CSX East Coast Tour Washington

INTRODUCTION: This tour segment is a portion of what has become a major railfan effort to provide a detailed self-guided railfan tour of the entire east coast from northern New Jersey (the Shared Assets Area) to the south of Miami, Florida. A description of the overall tour is here. We begin this segment at the Potomac River in Northern Virginia, and extend it to just south of the Auto Train terminal in Lorton. This is a decidedly non-rural tour, and a difficult one to navigate because of highway traffic, security concerns close to Ronald Reagan National Airport, and buildings, buildings everywhere. We then pick up the tour again in Ashland, Virginia, for another 18 mile segment and continue past WAY interlocking south of Acca Yard in Richmond, and on to the James River. A somewhat short segment, but a very lovely part of the country with some excellent railfan locations. The tour south of the James River begins here.

For this entire segment, we are in Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac territory. The RF&P was built to link its namesake cities. Extremely important connections were made at Washington, DC (actually, the interchange yard was Potomac Yard in Arlington, Virginia), with the PRR, B&O, C&O and Southern. Likewise, in Richmond, vital connections were made with the Southern, C&O, ACL, and SAL. Given these connections, and the fact that the RF&P was the sole direct north-south connection between Washington and Richmond, you can imagine how important it was, even though it was a very short railroad. Today, CSX's ex-RF&P territory is every bit as important, and may be more so, as Potomac Yard is now gone, and the I-95 of railroading in the east is limited to CSX. It will be interesting to see how well CSX capitalizes on its potential. It is not difficult to imagine a train thru here every 10-15 minutes, but CSX will have to make some major cultural and operational changes to make this dream a reality.

For information concerning the other Frograil tours which have been put together, go to the Tour Guide, which is here. If you've never taken a Frograil tour before, you should visit this site and take advantage of the good advice and information contained within it.

Train Gif Artists. Train gifs add life and color to this page, and take almost no time to load. I stick these gifs in whenever I get the urge -- there is no rhyme or reason, I just like them. You can see hundreds and hundreds of train gifs by clicking on the Train Gifs navigation button at the top of each Frograil page.

Tony Hill: Frograil Webmaster and text provider for this tour. Unless otherwise specifically noted, any use of the first person pronoun refers to Tony Hill

A REQUEST FOR HELP: If you'd like to contribute to this, or any other tour, please contact me here, and let me know what you'd like to do. We'll work together: You supply the data/info, and I'll do the HTML stuff and upload it. You'll get a chance to review the fruits of your efforts before the general public sees the finished product, so you can let me have your corrections, additions and changes.

The Railroad: Arlington to Richmond. You'll be forgiven if you expect the railroad to more-or-less follow US-1 or I-95, and be therefore pretty easy to railfan. It is not. In fact, from the Potomac south all the way to Ashland, I personally think this is one of the most difficult railroads to railfan in North America. It's just really tough to get trackside. The physical plant is excellent, and the engineering no less. Unfortunately, the railroad and highway engineers didn't agree on where to put their rights of way, so the roads and railroads don't remotely parallel each other. The railroad skirts bays and buildings, cuts thru forests, dances between Interstates and wilderness, slithers between hills, and in short does everything except parallel roads.

The Railroad: Traffic Levels. Between the Potomac River and AF Interlocking in Alexandria, you get it all: Amtrak, CSX freight (figure 24 freights per 24 hours on average -- subject to hot and cold spells), NS freight (maybe 2 freights at oh-dark-thirty every 24 hours), and both the Fredericksburg and Manassas VRE (Virginia Railway Express) commuter train routes. This is, by far, is the busiest portion of this segment, with a total of perhaps 40-50 trains per 24-hour-day during the week. From AF south to Fredericksburg, you get all the CSX traffic, most of the Amtrak, and the VRE-Fredericksburg trains. From Fredericksburg to Acca and the James River, you lose the VRE traffic. I predict that by 2012, the amount of VRE traffic will have increased greatly, commuter trains will run in and out of Richmond, intermodal traffic will be booming up and down the east coast, and no one will know what will happen to Amtrak (so what's new?).

Mile Points: The former Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac from Arlington to just north of Acca Yard in Richmond uses the CFP prefix for all mile references. The mile points run south to north, so on this tour, the mile points will be decreasing. They start at RO Interlocking (CFP 110.1) and run down to Greendale (entrance to Acca Yard) at CFP 4.8.

Mapwork: Much of the tour is not easy if you have no detailed map for back country roads. I definitely recommend you get a DeLorme Atlas & Gazetteer, study it before your trip, and copy pertinent pages for your field work. You can usually get substantial discounts on DeLorme atlases thru the Frograil Railfan Store, which is here. For the northern Virginia area, you'll absolutely want to have the latest ADC atlas, because there have been, and continue to be, major road changes in the area (try to find Backlick Road!). The Frograil Railfan Store has ADC atlases for several metropolitan areas listed.

Photographic considerations: I use a shorthand rating system for photo accessibility. Using a clockwise rotation from northeast up to northwest, each quadrant of a crossing is rated from 1 (best) to 4 (not accessible). Note that these refer to accessibility, not the photogenic aspects of the location. Therefore, the following crossing: NE4, SE1, SW3, NW3 would be excellent from the southeast during the morning, but not so hot from the southwest in the afternoon. There is a building, fence, drop-off, or some other problem on the northeast corner. In places where there is no crossing, per se, I use a simple N, E, S and/or W compass location: N1, S4 would be excellent from the north, but there's nothing from the south. This is probably a good place to see the action, but not to take pix.

