Washington Union Station Approaches & Clearances

Classic Trains General Discussion
1

I’ve recently been trying to cram another railroad into Virginia thus shoehorning streamlined passenger service from the western end all the way to a logical destination, i.e. Washington, D.C. and all the passenger options available there. This was, of course, inspired by the March 2006 MR; make of it what you will.

The article theorized a divergence from the N&W main at Front Royal crossing the Washington & Old Dominion and the Potomac River to intersect with the B&O for the journey into WAS from the north. This is supposed to eliminate tight clearances that exist on a southern approach to WAS. Now, on to the questions I’ve got:

  1. Is there no way to run a postwar dome car of standard height into WAS from the south, as one might come from the RF&P and/or any other road connecting from the south?

  2. Assuming a blank check policy and no massive urban construction in the way, could you diverge from a parallel line somewhere between Front Royal and Berryville and head to WAS while following the Potomac River’s southern bank and staying within Virginia while maintaining access to the northern approaches and using your own rails? That is, in the time period when WAS is being planned in the late 1890s etc.

  3. If the above doesn’t work, is there any way to get to WAS by laying track in Maryland? I’m assuming a parallel line to the B&O here, but that’s more out of ignorance than anything else.

  4. If all else fails, how hard would it be to come into WAS from the south and make appropriate clearances?

2

Don’t know the exact way the Cardinal approaches Washington but it operated for some time with Superliners. Certainly they’re as high as, if not higher, than dome cars. The Capitol operates daily with superliners. Of course it arrives via the old B&O and enters the station as a backup move but it is on tracks where there is overhead wire.

3

The overhead in Washington Union was always high enough to clear B&Os low profile Pullman-Standard domes. Thank the umbrella train sheds WU has for this. The PRR’s catenary had to be above the train sheds, not under them for safety reasons, to permit maintenance on the sheds and the catenary. Serendipity played a very large role in this. [;)]The wire clearance officially is 19’ 10" safe enough for superliners to pass under! (Washington Terminal Railroad Time Table March,1971-the last pre-Amtrak one!)