The Washington Terminal Company is a corporation created in

Washington, D.C. ) , 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, ...

, United States, to provide support to

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 ...

s using Washington's Union Station. It is now a nearly wholly owned subsidiary of

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

. It was established in 1901 by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad-controlled Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad. The Washington Terminal Company owned and operated Union Station (opened in 1907) and about of track in the Washington area, providing switching services for passenger trains using the station or passing through the area: * Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) * Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) * Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) *

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 comp ...

(RF&P) * Southern Railway (SOU) *

Atlantic Coast Line Railroad The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was a United States Class I railroad formed in 1900, though predecessor railroads had used the ACL brand since 1871. In 1967 it merged with long-time rival Seaboard Air Line Railroad to form the Seaboard Coast L ...

(ACL) *

Seaboard Air Line Railroad The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , which styled itself "The Route of Courteous Service," was an American railroad which existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime rival, t ...

(SAL) In 1914, the company was the defendant in a landmark Supreme Court of the United States case, '' Richards v. Washington Terminal Company.'' In 1981,

took over the terminal company's operations. It currently owns a 99.7% interest in WTC, with the balance held by Amtrak employees. All of WTC's officers are Amtrak employees, as are most of its directors. Through WTC, Amtrak presently shares ownership of Union Station with the

United States Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States a ...

. While the DOT owns the station building itself and the surrounding parking lots, WTC owns the platforms and tracks. Despite being nearly wholly owned by Amtrak, the Washington Terminal Company is legally a separate entity, and unlike Amtrak, it is not exempt from the Interstate Commerce Act. This allowed Virginia Railway Express to threaten a filing to the Surface Transportation Board to enforce its right to access when Amtrak tried to oust VRE from Union Station after VRE said they would not automatically re-hire Amtrak as its operating contractor. Faced with this action, Amtrak backed down.

Locomotive roster

One of the rare locomotives used by the WATC in the past was a FAUR road switcher made in the

Socialist Republic of Romania The Socialist Republic of Romania ( ro, Republica Socialistă România, RSR) was a Marxist–Leninist one-party socialist state that existed officially in Romania from 1947 to 1989. From 1947 to 1965, the state was known as the Romanian Peop ...

in 1974. This example was made with the specific purpose of testing it on the American railroad network, at a time when diplomatic relations between the Eastern Bloc country and the United States were at an all-time high. The unit, originally numbered LDH125-107 and nicknamed "Quarterhorse" was tested across the country, but was turned down due to the lack of interest in diesel-hydraulic traction. The locomotive was then purchased by the WATC and operated into the late 1980s, until it was scrapped.

References

Washington, D.C., railroads Railway companies established in 1901 Switching and terminal railroads Non-operating common carrier freight railroads in the United States Companies affiliated with the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Companies affiliated with the Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington Railroad {{WashingtonDC-transport-stub

Locomotive roster

See also

References