Abbreviations. I try to limit the number of abbreviations to very common terms, such as CSX and NS. However, some terms get used repeatedly and are given here to help you understand them.

AG. "At-grade" -- It may or may not be a railfan location, but you can be assured that the tracks and street/road are on the same level.

NAG. "Not at grade" -- Usually, a NAG crossing is a poor place to take pix, but not always. However, you should be warned if a crossing isn't at grade, and that's why I try to always clue you in.

NARL. "Not a railfan location" -- In my humble opinion, this location is not worth the visit; indeed, it is probably to be avoided. NARL's result from no photo access, dangerous conditions, or personal security considerations.

Washington, DC - Richmond VA

Railfan Sites:

Alphabetical	Sequential Order:
Sequence	North (East) to South (West)
------------------------------------------	------------------------------------------
Potomac -- Lorton	Potomac -- Lorton
Alexandria -- AF Interlocking	Arlington -- RO Tower CFP 110.1
Alexandria -- Duke Street Overpass	Arlington -- Crystal City
Alexandria -- King Street Station	Arlington -- VA-233
Alexandria -- Telegraph Road	Arlington -- Theater
Alexandria -- US-1 Overpass	Alexandria -- US-1 Overpass
Arlington -- Crystal City	Alexandria -- King Street Station
Arlington -- RO Tower	Alexandria -- Duke Street Overpass
Arlington -- Theater	Alexandria -- AF Interlocking CFP 104.3
Arlington -- VA-233	Alexandria -- Telegraph Road
Franconia	Franconia
Lorton	Springfield -- VRE Station
Lorton -- Gunston Cove Road	Newington
Lorton -- VRE Station	Lorton -- VRE Station
Newington	Lorton CFP 92.5
Springfield -- VRE Station	Lorton -- Gunston Cove Road

Ashland -- Richmond	Ashland -- Richmond
Ashland -- Station Area	Ashland -- Vaughn Road CFP ~15.0
Ashland -- Vaughn Road	Ashland -- Station Area
Elmont	Gwathmey
Glen Allen	Elmont
Glen Allen -- North	Kenwood
Gwathmey	Hunton
Hunton	Glen Allen -- North
Kenwood	Glen Allen
Richmond -- Acca Dabney Road	Richmond -- Hermitage Road
Richmond -- Acca Hamilton Street	Richmond -- Amtrak Station
Richmond -- Acca Yard North	Richmond -- Hilliard Street CFP ~ 4.8
Richmond -- Amtrak Station	Richmond -- Dumbarton Overpass
Richmond -- Dumbarton Overpass	Richmond -- Acca Yard North
Richmond -- Hermitage Road	Richmond -- Acca Dabney Road
Richmond -- Hilliard Street	Richmond -- Acca Hamilton Street
Richmond -- WAY to the James River	Richmond -- West AY Interlocking
Richmond -- West AY Interlocking	Richmond -- WAY to the James River

The Tour

Potomac River to Lorton

We'll start the tour at the intersection of Boundary Channel Drive and Clark Street in the extreme northeast corner of Arlington. There are several ways to get there, depending on what way you're coming, and you'll have to use your map. We will primarily go from this point south on Clark to US-1, which we'll use all the way to the southern end of what used to be Potomac Yard.

Arlington -- RO Tower. This tour was researched in April of 2002. The events of 9-11-2001 have definitely impacted train watching in what used to be a fairly accessible area. If you'll remember, the Baltimore - Washington segment of this overall CSX East Coast Tour ended at the northern approach to the Long Bridge, which carries CSX, Amtrak and VRE over the Potomac into northern Virginia. If you take a line and follow it straight south from the south end of the bridge, you'll just about draw that line right down the main body of Ronald Reagan National Airport. As you can imagine, this vital rail and air transportation nexus is a very strategic piece of our Capitol and national infrastructure. This has created an impossible challenge for the railfan to overcome. Today, tens of thousands of dollars of heavy chain link fencing prohibit anyone from getting anywhere near the tracks. Forget the foot of Boundary Channel Drive, Clark Street, etc, etc. You have no access. In fact, on the morning I was there, a military combat vehicle was patrolling, so all that fencing isn't just to keep the homeless out.

Don't waste your time and gas, folks. Northern Arlington is no longer a railfan location. RO tower (the point where a branch diverged to Roslyn) is buried deep within that fencing and is technically the beginning of the RF&P Subdivision. Go south on US-1 (Jefferson Davis Highway) into Arlington's Crystal City.

Arlington -- Crystal City VRE. Buried within the cavern created by tall office buildings is a VRE station. If I were you, I'd want to take the Metro to "Crystal City", and then walk up to the VRE station. The location is to go south on US-1, take a left at 15th Street, and go until it ends at Crystal Drive. The station is east of Crystal Drive. Parking is virtually impossible on weekdays. I did not visit the VRE stations while doing research for this tour, so I cannot give you info on the viewing available. Perhaps a fan could e-mail me (button above) and give me some info.

Responding to the previous sentence, Jim Demartini has provided some excellent additional info:

"There is ample parking in the garage across Crystal Drive from the station -- during the week it is paid, but it is free on weekends. There are also metered spots on the street but they can be tough to find. The station itself is an excellent place to railfan -- the traffic averages 2-3 CSX freights per hour, and about 6-8 Amtrak trains a day come thru there as well. Across from the station (in the same building as the garage, 1750 Crystal Drive) there are bathrooms and restaurants which stay open on the weekent." (January 2006)

Arlington -- VA-233. Here's an accessibly placed location, and it's really the first one south of the river. There is a short connector between US-1 and Ronald Reagan National Airport -- VA-233. The connector goes over what were the northern yard leads for Potomac Yard. As you can imagine, there was a majorly nasty chain link fence erected on the sides of the bridge where the tracks were. However, with the complete re-alignment of all tracks after Pot Yard closed, that fencing no longer is over the tracks. The result is unobstructed viewing to both north and south. Everything CSX, Amtrak (all DC - points south and southeast) and VRE (Manassas and Fredericksburg trains) goes thru here. That's the good news.

