 1898 and then the Atlantic Coast Line two years later, the arrangement continued.
the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad and the Atlantic Coast Line built a Belt Line (blue) west of Richmond
Source: Library of Congress, Map of Richmond-Petersburg and adjacent territory showing lines of communication and points of historical interest (by Virginia Passenger and Power Company, 1907)
By 1916, the Belt Line needed to be expanded from one track to two. At the same time, Belvedere and Byrd streets could no longer accommodate the passenger trains. The solution was to build a new Belt Line, with two tracks sunk below grade to eliminate crossings with city streets. The bridge over the James River was replaced in 1919.
the new Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad and the Atlantic Coast Line bridge opened in 1919
Source: Bill Dickinson, James River Railway Bridge
That same year, passenger use at the Byrd Street Station ended. The Atlantic Coast Line and the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad built Broad Street Station next to the RF&P's Acca Yard. The Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Railroad and the Seaboard Air Line Railroad continued to use the separate Main Street Station, which they had completed in 1901. The Richmond and Danville Railroad kept its own passenger station, near Main Street Station.1
"Richmond Rail History," Richmond Railroad Museum, https://www.richmondrailroadmuseum.com/railroad-history; "127-0172 Main Street Station," National Register of Historic Places nomination form, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, October 15, 1970, https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/127-0172/ (last checked July 16, 2020)
With the creation of Broad Street Station and diversion of passenger trains over the new Belt Line Bridge in 1919, there was no longer any need to keep the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac and the Richmond and Petersburg Connection Railroad. Its track was removed, but the Atlantic Coast Line continued to use the Byrd Station until 1958 as its headquarters.1
"Richmond Rail History," Richmond Railroad Museum, https://www.richmondrailroadmuseum.com/railroad-history (last checked July 5, 2020)
the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad and the Atlantic Coast Line opened Union Station, known locally as Broad Street Station, in 1919
Source: Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), Map of Richmond-Petersburg and adjacent territory showing lines of communication and points of historical interest (by Virginia Passenger and Power Company, 1907)
The Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad served as a bridge line, obtaining most frieght and passenger traffic from other railroads at each end rather than originating shipping on its stretch of track between Richmond-Quantico. At the northern end of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, the charter required the Seaboard Air Line to purchase the state's share in the RF&P,
The 1834 charter granted the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad protection from competition for 30 years. Continuation of that monopoly was contested twice.
Virginia Central...
he Richmond and Chesapeake Bay Railway
the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad ended at Aquia Creek until 1872
Source: Library of Congress, Map of the region between Gettysburg, Pa. and Appomattox court house, Va. (by Nathaniel Michler, 186_)
The northern end of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad was at what today is Long Bridge Park in Arlington County. At what was formerly known as the RO tower, the Pennsylvania Railroad veered west to its endpoint in Rosslyn while the RF&P went south. Today there is a 15-foot high stone walkway along the former RF&P tracks, designed so visitors on the "esplanade" can view and photograph the passenger and freight trains.1
"Arlington, VA - Long Bridge Park," RailFan Locations, http://railfanlocations.weebly.com/arlington-va.html (last checked August 30, 2021)
the RF&P (now CSX) bridge across the Occoquan River
Source: National Archives, U.S. Route 1 Near Woodbridge, Virginia
The CSX absorbed the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad in 1991.
the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad was heavily damaged in the Civil War
Source: National Archives, Virginia, Richmond and Petersburg Railroad Bridge, across the James, Ruins of
the northern terminus of the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad was Aquia Creek until 1872
Source: Library of Congress, A map of the internal improvements of Virginia (Claudius Crozet, 1848)
the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad stopped at Aquia Creek before the Civil War
Source: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection, New Map Of Virginia (Henry S. Tanner, 1845)
the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad employed free "colored" and enslaved people in 1854
Source: Virginia Board of Public Works, 1854 Annual Report of the Board of Public Works to the General Assembly of Virginia (p.420)
the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad built a Belt Line to connect with the Atlantic Coast Line
Source: US Geological Survey (USGS), Richmond, VA 1:31,680 topographic quadrangle (1939)
the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad bridge over the Rappahannock River was destroyed in 1862
Source: National Archives, Fredericksburg from the river. Showing Confederate troops and bridge. (taken at a distance of one mile.)