The Great Falls and Old Dominion Trolley

McLean Virginia is an affluent Northern Virginia suburb just outside of DC, a conglomeration of subdivisions and strip malls. When it comes to history McLean doesn't come to mind. I really never knew much of McLean's history, or even where the name McLean comes from. Although, one fact that I remember hearing is that Old Dominion Drive, a main road that runs through the center of town, used to be a railroad. Well, I dug around, and it turns out there is some interesting history there.

At the turn of the twentieth century, the United States was a young growing economic powerhouse with Industries such as banking, steel, oil, and transportation creating unimaginable wealth. Washington DC was going through its own transformation. New federal agencies such as Commerce and Labor were being established. Influence money and powerful lobbies were coming to town. Washington was transforming from a sleepy seat of government into a vibrant city of well over a quarter of a million citizens.

DC’s population growth came in the form of new government workers, military servicemen and women, lawyers, lobbyists and an expanding service sector. Like most big cites of the time, Washington had become dense with crowded housing concentrated close to employment centers. Such tight quarters, people yearned for fresh air and open spaces; but this was before the age of the automobile, it wasn’t easy for people to escape the city, and the crowded cityscape provided few options for leisure. DC’s sweltering summer heat made matters all the worse.

On July 3, 1906, a welcome escape was introduced. A brand-new electric railway opened offering passenger trolley trips to the spectacular Great Falls of the Potomac. Starting at Georgetown, trolleys crossed the Potomac River, gliding through fourteen miles of idyllic Virginia farms and woodlands before arriving at the falls. Weary Washingtonians could spend the day at the new Great Falls Trolley Park, enjoying cool breezes, embracing the natural splendor, partaking in a picnic or prepared meal. The park even offered amusement rides, and live music and dancing late into the night.

The Great Falls and Old Dominion Railroad (GF&OD) and Trolley Park venture was a partnership of John Roll McLean, the owner of The Washington Post, and Senator Stephen Benton Elkins, coal magnate of West Virginia. McLean and Elkins, already wealthy and powerful political figures, realized that the Great Falls, one of the finest scenic attractions near the nation's capital, was the perfect place to offer one-day excursion outings that were so popular at the time.

The partnership purchased an existing right-of-way through the Virginia forests and rural farmlands and bought up the land surrounding the falls. With private funds, they constructed a dual-track electric railway system and built a resort near the falls that included a dance pavilion, merry-go-round, large dining hall and band stand. Electric lights were strung above the falls for a spectacular nighttime illumination.

On Independence Day 1906 the bands, crowds, and trolleys were ready to go. The response was immediate and overwhelming. Crowds flocked to ‘the Great Falls Resort’ and easily sold out the eight-car trolley system. The company quickly ordered six additional coaches.

By 1907 the GF&OD was carrying 1.6 million passengers a year, with the number steadily growing. At its peak in 1916, ridership reached 2.6 million with official daily timetables of 128 round trips to Great Falls with the last train returning to Georgetown at 1AM.

The Beginnings of McLean Virginia

The fourteen-mile rail route to Great Falls traversed a completely rural landscape bypassing established communities. Basic three-sided shelter stations were put up at the country crossroads along the way and these became flag stops for locals to grab a trolley. The countryside stop alongside the tracks at the crossing of Chain Bridge Road was named the McLean Station after the railway's owner.

Before long, a few of crossroad stations began to grow into small communities. By 1911 a general store and a newly established McLean post office were opened adjacent to the McLean Station. Rural land surrounding the trolley stations were being bought up and subdivided with new homes being build. Homeowners took advantage of the GF&OD trolleys to commute to the city. Also, the trolley's tourism business was augmented with a daily delivery service of fresh milk from Virginia dairy farms to the city as well as US mail service. GF&OD was a healthy business with strong finances. Gross income rose about 30 per cent between 1907 and 1910 while net profits soared 400 per cent in the same period.

W&OD

And as their Great Falls operation prospered, McLean and Elkins, became enamored by the prospects of a larger electric railway system. Looking for new directions to expand, in 1911, they opened another new electric railway service operating on the leased right-of-way on the Southern Railway's nearby Bluemont Branch. The new rail line was named the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Railway providing a scenic route into Virginia's Blue Ridge mountains. Like the GF&OD before, the W&OD was wholly owned by the two-family group.

The W&OD service never caught on as a leisure service for outings like the Great Falls line. The trip out and back to Bluemont was simply too long for most day excursioners. Instead, as the towns and villages in Northern Virginia grew, the W&OD evolved primarily into a commuter service for suburban residents of Falls Church, Vienna, Herndon, Leesburg and Purcellville. The combined W&OD and GF&OD Railway system lost money every year after 1912.

Declining Prospects

From a peak of 2.6 million passengers carried in 1916, passenger traffic had slid to 1.3 million by 1921, and down further to 886,000 in 1926. The first world war had brought changes in amusement tastes, and trolley rides to picnics were not as popular as they were in a simpler era. More significantly, the people were now driving. Great Falls Park trolley usage had crashed, and a 1926 flood destroyed much of the park’s facilities. By the late 1920s the GF&OD trolley service was in use almost entirely as commuter and delivery service.

With the onset of the great depression, suburban home building screeched to a halt and small bus operators were offering a more competitive commuter service. By 1932 the trolley service was down to only 28 daily trips, a shadow of the 128-plus trains that were running in 1916. Between 1932 and 1934 one of the two tracks to Great Falls was gradually removed. The end was a foregone conclusion. Arlington and Fairfax counties needed a direct road through the developing area, and the rail line provided readily available right-of-way. A deal was made to abandon the route and exchange the property for unpaid taxes. On June 8, 1934, the GF&OD made its last run. The tracks were torn up and the route was paved over. In deference to its history, the new road running through North Alington, McLean and Great Falls was named Old Dominion Drive.

The remaining W&OD rail line to Bluemont continued operations but struggled financially under various ownerships. The last passenger train ran on June 7, 1951; thereafter, the railroad carried only freight, until its final run on August 27, 1968. Soon after the railroad closed, the Virginia Department of Highways purchased the railroad's property. In 1972, voters approved the establishment the W&OD Region Park and the construction of a bike and walking trail along the old W&OD right-of way.

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