BRIDGES OF WASHINGTON, D.C.

After the invention of railroads in the 1830s, the city of Washington needed to develop railroad connections with other industrial and population centers. The most obvious of these would have been Baltimore to the northeast, and Alexandria to the southwest. From those cities, connections could be made to the major cities of the northeast, to the Ohio Valley, and to the southern states. These connections were made shortly after the Civil War by the B&O Railroad, completing a continuous railroad connection from Baltimore into the New Jersey Avenue Station near the Capitol Building, and then continuing southwest over the Long Bridge to Alexandria.

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In 1872, a competing railroad, the Baltimore and Potomac (B&P), began operations between Baltimore and Washington. This railroad crossed the Anacostia over a new bridge, now known as the Anacostia Railroad Bridge, southeast of the Capitol Building to a station located at Sixth and B Streets NW. While the B&O and B&P stations were within a few blocks of each other, there were no rail connections between them. In 1902, the B&P Railroad became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1907, as part of the effort by the McMillan commission to clean up the Mall, the operations of the two railroads were combined into the new Union Station north of the Capitol, and both of the earlier stations were demolished.

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The original 1872 bridge was replaced in 1972. The current bridge is a rusted, industrial-looking, low-profile structure that only sits about five feet above the water. Like the Long Bridge, the bridge is owned and operated by CSX Transportation. The bridge provides a means for freight rail traffic to bypass the commuter-heavy rail traffic at Union Station. After crossing the Long Bridge into the city from Virginia, passenger trains veer north into Union Station, while freight trains can veer directly east, staying well south of the Capitol, and cross the Anacostia on the railroad bridge. Once northeast of Bladenburg, the rail lines from both Union Station and the Anacostia Railroad Bridge merge again, and proceed northeast to Baltimore and points northeast.

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An unusual feature of the bridge is a central lift section, which can be opened to allow passage of boats. There is no pedestrian access to the bridge, but it can be viewed and photographed from the boat ramp in Anacostia Park, on the southern shore of the river.

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I have recently published a new book, Bridges of Washington, DC: A History and Guide. The Anacostia Rail Bridge is not particularly attractive or accessible, but it does help transportation enthusiasts to understand the bigger picture of how the early railroads helped to build the city of Washington, DC.