Landover Subdivision

The Landover Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation. It runs from the Anacostia section of Washington, D.C., to Landover, Maryland, serving as a freight train bypass of Washington Union Station.

Landover Subdivision
Overview
System	CSX Transportation
Status	Operational
Locale	Washington metropolitan area
Termini	Northeast Corridor RF&P Subdivision
Operation
Owner	CSX Transportation
Character	At-grade[1]
Technical
Line length	5.7 miles (9.2 km)[1]
Number of tracks	2[1]
Track gauge	4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Operating speed	50 miles per hour (80 km/h)[1]
Route map Northeast Corridor to Boston to New Carrollton 128.8 mi 207.3 km Cheverly Northeast Corridor to Union Station 131.2 mi 211.1 km Alexandria Extension to Riverdale Park MD DC 132.4 mi 213.1 km Deanwood Minnesota Avenue Benning Road to Largo Town Center to Franconia, Vienna, or Wiehle 133.1 mi 214.2 km Chesapeake Junction 133.5 mi 214.8 km Benning Yard Shepherd Junction Shepherd Industrial Spur 134.2 mi 216 km Anacostia Junction DC 295 (Anacostia Freeway) Anacostia Railroad Bridge (Anacostia River) 134.5 mi 216.5 km RF&P Subdivision to Richmond

At the Landover end, the line connects to the Amtrak Northeast Corridor (NEC). CSX operates freight trains on an 8.3 miles (13.4 km) section of the NEC between Landover and its Popes Creek Subdivision. At two points along the Landover Subdivision there are connections to the Alexandria Extension, part of the Capital Subdivision. The Capital Subdivision supports freight trains headed northward to Baltimore, and southward to a connection with the Metropolitan Subdivision, for points west of Washington. The southern end of the Landover Subdivision connects to the RF&P Subdivision, which carries freight trains southward across the Long Bridge into Virginia.[1] [2]

History

The Landover Subdivision was built c. 1870 by the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad (B&P), which was controlled by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR). This was part of the B&P's Washington City Branch, the railroad's initial route from Baltimore to Washington.[3]^:335 At that time the branch included the Anacostia Railroad Bridge and the Virginia Avenue Tunnel, and the route continued past the tunnel to the B&P passenger station at Sixth Street and B Street NW and the Long Bridge.

The Magruder Branch, a new route into Washington for passenger trains, was built c. 1907 from Landover westward to the new Union Station, and the old B&P station was demolished.[4] (The Magruder Branch is now part of the NEC.) Subsequently, the PRR used the old route only for freight trains and called this the "Landover to South End" section in its Maryland Division.

The PRR installed catenary lines during the 1930s to support use of electric locomotives. Conrail, the successor company to the PRR, removed the electric lines c. 1982. CSX acquired the Landover Subdivision following the breakup of Conrail in 1999.

See also

• List of CSX Transportation lines

References

1. CSX Transportation Timetable. 2005-01-01.
2. http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/L0-Landover_Sub
3. Wilson, William Bender (1895). History of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company: With Plan of Organization. Philadelphia: Henry T. Coates & Company. william bender wilson.
4. "PRR Chronology: 1907" (PDF). PRR Research. Philadelphia Chapter Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society. March 2005. Retrieved 2010-05-09.