The bad news is that this street is hyper busy, and you need to be extremely careful. There is a sidewalk on each side, but you've got to keep your wits about you. You will be virtually unable to cross the street most of the day. The sun and shadows will obviously be a problem much of the time, but this is still a good place to see plenty of trains. Another piece of bad news is that you're going to have to park well to the west of the overpass, and walk back. Parking is at a premium all thru this area, which is called Crystal City. The Hatfield's and McCoy's have nothing on the feuds over parking slots in Crystal City in particular, and Arlington in general. If you've got a couple of hours to kill between planes, this is the place to spend them.

Arlington -- Theater. Continue south on US-1. As you get to the southern edge of Arlington, there is a large strip shopping area, with very large stores. Take your first left into the parking lot and stay as far to the north as practical. Drive past the stores and around to the rear of the area. You'll see a free-standing theater. Go behind the theater, and you'll find parking spaces on the east side, facing the three main tracks. You're elevated a bit here, so the chain link fence will not be a problem. There's a manhole cover that's the most elevated spot here, and it will give you excellent access to the south.

Photo ratings are W2, E4. Definitely an afternoon location. Southbounds will enjoy good lighting.

Alexandria -- US-1 Overpass. Continue south on US-1 into Alexandria. As you're doing so, you'll cross a good-sized creek. This, I believe, is the boundary between the two cities. The large open expanses to the east of US-1 are all parts of what was Potomac Yard. Up ahead, you'll notice the road going up, turning sharply to the left, and going over the tracks and what was the southern end of the yard. Immediately before making the turn to the left, turn right instead onto Monroe Avenue. After just one block, turn right and park in the YMCA parking lot. Walk back up the hill and use the walkway on the south side of the bridge (there is none on the north side, unfortunately) out over what was Potomac Yard. Look to the north from the center of the bridge, and you'll begin to gain an appreciation of why Pot Yard was considered one of the most important rail facilities in the United States. B&O, C&O, RF&P, PRR and Southern all "ended" here. Everything from all railroads was interchanged and classified. At Pot Yard, two complete hump yards and towers were busy 24/7/365.

There are three main tracks on the far eastern edge of this vast area, and as a big CSX freight sails thru at 40mph, you get an idea of the scale of the place -- the modern freight train looks almost like an O scale train on an oversized table. Not a place for photos, but lots of trains and a whole boatload of nostalgia for those of us who were lucky enough to see Pot Yard "back when."

Alexandria -- King Street Station. We'll now venture to the best train-watching site in the Arlington/Alexandria area, but it's not exactly ideal for photos. Ah well, we'll do the best we can.

From the YMCA on Monroe Avenue, go west to Mt. Vernon Avenue and go south (left), cross Braddock Road, and swing around as Monroe becomes East Linden Street. There are some very nice, upscale, rehabilitated homes in this very old part of the city. It's obviously very trendy. Go all the way to Russell Road, take a left to go south, and then cross King Street/VA-7, a very major thoroughfare, and Russell will become Callahan Drive. Take a left from Callahan into the station parking area. If you're just going to be a few minutes, you'll be OK; otherwise, park north of King Street and walk up to the station. [Incidentally, the view from King Street and the station up the hill to the George Washington National Masonic Monument is stunning.] Parking is a bear all over this area.

The platforms are accessible (take the tunnel to the east platform -- do NOT walk over the tracks), but they're obviously tight. However, standing on that east platform as a CSX time freight barrels by just a few feet away is a hoot. The third (east) track is for thru movements, and most CSX traffic will use it. However, you can see a freight on any track at any time. VRE and Amtrak usually use the first 2 tracks. There is a low fence between the 2 "passenger" mains and the third main. The best place to photograph trains is to the south of the station. In the afternoons, walk far down the platform on the west side, and sit on the grassy embankment. You'll get good pix of southbounds. Bring your lawn chairs and a cooler. Be unobtrusive, and you'll be fine, but do stay back from the tracks. Also, the Duke Street overpass immediately to your south is very noisy, so remember that a train from either direction can be upon you very fast. For northbounds, stay closer to the north end of the station, using that rather short platform up to the King Street underpass.

Alexandria -- Duke Street Overpass. If the station isn't your cup of tea, walk up to the Duke Street overpass. The tracks are on a 90º bend here, as they come out of AF Interlocking to the west on an east-west bias, and go under Duke Street to bear north-south thru Pot Yard to the Long Bridge. There is a sidewalk on each side of the street, but the ubiquitous heavy chain link fencing (complete with thick, black plastic coating) is present. This is a good place to see lots of trains, but it's definitely not a photo location.

Alexandria -- AF Interlocking. Depending on where you parked, get back onto Callahan and head south to Duke Street. Take a right, pass the Telegraph Road exit, and look for Roth Street (you may not see it heading west). Pass Roth and Sweeney Street, and take a left on Quaker Lane. Drive south towards the tracks, and find a place to park. At the end of Quaker, you'll see Business Center Drive paralleling the tracks, and you'll also see signs proclaiming it to be a private road. Neither John nor I believe it to be so, but be somewhat circumspect, anyway. Business Center Drive looks south at the action thru AF Interlocking, where the 2-track NS/VRE (ex-Southern and C&O) from the southwest, and the 2-track CSX (ex-RF&P) bring all their freight, and where VRE and Amtrak from both lines come together to funnel down to 3 tracks heading into the Washington, DC, area and points north and northwest.

