Attempted Train Derailment (Site)

Here is an excerpt from the "Historical Lake Accotink Park" blog written by historian Mary Lipsey for the Friends of Lake Accotink Park (FLAP):

On July 23, 1863, a westbound freight carrying supplies to General Meade on the Rappahannock, was fired upon at Accotink Creek by a group of Confederates.

Site of attempted derailment. On July 26, 1863, three days after the train shooting the incident, a loosened rail and some horseshoes on the track very nearly caused a train of supplies to plunge down a 12-foot embankment east of Burke’s station. The engine and two cars jumped the break and a dozen Confederates waiting in the woods to burn the wreck were driven off by train guards. It was stated that “The Guard saved the train, and Providence saved a smashup, which would have prevented the Army of the Potomac from receiving supplies.

Exasperated by these and other troublesome attacks on trains presumed to have been done by local residents who farmed by day and became guerillas at night, Meade issued the following warning:

PROCLAMATION

“The numerous depredations committed by citizens, along the Orange and Alexandria Railroad and with our lines, call for prompt and exemplary punishment. Under the instruction of the Government, therefore, every citizen against whom there is sufficient evidence of his having engaged in these practices, will be arrested and confined for punishment, or put beyond the lines.
The people within ten miles of the railroad are notified that they will be held responsible in their persons and property, for any injury done to the road, trains, depots, or stations by citizens, guerillas, or persons in disguise: and in case of injury done to the road, trains, depots, or stations by citizens, guerillas, or persons in disguise; and in case of such injury will be impressed as laborers to repair all damages.

If these measures should not stop such depredations, it will become the unpleasant duty of the undersigned, in the executions of his instructions, to direct the entire inhabitants of the district of the country along the tailroad to put across the lines, and their property taken for Government use.”

“George Meade”


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Here is an excerpt from the "Historical Lake Accotink Park" blog written by historian Mary Lipsey for the Friends of Lake Accotink Park (FLAP):

The Orange and Alexandria Historical Trail: Lake Accotink Park Segment:
The Orange and Alexandria Historical Trail is dedicated to the pioneer railroads and their importance in the struggle between the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War. Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross, traveled this railroad in her quest to provide service to others. It is hoped that hiking this trail will provide all who follow an inspiration to emulate the sacrifice involved in serving their country and fellowman, and an appreciation for all who have gone before.

​The Orange and Alexandria Historical Trail, created in 1974 by Boy Scout Troop 881 of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Springfield, Virginia, stretched for 11.5 miles from Springfield Station at Backlick Road to Fairfax Station at Route 123. The trail provided educational, hiking, and biking opportunities for Boy Scout and Girl Scout units. A brochure described local landmarks and events related to the Orange and Alexandria Railroad and the Civil War. Hikers and bikers who answered questions in the brochure qualified for the embroidered Orange and Alexandria Historical Trail patch.

In Lake Accotink Park the Orange and Alexandria Historical Trail follows the Civil War roadbed of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad – the longest existing stretch of the roadbed remaining. For many years after its dedication markers along the trail and a display board at the marina described the trail. Over time, however, increased traffic along the trail outside the park discouraged users. Inside the park, vandals destroyed markers the display case was removed during renovations to the park. The result: Significant historical information about our community was no longer available.

While new roads and increased traffic preclude safe use the entire Orange and Alexandria Trail, representatives from the Fairfax County Historical Society, Lake Accotink staff, and Troop 881 felt hikers and bikers using the portion of the trail within Lake Accotink should have access to the Civil War history of the trail they are traveling. To that end this new brochure, extracts material from the original Orange and Alexandria Historical Trail brochure. Numbers in the following section identify significant points on the trail whose location are shown on the accompanying map This new brochure is available in the Lake Accotink Park administrative office or online.

Significant Points of Interest on the Trail
(Extracted from Troop 881’s 1974 brochure)


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Here follows an excerpt about the railroad from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

The Orange and Alexandria Railroad (O&A) was a railroad in Virginia, United States. Chartered in 1848, it eventually extended from Alexandria to Gordonsville, with another section from Charlottesville to Lynchburg. The road played a crucial role in the American Civil War, saw the first of many mergers in 1867, and eventually became an important part of the modern-day Norfolk Southern rail system.

Antebellum period:
The Virginia General Assembly issued a charter to the O&A on May 28, 1848, to run from Alexandria to Gordonsville. Construction began in 1850 and was completed in April 1854, when it connected with the Virginia Central Railroad in Orange County. Its longtime president was John S. Barbour Jr., a Virginia lawyer, part-time delegate and son of U.S. Representative John Strode Barbour.

In 1854, the General Assembly granted the O&A the right to build southward from Charlottesville to Lynchburg. O&A paid for trackage rights over Virginia Central tracks from Gordonsville to Charlottesville. In 1860, the southern extension was completed, including lucrative connections to the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad and the South Side Railroad. The O&A also connected with the Manassas Gap Railroad (chartered in 1850), at Tudor Hall (today named Manassas for this junction) which gave it access to the Shenandoah Valley.

The railroad boosted Virginia commerce. Farmers from Virginia's Piedmont region, and later, the Shenandoah Valley could more cheaply ship their products, produce, and goods to the markets of Washington, D.C., and Richmond, and to ocean-going vessels berthed at the Potomac River port of Alexandria. Alexandria, Richmond, and Lynchburg also became manufacturing centers. Passengers could travel from Washington to Lynchburg in eight hours instead of enduring a three-day stagecoach journey.

American Civil War:
The O&A was strategically important during the Civil War (1861–1865) and was repeatedly fought over and wrecked. In connection with the Virginia Central, it was the only rail link between the belligerents' capitals at Washington and Richmond. An 1861 Union Army attempt to gain control of Manassas Junction led to the First Battle of Bull Run, and the junction traded hands numerous times during the war. Confederate Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson attacked it in the Battle of Manassas Station Operations to draw the Union into the 1862 Second Battle of Bull Run. The 1863 Battle of Brandy Station and Second Battle of Rappahannock Station were also fought near the railroad line.

Reconstruction:
The railroad entered Reconstruction in dire shape, with much of its track ripped up and most of its rolling stock destroyed. However, Barbour rebuilt the railroad with the help of various politically connected financiers and his brother-in-law J.S.B. Thompson. In 1867, the O&A merged with the Manassas Gap Railroad (led by Edward Carrington Marshall) to become the Orange, Alexandria and Manassas Railroad.

After the Panic of 1873, the railroad was consolidated into the Virginia Midland Railway, which was controlled by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. It later became part of the Richmond and Danville Railroad, which went bankrupt in the Panic of 1893. The following year it was merged into the Southern Railway.

A cutoff between Orange and Charlottesville was incorporated in 1876 as the Charlottesville and Rapidan Railroad and opened in 1880. The Southern Railway acquired the line in 1914.

Modern Times:
Most of the O&A right-of-way is now the Washington District line of the Norfolk Southern Railway. The main exceptions are a short segment between Orange and Gordonsville, which is part of the similarly named Washington Subdivision of the Buckingham Branch Railroad; and the easternmost portion that traveled through Old Town Alexandria to its waterfront, which no longer exists aside from the Hoofs Run Bridge and the Wilkes Street Tunnel.

Parts of the former O&A right-of-way are also used by Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express (VRE).