How many of you know about the Long Bridge? I worked at the Pentagon for five years (1981 to 1986) and only vaguely remember a rail bridge across the Potomac near there—I’m not the most observant person in the world—and I certainly don’t remember it’s name. Turns out it has been around for quite a while. The first bridge at the current location was the “Washington Bridge,” built to provide foot, horse and stagecoach traffic from Washington to Alexandria County. It was built by the Washington Bridge Company, authorized by an Act of Congress on February 5th, 1808 and signed into law by President Thomas Jefferson shortly thereafter. It was a timber pile structure with two draw spans. It opened for traffic May 20th, 1809 and at the time was the longest bridge in the United States, being 5000 feet long or a mile including abutments. The Washington Bridge was often referred to as the “Potomac Bridge,” or simply “The Bridge.” On August 25th, 1814, during the War of 1812, the British burned the north end of the bridge. Amer- TRACS & WHISTLES Page 5 ican troops, who had retreated to Virginia, burned the south end. After the war the bridge was restored and returned to service in 1916. In 1931 portions of the bridge were washed away by ice and high water. The following year Congress purchased the bridge and appropriated funds for rebuild. On October 30th, 1835 the bridge was reopened with President Andrew Jackson in attendance. The repaired bridge was generally referred to as “the long bridge across the Potomac,” to distinguish it from Chain Bridge. Later if simply became Long Bridge. On September 7th, 1846, President James K. Polk returned that portion of the Federal District that the State of Virginia had ceded to the Federal Government for establishment of the Capital. Since 1835, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad had been granted access to the Northeastern quadrant of the Capital. The Alexandria & Western Railroad connected the B&O at the New Jersey Avenue Station to the north shore of the Long Bridge by 1855 and in Alexandria in 1857. But tracks across the bridge were prevented by Virginia legislature, so goods had be off loaded on each end of the bridge and transported by wagon to be reloaded on the other side. The B&O Railroad made several requests to reinforce or replace the bridge but all were denied by Congress. However, with the beginning of the Civil War in 1861 the value of the bridge became apparent. In May of 1861 Union troops took control of Long Bridge and the city of Alexandria and built Fort Jackson on the Virginia side to guard the structure. Rails were laid across the old bridge but is was obvious that the structure would not support heavy loads so lightly loaded rail cars were pulled across the tracks by horses. Finally a new bridge was built just downriver of the old span that would support heavy locomotives. Both bridges continued to be used for the remainder of the war under control of Union troops. When the Civil War ended the Union Army handed the bridge back to the B&O Railroad. Over time competition for access to the Capital became more intense as the Pennsylvania Railroad sought to break the B&O monopoly. Of course politics became involved followed closely by the personal interests of the politicians—i.e. greed. The PRR was funding the development of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad to get into the Capital and on June 21st, 1870, Congress approved the B&P to use the Long Bridge in perpetuity, cost free, as long as they allowed other railroads to use the bridge and maintained it in good shape. Evidently other railroads did not include the B&O and in 1874 they began using tugboats and rail barges to gain access to Virginia. In the meantime, in 1872 the B&P built a new Long Bridge to replace the old Civil War bridge. In 1895 the B&P granted the use of the bridge to the streetcar company Washington, Alexandria, and Mount Vernon Electric Railway and powerlines were hung on the bridge. Then in 1898 a consortium of railroads, minus the B&O, formed the Washington Terminal Railway Company and acquired the B&P terminals in the Capital and the Long Bridge. In 1900 another consortium, including the B&O, took control of the line between Richmond, VA and the Long Bridge. As the new century dawned a movement to beautify the Capital took hold that required removal of the steam locomotives from the streets. Out of this movement, Potomac Yard in Alexandria County and Union Station in Washington City were created. Old, separate city stations were removed and a new double-track railroad bridge with a swing-span was built across the Potomac River to handle increased passenger and freight traffic. The new bridge was a 13 span steel truss bridge with a single swing span that allowed two 100 foot clear channels. The bridge opened for traffic on August 25th, 1904. Some time after late 1906 the old, unsightly Long Bridge was demolished. In 1937-38 the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad needed some new equipment, so they ordered five modern 4-8-4 steam locomotives from Baldwin Locomotive Works in Chester, Pa. Amazingly, they were several inches too wide to properly clear the tunnels in the Capital. More importantly, they had too heavy of an axle-load to traverse the Long Bridge. Accordingly, they were confined to the Virginia side of the Potomac. By 1942, with World War II underway, the weight restrictions on the Long Bridge were becoming a serious obstacle, so all the truss spans, except the swing-span were replaced with new supporting girders and new piers placed between the old ones to support the additional weight. As rail traffic increased during World War II, the US government built an "Emergency Bridge" to connect Shepherds Landing in the District of Columbia with Alexandria. The second bridge, built between June 3rd and November 1st, 1942, provided additional security in case Long Bridge was disabled by accident or sabotage. Both the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad used the Emergency Bridge, until it was taken out of service on November 14th, 1945 and dismantled two years later. But now there may be another change. In 2011 the Federal Railroad Administration funded the first of many studies for replacing the two-track bridge. To the north and the south there are three tracks, and bridge's condition requires train speeds to be constrained. A maximum of 96 trains can use it within 24 hours.
A 2015 Long Bridge Study concluded that adding two tracks could increase capacity to 166 trains per day. Various alternatives were examined and the preferred alternative is to build a new two-track bridge dedicated to passenger service and retain the existing Long Bridge just for freight trains. The 1904/1942 bridge had been rehabilitated in 2016 and did not need to be replaced. Currently a Draft Environmental Impact Statement has been completed and a public hearing was held October 22nd, 2019. Sources: Virginia Places, Long Bridge Over the Potomac River; Washington DC Chapter, National Railway Society; Wikipedia, Long Bridge (Potomac River); The Long Bridge Project.
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PCRCThe Page County Railroad Club has a wealth of railroad information shared between it's members. In this blog we will do our best to share that knowledge. Archives
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