You have good viewing here of a lot of action (especially in the AM and PM rush hours), and it's a good place to watch trains, but photos are difficult because of the big chain link fence, and the sun is in your face most of the day. CFP 104.3

With thanks to John Boteler, who provided the data for this location. John is the author of the Baltimore - Washington part of the Frograil CSX East Coast Tour.

Alexandria -- Telegraph Road. Head back the way you came on Duke Street. Before getting to the Telegraph Road exit, take a right on Witter Avenue, and try to find a place to park at the east end of the street (it's a dead end). Walk up the Telegraph Road ramp, and you'll go over Duke Street and the tracks. AF Interlocking is just to the west of the overpass.

To be honest, I'm really hesitant to include this location, because it's dangerous, so let me give you a proper warning: [Note well: The Telegraph Road overpass has no shoulders or sidewalks, and is a very busy street, especially during afternoon and evening rush hours. The view to the west towards AF Interlocking is quite good, but the railfan should ask himself if a view of the tracks is worth risking life and limb. This area was completely re-built during 2001, with CSX, Virginia and Amtrak all cooperating on funding and planning. The view from the overpass is the only place to see what the construction accomplished.

Because most folks coming to the area will want to at least see AF, I include it here, but to me personally, I do not use Telegraph Road as a railfan location, nor do I recommend it to be such. Take a quick look/photo and skeedaddle.

Franconia. Continue south on Telegraph Road for a short distance, and take a right onto Eisenhower Avenue. Go west on Eisenhower, and you'll soon be between the NS, which has been detailed in the Crescent Route Frograil tour, and the CSX tracks just on your left as you pass the Eisenhower Connector. The CSX route is completely treed in where it's not blocked by buildings, so let's just continue on to Van Dorn Street, and take a left to go straight south. Beyond this point, the NS has continued west-southwest to Manassas, and the CSX will take a broad 90º turn to head from westerly to southerly. In the process of doing the latter, CSX passes under I-95/I-495, and is inaccessible.

Once on Van Dorn, continue south to the major intersection with Franconia Road, and take a right to head west back towards the tracks. Before getting there, look for a minor road to the right, Old Franconia Road. Take this right and weave thru the apartment buildings to a T, and take a left onto Fleet Drive. The tracks run very openly on the east side of a north-south run. Park about 150 yards south of the Old Franconia/Fleet intersection, and you'll have an E1/W4 area to work with. While obviously a morning location, this is the first really open area of track access we've seen since starting this tour segment. Relax and take it easy for awhile. Remember that the VRE-Manassas and NS traffic is gone, and we have AMT, CSX and VRE-Fredericksburg stuff only -- but that's still quite a bunch of goodies.

Springfield -- VRE Station. Like the Crystal City location, I must confess that I didn't visit this location during my research in April, 2002 for this tour. Here are the driving instructions, but I cannot give you photographic considerations, etc. That said, however, all VRE-Fredericksburg, CSX freight and southbound Amtrak trains go thru the station.

From Franconia, continue south on Fleet Drive, and it will eventually turn towards the east and deadend into Beulah Street. Take a right and drive down Beulah until the major intersection with the Franconia Springfield Parkway. At this intersection, there is no fancy ramp to traverse -- just take a right at the traffic light. As soon as you get on the Parkway, it will, indeed, become a Parkway, and you'll go up and over the tracks. Take the first exit, and go thru a 270º ramp to head southwest on Frontier Drive to the VRE station. Note that if you're staying in the Springfield area and want to railfan other points in the Balt-DC area, you can take VRE and Metro about anywhere you want to go from this station.

Newington. Get back to Beulah, and follow it south until it ends at our old friend, Telegraph Road. There is a nice little shopping center here, and the folks running the coffee/espresso place are very nice. Take a right onto Telegraph, and go until the first light, and turn right again onto Newington Road. As soon as you've turned onto Telegraph, by the way, there is a nice county library on your right -- it would be a good place to stash fidgety kids and wives.

Newington Road will seemingly end at a T with Cinder Bed Road, but take a right, go less than one block, and take a left to resume on Newington Road. After twisting and turning, you'll see the railroad overpass ahead. Take a left to go into a commercial building area, find an OK place to park, and walk towards the tracks (walk thru the parking lots, not along the street). Just before the overpass, you'll see a narrow, paved road leaving the parking lot and going up to the tracks. Walk up to the tracks. None of this area is posted, but you obviously need to stay back from the area of the tracks.

The first track is a storage track that used to be for interchange with the line going into Ft Belvoir. You can see the latter being kind of swallowed up by the trees to the southeast. Obviously, it's been out of service for years. The next tracks are the 2 mains, followed by 3(?) yard tracks for the gravel/aggregates business on the southwest side of the area. About 200 feet north, and just past the Newington Road overpass, is a defect detector "Newington" at CFP 95.8. Photo-wise, this is an E2, W4 location. Be aware that trains on the main tracks are very fast, and this is a noisy location, so be super alert at all times.

Lorton -- VRE Station. So shoot me, already, but here's a third (and final) VRE station I did not visit while doing the on-the-ground research for this tour. Here are the driving directions, but I cannot give you the photographic conditions. Get back on the Franconia Springfield Parkway to Beulah Street, and head south on Beulah. Somewhere along the way, Beulah has become VA-611. It will T at US-1, and you should take a right to go south. After a short while, take a right on Pohick Road, which will take you over the tracks on a not-at-grade overpass. However, before you get to the tracks, take a left on Lorton Station Boulevard. The station is just a little south of Pohick Road.

