The Lorton and Occoquan Railroad (L&O) was a seven-mile

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line running between the

District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

-operated Lorton Reformatory prison in

Lorton, Virginia Lorton is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 18,610 as of the 2010 census. History Lorton is named for a village in the Lake District National Park, Cumbria, in England. Joseph Plasket ...

, and the wharf at

Occoquan, Virginia Occoquan () is a town in Prince William County, Virginia. The population was 934 at the 2010 United States Census. The town is a suburb of Washington, D.C. and is adjacent to Woodbridge. The current mayor is Earnest W. Porta Jr. History Occoqua ...

, across the

Occoquan River The Occoquan River is a tributary of the Potomac River in Northern Virginia, where it serves as part of the boundary between Fairfax and Prince William counties. The river is a scenic area, and several local high schools and colleges use the r ...

separating

Fairfax County Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, D.C. ...

and Prince William County. The line operated from 1911 until it was decommissioned in 1977, and most of the rolling stock was sold in 1980. It was powered at various times by cable, steam, and diesel.

History

The main stretch of railroad for the L&O was only about four miles long. Four

rail spur A branch line is a phrase used in railway terminology to denote a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Industrial spur An industri ...

s increased the overall length to approximately seven miles in total. The railroad was used for prisoner transport as well as freight for hauling coal to prison-industry sites and removal of finished products and waste. Prisoners were transported to and from the

Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad The Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad was a railroad connecting Richmond, Virginia, to Washington, D.C. The track is now the RF&P Subdivision of the CSX Transportation system; the original corporation is no longer a railroad compan ...

line at

Pohick Creek Pohick Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 tributary stream of the Potomac River in Fairfax County in the U.S. state of Virginia. It takes its nam ...

, and between sites within the Lorton Reformatory grounds, especially between the workhouse and the brickyard and other prison-industry facilities. Although as many as 60 prisoners at a time were aboard trains running along the prison line, no guns were permitted aboard and no shots were ever fired from the train. The railroad maintained two civilian employees to operate the line — an

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

and a track manager — as well as 19 prison inmate workers. In addition to prisoners, the railroad was used to haul coal to the prison brickyard and to transport finished brick out of the prison. Sewage was also hauled out of the prison by trains prior to the extension of sewer facilities to Lorton by the

Fairfax County Water Authority Fairfax County Water Authority (FCWA or more recently Fairfax Water for short) is the main water company in the Northern Virginia region of the United States, and one of the four major water providers in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area (the o ...

. In response to

prison overcrowding Prison overcrowding is a social phenomenon occurring when the demand for space in prisons in a jurisdiction exceeds the capacity for prisoners. The issues associated with prison overcrowding are not new, and have been brewing for many years. Dur ...

, the District of Columbia purchased ten hospital cars in 1970 that were surplused by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

and parked them on a spur, in order to house additional prisoners without building permanent facilities. The hospital cars were heavily vandalized and security was difficult to maintain in the cars, leading to their abandonment only months after they were placed in use. In 1977, the railroad ended service as road transport became cheaper than the costs of maintaining and operating the specialized Lorton and Occoquan line. When the engines were sold in 1980, a company in

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

refurbished them and one remains in service on a tourist line in

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

. The trackage was mostly covered by pavement or recycled for scrap, but portions remained visible along various areas of Lorton. During construction of the I-95 HOV expansion project in the 1980s, the railroad tunnel that went under I-95 and over Pohick Creek was demolished and the tunnel entrances covered over. In May 2006, much of the right-of-way was converted into the

Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail The Gerry Connolly Cross County Trail is a 40.5-mile hiking trail in Fairfax County, Virginia that traverses the entire length of the county in an arc that begins and ends at different points near the Potomac River. The northern portion of the t ...

. The bridge over Giles Run is built on the extant abutments from the railroad.

History

References

Further reading