The was a
Railroad connecting
Richmond, Virginia to
Washington, DC . It is now a portion of the
CSX Transportation system.
The RF&P was a
Bridge Line , with a slogan of "Linking North & South". (A bridge line has more traffic passing through its connections with other railroads than it originates or terminates at points along the line.) For the major portion of its existence, the RF&P connected with the
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and
Seaboard Air Line Railroad at Richmond. At
Alexandria and through
Trackage Rights to
Union Station in
Washington, DC , connections were made with the
Pennsylvania Railroad ,
Baltimore And Ohio Railroad and the
Southern Railway .
The Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad was chartered on
February 25 ,
1834 to run from
Richmond north via
Fredericksburg to the
Potomac River . It opened from Richmond to
Hazel Run in
1836 , to Fredericksburg on
January 23 ,
1837 and the rest of the way to the Potomac River at
Aquia Creek on
September 30 ,
1842 .
On
September 30 ,
1852 , an extension to the north opened. This split from the existing line at
Brooke and ran north to
Quantico , also on the Potomac. The old line to Aquia Creek became a branch.
On the other end of the line, the was chartered on
February 27 ,
1854 to build from the south end of the
Long Bridge (
14th Street Bridge ) over the
Potomac River south to
Alexandria . That line opened in
1857 . The railroad went
Bankrupt and was sold
July 9 ,
1887 , being reorganized
November 23 ,
1887 as the '''Alexandria and Washington Railway'''. In
1873 the
Baltimore And Potomac Railroad 's branch over the Long Bridge opened, giving a route into
Washington, D.C. , over which the A&W obtained
Trackage Rights .
The was chartered
February 3 ,
1864 to continue the line from Alexandria to
Fredericksburg . It opened on
July 2 ,
1872 , only reaching
Quantico , the north end of the RF&P. At Quantico the 1.70-mile (2.7 km) '''Potomac Railroad''', chartered
April 21 ,
1867 and opened
May 1 ,
1872 , connected the two lines. It was leased to the RF&P for 28 years from
May 17 ,
1877 . On
March 31 ,
1890 , the two companies terminating in Alexandria merged to form the '''Washington Southern Railway'''. Until
November 1 ,
1901 it was operated by the
Baltimore And Potomac Railroad and its successor the
Philadelphia, Baltimore And Washington Railroad (part of the
Pennsylvania Railroad system). The Potomac Railroad lease was transferred to the Washington Southern on
June 30 ,
1904 . On
February 24 ,
1920 the Washington Southern was formally merged into the RF&P.
The was incorporated
September 5 ,
1901 as a
Holding Company , owning the entire capital stock of the two railroads. The stock of the company was owned equally by the
Pennsylvania Railroad ,
Baltimore And Ohio Railroad ,
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad ,
Southern Railway ,
Seaboard Air Line Railway and
Chesapeake And Ohio Railway . Four of these companies have since become part of
CSX . The Southern Railway is now part of
Norfolk Southern , and does not use the former RF&P; the former Pennsylvania Railroad has been split between CSX and Norfolk Southern.
From
1902 to
1908 , major sections of the main line totalling 21 miles (34 km) were relocated.
;Richmond Connection
The
Richmond, Fredericksburg And Potomac And Richmond And Petersburg Railroad Connection was chartered
March 3 ,
1866 and opened
May 1 ,
1867 as a connection between the RF&P and the
Richmond And Petersburg Railroad (later part of the
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad ) west of downtown
Richmond . It was operated jointly by those two companies. In addition, a downtown connection was owned by the R&P past
Broad Street Station .
;Louisa
The
Louisa Railroad was chartered in
1836 , running from the RF&P at
Doswell west to
Louisa . At first it was operated as a branch of the RF&P, but it was reorganized as the
Virginia Central Railroad in
1850 and merged into the
Chesapeake And Ohio Railroad in
1868 as its oldest predecessor.
;Rosslyn
The short branch from the north end to
Rosslyn opened in
1896 , and was sold to the
Rosslyn Connecting Railroad in
1903 , which was controlled by the
Philadelphia, Baltimore And Washington Railroad .