Lorton. Lorton is the home of the Auto Train terminal, and happens also to be an interesting and excellent railfan location. Continue south on Pohick Station Boulevard, and take a right onto Lorton Road. Continue on Lorton Road until just before the underpass, and park anywhere off to the right. Let's get right to the best railfan location on this entire segment, so far.

You'll notice, on the southeast quadrant, that the road builders piled up a large hill of dirt. Get a lawn chair, your 6-pack cooler and scanner, and trudge up that dirt pile (now completely overgrown with grass). Have a seat, relax, and here's what you'll see, and what has happened here during the past few years. As you look towards the new terminal, you see a broad, 3-track railroad bridge going over the 2-lane Lorton Road. Until recently, there were 2 major problems here. First, the underpass was a narrow, curved, one-lane thing, and was dangerous and a bother. Second, on the railroad, the Auto Train was far longer than the short siding at the terminal, and the west main was tied up for a good half hour or more when the train arrived or was getting ready to depart. The new construction has alleviated both of those problems. Sitting on your hillside, you've got a grandstand view of the activity, and you should watch them build the Auto Train. Take a lunch and snacks with you, and watch the action. From about 1 or 1:30 until the train departs at 4PM, you'll see something that you can't see anywhere else in America. It's a real treat.

Your location allows you to get good pix of all southbound trains, as well as decent shots of those heading north. There is a smaller hill on the northeast quadrant, and that will give you good photos, plus a somewhat different perspective of the Auto Train building process.

On the southwest quadrant is a vacant area that may or may not be a construction site. There has been some equipment parked there, but it appears the area has been used for storage only. It will give you an excellent location for afternoon southbounds. For a one shot close up of the terminal area and the Auto Train itself, go under the tracks, and take the first right as if you were going into the terminal. Park right after your turn, and climb up the short embankment to the track level. You're about 20 yards back from the tracks, and the area is not posted. However, I'd take my one good shot and leave. If you plan on remaining in this location for any amount of time, you should check in with Amtrak security.

Lorton -- Gunston Cove Road Bridge. Logically, this should be the end of this completed segment of the Frograil CSX East Coast Tour, but I've had an additional site submitted, so we'll go about one mile further south, and that will get us to a couple of railfan locations. If you've got a ways to go, however, you'll probably be better off going back to Lorton Road, taking a right to go west, and hopping on I-95, which is all of 150' west of the entrance to the Auto Train terminal.

When you come under the railroad overpass from the east, you can turn right to go up to the terminal area, as discussed in the preceding location, go straight to get to I-95, or take a left onto Gunston Cove Road. Do the latter, and this road will meander a bit, and eventually deliver us to US-1/Richmond Highway. It looks like a country road, but it is busy, so be aware that you're still in DC-area traffic. The reason there isn't even more traffic will become obvious as we proceed south from Lorton Road. There is an area whereby the CSX guys access the tracks after a very short distance, and there is parking possible on the gravel, but I don't recommend it, as I think you're trespassing, and you'll also stick out like a sore thumb. As you can understand, the Auto Train terminal area is a sensitive location.

So just continue about a mile south of Lorton Road, and you'll come to a nasty (depending on your point of view) piece of roadwork. A rickety looking, one lane bridge over the tracks. You can park on the east side of the tracks and walk back to the bridge. Yes, you can get good shots of CSX mainline action, including the Auto Train as it starts out on its journey to Jacksonville, but I think that bridge is very dangerous. A car can be in your face before you realize it. I personally do not consider the bridge to be a railfan location, but an awful lot of pictures have been taken from it, and several have been published.

With thanks to John Boteler, who provided the data for this location. John is the author of the Baltimore - Washington part of the Frograil CSX East Coast Tour.

Unfortunately, that's the end of the tour, as I had another 380 miles to go, and it was already after 10AM -- time to move on. We'll pick it up below at Ashland......

Ashland to the James River

Ashland -- Vaughn Road. From I-95, take exit 92 and take VA-54 west into Ashland. At US-1, take a right and go north a little over 1/2 mile to a left on Archie Cannon Drive, and go west. Cross the tracks on what is now Vaughn Road and park. There are nice off-railroad property areas here for photos, but be aware that the trains are pretty fast. There are even picnic tables in the northwest part of the crossing. This is about MP CFP 15.0.

Ashland -- Station Area. In my humble opinion, this is one of the best places in Virginia to watch trains, and is certainly one of the best in all of North America. The town itself is lovely, and is the home of Randolph-Macon College. There zillions of motels and restaurants on the VA-54 strip west of I-95. However, if you're a railfan, and you have any time at all, you can enjoy Ashland in wonderful, almost unique ways. The CSX mainline goes right thru the middle of the town, with 1-2 trains per hour, and the traffic mix includes just about everything except ore trains. The trick is to be comfortable while doing your train watching:

FOOD. In the center of town, where VA-54 crosses the tracks, the building immediately southwest of the crossing is The Iron Horse Restaurant. This is an excellent place to eat. The food is superior and different; they have micro brewed adult beverages; there is live (but not intrusive) music on some nights; and, the big, big windows give you a view of the Auto Train barreling by about 50 feet from your seat. On one evening there, during a meal which included a pre-dinner drink, we saw 7 trains. Don't miss this place, and get there early to pick your table. The bar area tables give the best views.

