Train Stations W&OD Railroad

"In the years after 1880, railroad depots became the hub of small-town life; around them developed businesses dependent upon train transportation, and in them converged people anxious to learn the latest telegraphic news...The typical small-town depot existed to serve several purposes, each clearly defined by its builders. It provided accomodation for

One Page With a Photo of Each Station
Paul McCray's new site on history of the railroad -- many photographs.
Alphabetical List of Photos of Train Stations

Barcroft Station courtesy Barcroft Civic Association in Arlington.
E. Falls Church Station 1967. Photo by H. H. Harwood, Jr.
Dunn Loring Station and freight train 1957. Photo by H. H. Harwood, Jr.
Hamilton Station, 2000.
Herndon stationinterior
Herndon Station c. 1880.
Leesburg Station 1912 Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Cole, Friends of the W and OD
Leesburg Station and passenger train 1951. Photo by H. H. Harwood, Jr.
Purcellville Station 1967. Photo by H. H. Harwood, Jr.
Reston (Sunset Hills) Station and freight train 1963 Photo by H. H. Harwood, Jr.
Smiths Switch shed Courtesy Friends of the W and OD.
Round Hill Station c. 1912 courtesy of the Town of Round Hill
Vienna Station and freight train 1958. Photo by H. H. Harwood, Jr.
Vienna Station, and U.S. Military Railroad freight train, 1864, photo courtesy U.S. Army Military Archive, Carlisle Barracks.
West Falls Church Station, also known as West End Station photo courtesy Mary Riley Styles Library, Falls Church.

passengers waiting to board and alighting from trains, sheltered people waiting for arriving friends, and family and seeing off others, and received people having business with the telegraph office. Most Americans understood these functions.
"Of secondary interest to the public, but because of its high profits, of chief importance to the railroad company, the freight business required adequate accomodation, too....

"A station had to accomodate people waiting for trains, of course, but it had to recognize that women might prefer separate waiting rooms, that in southern states, all blacks had to be separated from whites, and that many would-be passengers may wish to smoke.

"Operating trains placed further demands on the str...ucture. At almost every depot, train crews watched the signal called the 'order board'; when it showed yellow or red, they slowed or stopped and received directives from the train dispatcher relayed through the station agent. ... Consequently, almost every station thrust out a bay window toward the station platform; from his desk in the window, the agent could look both ways along the track, signal trains, and attend to his voluminous paperwork."

--John Stilgoe, Metropolitan Corridor, 1983

Maps of Train Stations On W&OD

Train Stations -- Eastern Half

Train Stations, Western Half

This page was last modified Nov. 27, 2002

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