Another place to eat that's close to the tracks (but not close enough to see trains) is The Smokey Pig, which is one block south of VA-54 on US-1. They not only have pork and chicken Virginia BBQ, they also have beef BBQ. However, what got my wife interested is the fact that they have excellent crab cakes. As one who grew up near the Chesapeake Bay, let me assure you that good crab cakes are very rare when you get more than about 30 miles from the Bay. She can vouch for the crab cakes, and I can vouch for the beef and pork BBQ. The potato salad and cole slaw are good, and the onion rings are full of the grease that makes them yummy (hey, we're not going to live forever, don't you know?).

LODGING. There is an "historic inn" about a block north of The Iron Horse restaurant. This is the Henry Clay Inn, which has a restaurant and 15 rooms. It's very comfortable, and most rooms cost about $90 per night. A continental breakfast is included. You can probably find it on the net. Anyway, you can sit on the porch and be entertained, as all those trains roar by just for your viewing pleasure. Note that trains don't blow thru town, as the town apparently doesn't allow train horns within the city limits. Listen for crossing guard bells.

IN BAD WEATHER: Across the tracks from the Iron Horse Restaurant is the Gillis/Ashland Branch of the Pamunkey Regional Library. This is a very nice, quite new library, and you can spend many comfortable hours here (all for free, of course), and still watch the trains go by, as the entire west side of the library has huge windows. The library is good on any day, but on a rainy, dreary day, it can make your train watching enjoyable, if not ideal.

RAILFANNING ASHLAND: The railroad is virtually straight north-south thru town, with Railroad Avenue going one-way north on the east side, and Center Street going one-way south on the east. The town is very pretty, and a good way to railfan it is to simply walk up and down these two streets, both of which have sidewalks for most of the way. If you're inclined to stay in one place, you'll probably want to remain close to the station itself, as you can get good southbound shots any time of the day, and vehicular traffic isn't overwhelming (although it can be busy at times, depending on what's going on over at the College).

For those of you who are long-time Ashland fans, the train speed thru Ashland has increased. It used to be no more than 20-25mph, but now some trains seem to go thru at what looks to be close to 40mph. You don't have as much time to casually select a photo location as you used to.

Gwathmey. The sidewalks end at Early Street, and you can continue to follow the tracks on this tour by driving south on Center Street Road, past Ashcake Road (poor railfan location), and on down to the community of Gwathmey, where Center Street ends. Gwathmey Church Road crosses the tracks where Center Street ends, and yields a NE1, SE3, SW2, NW3 photo rating. [For those new to these tours, the preceding shorthand coding goes around a crossing clockwise from northeast to southeast to southwest to northwest, and rates the photo accessibility of the quadrant at 1-4, with 1 being best, and 4 being non-existent. Please note that the "photo accessibility" relates to whether the photo access is more or less wide open; it does not attempt to interpret the photogenic aspects of the location. The latter is up to the individual taking the pictures.]

As the photo ratings indicate, the northeast quadrant of the crossing is excellent. There is a church here with a nice parking and lawn area. Other than Sunday morning or perhaps Wednesday evening, this would be a very nice place to get out the lawn chairs and cooler, but please no adult beverages, because this is a church. It's better in the morning and early afternoon than later.

Elmont. At Gwathmey, you are no longer able to parallel the tracks south, so head west on Gwathmey Church Road to Elmont Road, and take a left to go south. Elmont will go straight south, and then turn southeast to take you to the tracks. At the crossing, which is NE1, SE3, SW4, NW2, you'll find a mixed bag of photo ops. There is a small grocery store and parking area in the northeast quadrant, and viewing is excellent. On the northwest quadrant is a house and lawn, but there is a small gravel road which gives pretty good access, and you don't have to trespass onto the lawn to get your photos. From both southern quadrants, however, there's nothing to write home about.

Kenwood. Continue southeast on Elmont Road, thru the small community of Elmont, and on to a T intersection at Cedar Lane. Take a right, and head towards the tracks and another small community at Kenwood. The crossing itself is pretty good: NE2, SE2, SW4, NW1. The northwest quadrant is helped by a small gravel road, Kenwood Lane, which goes north along the tracks, giving excellent photo fields.

Hunton. Go back east on Cedar Lane; pass Elmont Road, and take a right onto Old Washington Highway. Old Washington goes south-southwest towards the crossroads of Hunton. At the crossing with Greenwood Road, you can take a right and go northwest to the tracks, but the crossing is not at grade, and is not a railfan location. Conversely, you can continue on Old Washington to just before the crossing, and turn right to enter the Hunton area park. Actually, just before the park, the road that crosses the tracks becomes Mill Road, as Old Washington takes a 90º turn to the south.

The crossing itself is pretty good to average: NE2, SE3, SW4, NW2, but the thing that makes this a nice location is the park. On the northeast quadrant of the park, you'll find a ball field, port-a-potties, picnic tables and playground. Needless to say, this is an excellent place for the kiddies to unwind while Dad is taking his train pix. Just south of the crossing is MP CFP 9.5.

Glen Allen -- North. Just east of the crossing at Hunton/Mill Road, go south on Old Washington Highway. You'll closely parallel the tracks for a few miles southbound, but the trees will preclude any train sighting in this stretch. As you pass under I-295, you'll notice the opportunity to get close to the tracks under the big interstate bridge, but ignore this -- it is so noisy as to not be a railfan location. Besides, there is a much better area just ahead. Go south another half mile or so, and then take either one of two close together dirt roads towards the tracks. This apparently was a commercial site (pulpwood loader?) and was posted at one time, but any local railroad activity is long gone, and the area doesn't appear to be posted now.

There is lots of open area to the east of the tracks, but little or nothing from the west. This is a great place to meet some friends, get out the lawn chairs, and open up the coolers, and tell railfan whoppers. You can stay well back from the tracks and enjoy a panoramic scene -- however, trains are fast thru here, so don't get lazy.

Glen Allen. Keep going south on Old Washington Highway until it ends in a T with Mountain Road. Take a right onto Mountain, and go west to across the tracks. There is a convenience store here, and the crossing itself is about average at NE2, SE3, SW3, NW2 -- obviously best in the afternoon for photos. Get yourself a Mountain Dew and a Moon Pie at the store and enjoy them as you wait for the next 79 mph Amtrak zoomie.

This pretty much wraps it up for our county driving, as from here south, we are entering (and within) the Richmond city and terminal. Driving speeds will decrease as traffic dramatically increases, but there will be lots of trains to see, so we continue onward....

Richmond -- Hermitage Road. From the crossing at Glen Allen, go back east about 1/2 a block and then go south on Purcell Road. Again, you'll be hard by the railroad, but it will be invisible because of the constant row of trees. You'll come to a T at Hungary Road, with the nearest crossing back to the west, but this is a 4-lane, busy, very tight crossing, and is not a railfan location. This is the Laurel area. Just east of the crossing, the map says you can go south on Purcell or Peyton (I'm not sure what the name of the southbound street is here), but you cannot get down to the next major street, as Peyton Street is truncated, and you cannot get thru. Therefore, go west over the crossing on Hungary, take a left on Old Staples Mill Road, and travel down to Staples Mill Road. This is the road which will take you into Richmond, per se. As you take a left onto Staples Mill and go south just one block or so to Parham Road, you're in life support heaven, with motels, restaurants and shopping.

Hermitage Road is a half-mile or so south of the intersection of Parham Road and Staples Mill Road. Go south on Staples Mill to left (east) on Hermitage. Go over the tracks and take an immediate right onto the gravel/grassy area. Do not block the gravel driveway-type road. There are good, off-railroad property photo opportunities from both sides of the tracks, and all trains will blow for the crossing, so you'll have plenty of warning. Additionally, you can see up the tracks in both directions for quite a way, without venturing out on the tracks. Trains are fast thru here, so be prepared and be safe.

This is the CSX ex-RF&P mainline just north of the Amtrak station and Acca yard, so expect 1-3 trains per hour. I think this is a really good urban railfan location, as it's "safe", and photo access is quite good. Please be a responsible railfan and clean-up after yourself, stay off the tracks, and watch out for Hermitage Road traffic, which is fairly heavy, and the crossing is narrow.

Richmond -- Amtrak Station. Unlike most big-city stations, Richmond's in not downtown. In fact, it's so far north of downtown that Amtrak runs 4 shuttle buses each way daily, with stops at Virginia Commonwealth University, the Marriott Hotel, and the Omni Hotel. As you continue south on Staples Mill Road, you'll see signs to the station, which is on your left (east), and there is a good, visible sign in front of the station.

Entrance to the parking lot is via an attended gate, but up to 3 hours' parking is free. Access from the station to the tracks is well controlled, and while this is a very nice facility, it's not really very good for train watching. The Hermitage Road site to the north, and Hilliard road just to the south are both much better railfan locations. So, let's go to a better location....

Richmond -- Hilliard Street. Continue south on Staples Mill Road to Glenside Drive. You can take a left to an overpass of the tracks, but it is a four lane, busy street, and the bridge abutments have chain link fencing over them. Better to go south a little further to past Glenside, and then to a left on the first left off Glenside (Talley? The map is unclear here, and my notes don't help.) Go back north to a right onto Hilliard Street, and take it to its end at the tracks. Park in an off-railroad, off-private property location and walk to the tracks.

You will be fairly tight, access-wise, from the west, so cross the tracks and spend your time on the east side. There is plenty of open area. To the north, clearly visible thru the Glenside overpass bridge, is the lead diverging from the west main to access the passenger platform at the station, plus the east and west main itself. This is a very good location, as it's out of the way, safe, and you'll get all the action going north and south on the RF&P. One drawback is that the area is fairly noisy because of busy Glenside Drive, but just be alert, stay back from the tracks, and you'll have no problems.

Just north of Hilliard Street is the location of Greendale and a set of crossovers. This is a significant location because it is the end of the RF&P subdivision, and the beginning of the Richmond Terminal subdivision. It's MP CFP 4.8. On our CSX East Coast Tour, we'll only be in the terminal thru Acca, and will then swing to the southwest, and on to the North End Subdivision.

Richmond -- Dumbarton Overpass. Further south on Staples Mill Road, take a left on Dumbarton Road and go up and over the overpass, and then back downhill to take your first right turn onto Byrdhill Road. Take your next (virtually immediate) right onto an office/commercial area and park in the open area on the north side of the e entryway. Walk back up Dumbarton Road to the overpass -- be careful, it's a little tight up the hill, and there is a lot of traffic.

The overpass itself is 4 lanes wide, with fairly wide sidewalks on both sides. The walls on each side are some 4 feet tall, and there is no fencing on top of the walls. To the south, unfortunately, is a very heavy, ugly cable extending across the entire panorama of the north end of Acca Yard. Photos are pretty much ruined, but since the sun is in your face most of the day, that's really not a problem (at least for me). The signal masts governing entry to the yard are right in front of you. Looking north, there are no cables, but some railfan needs to take a chain saw to a sugar maple on the east side of the bridge. Photo ops are tight on the east side, especially for the first track, but the other two tracks are wide open. All three tracks are wide open from the west side.

This is an excellent place to watch the parade to and from the northeast part of the country. Keep aware of your surroundings, and stay away from any street traffic, and you can spend hours here. While I'm not normally much of a fan of railfanning from an overpass, this is one spot I really enjoy.

Richmond -- Acca North. Railfanning Acca Yard is difficult, because access is very tightly controlled, and you have to blatantly trespass in order to see anything worthwhile. I'm going to give you a few spots, but they are not optimal, and the sad fact is that there is really no good place to railfan at Acca Yard. I'd recommend Ashland, the Dumbarton overpass or Hilliard over Acca -- why waste time searching for something that doesn't exist. On the other hand, you can get a job with CSX, and see all you want!

Acca Yard was the southern classification yard for the RF&P -- the mirror of Potomac Yard up in Arlington. Pot Yard is now completely gone, but Acca is as busy as ever. It is the major yard in the Richmond metropolitan area. Other than Amtrak, unit trains and a (very) few intermodal trains, all east coast traffic stops in Acca to drop off and pick up pre-assembled blocks of cars.

Staples Mill Road will go over I-64, and you'll take a left after a few blocks, to go east on Bethlehem Road. This will make a 75º turn to the southeast and become Dabney Road. The first road to the left is Racrate Road, and will take you down to the tracks. It will also take you right thru an inactive cement plant (no problem) and a most definitely active cement plant (a BIG problem). At the end of the road, you can get a fairly good view of trains departing and entering the yard, but summer vegetation is bothersome, and sitting in the back of a pick-up or on top of a van are recommended. All this said, this is a Saturday afternoon and Sunday location only, as the cement plant is full of cement, sand, and gravel trucks, and is no place to be when it's open. The area is not posted, but I don't recommend it for other than a quick look.

Richmond -- Acca Dabney Road. Further along Dabney Road, it will bend to the southwest. Just before this bend, the west end of the Bryan Park engine facility will appear on your left. There is an adequate parking area off Dabney. [Webmaster's note: Walk on out among the engines, and you'll get a nice opportunity to be a guest of the city of Richmond for a day or so.]

Alternately, take a left onto Tomlyn Road from Dabney, and you'll be able to get within short walking distance of a small bluff overlooking the front/south side of the engine facility. This is a rather famous location for photos, and was on the cover of Extra 2200 South some years ago. Don't hang around either of these locations for more than a few minutes. I don't think you are trespassing in either area, but why take a chance.

Richmond -- Acca Hamilton Street. Both Dabney and Tomlyn will take you to Westwood Avenue. Take a left and go north, under I-195, and then Hamilton Street will be on your right. Get on Hamilton, and then take your first left into a commercial warehouse area. Wind your way to the back of the area. There is a small parking area alongside the borders of the highway overpass (Westwood Avenue). This is the point where northbound mainline traffic enters the yard or continues north to Washington, DC, and vice versa. There is also a locomotive ready track. Do not, under any circumstances, venture out to the tracks.

Martin Boyask of Great Britain has provided this data for us. I have not personally visited this location.

Richmond -- West AY Interlocking. Continue further south on Hamilton Street just a little further past the previous location, and you'll pass the Bennett Paint manufacturing facility. Immediately past Bennett is the Carter Printing plant. Park on Hamilton, and request permission from the Carter Printing office to photograph or watch trains from the rear of the property. If granted, walk along the driveway on the north side of the property to the trees. (BTW, there's a shaded picnic table back here that's a real asset in the summer.) In a deep cut below you is the west leg of the Acca Yard wye. This railroad point is WAY or West Acca Yard Interlocking. It is a fascinating place, even though it is certainly not a photo location, because of trees, trespassing problems, etc. You can stand at the top of the steps down to the tracks and see all trains coming up from the A-Line south of the James River into Acca. [Webmaster's Note: Don't take one step down that stairway, as to do so makes you a trespasser.] This is a fascinating place to see trains.

In reality, while the wye has a south leg (to take traffic to/from the A-Line over to Hermitage/Rivanna Junction/Fulton Yard), relatively little traffic will take that route, so most of the action will be right at your feet. If you are lucky enough to see movement over the south leg of the wye, you'll have a bird's eye view.

Richmond -- WAY to the James River. Let me be blunt: You can railfan the CSX East Coast Tour south of West AY Interlocking to the James River, but it is a total waste of time as far as trains are concerned. Just south of the wye. and just north of Broad Street, the railroad becomes sandwiched between the lanes of an Interstate highway, and continues within such a sandwich all the way to just north of the river. Railfan opportunities are zero. That said, however, the entire area is in a lovely section of the city, and the drive is quite enjoyable. So, forget the trains, and here's how to drive parallel to the railroad, and at the same time, get you close to where you can rejoin the tour on the other side of the river.

Drive south on Hamilton, and just keep going until you arrive at Dover Road. Take a left and go 2 blocks to a right turn onto Portland Place. At Douglasdale Road, take a left, and you'll go under two freeways before taking a right onto Belmont. Go only one block south to Garrett Street, and then a left after only one-half block onto Sunset Lane. Sunset will meander south, getting gradually smaller and smaller, until it ends at a private property sign. There is a turn-around here. Park off the street and walk west towards the tracks. You'll be able, even in summer, to look straight down at the double track mainline. Trees and the cut preclude any photos here, of course, but it's interesting to know that in about 150 yards to the south, the railroad will leap over the broad James River valley (and the CSX (ex-C&O) and NS (ex-Southern) lines along the river), and at the south side of the river bridge, begin mile point 0.0 of the A-Line. That numbering system will hold true all the way well into Florida.

East Coast Route

Washington, DC - Richmond, VA

Washington, DC - Richmond VA

Railfan Sites:

The Tour

Potomac River to Lorton

Ashland to the James River