Hi friends--

Can any USATC or ROB fans out there direct me to print sources that might cover any aspect of the Fr. Belvoir Military RR? I have already found a fair amount of material on the 711th ROB which stood up at Belvoir, and that is good, but for this job I am really looking for information on the construction of the base railroad itself rather than the tenant units. Any suggestions of any kind greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Erik

Erik,

If I recall Jack Merriken covered the Ft. Belvoir RR in Old Dominion Trolley, Too.

Wesley

You might want to check with the post historian at the post. I'm sure they have one. I've been to the post long ago when i was still an Army officer, but I was there on business and never had time to see if they have a museum or not. If they do, I'd start there.

You bet! I have his name and will be going over to see him; I'm just trying to make sure I hit all the obvious secondary source research before I take up his time.

Thanks! Think we have a copy at NCTM?

If you don't, we have a copy at the Baltimore Streetcar Museum. >;-)

I would also suggest contacting a certain chap at Aberdeen Proving Ground, who was doing research on the APG RR and may have hit some relevant info on the side. Check your PM shortly.

Here's an article that appeared in a local newspaper over 30 years ago. The author died in 2003.

Fort Belvoir's "Littlest Railroad"
by Raymond A. Gallagher

Unbeknownst to many hereabout, there exists not far from Alexandria probably the area's shortest railroad; one that has run continually since its construction in 1917 1918, although its volume of traffic, especially passenger, isn't presently as great today as it has been in the past. The railroad may be called the Newington Fort Belvoir Railroad, although its official name is probably "The U.S. Army Railroad, Fort Belvoir, Va." Its tracks extend from approximately 23rd Street, Fort Belvoir, to Accotink Station, Newington, or about four to five miles.

When the War Department decided to construct Camp A.A. Humphreys, Virginia, in 1917 (now the southern section of the present Fort Belvoir), the only way to get to the area was by steamboat from Washington to the "Camp Belvoir" summer training area, created much earlier on the southern extremity of the Belvoir peninsula. Of course, this had its limitations, so it was decided that a high priority concrete road and railroad program be launched, with the railroad getting the most immediate attention, since it could be a spur off the main line of the heavily used RF&P Railroad running through Newington, later designated "Accotink Station" for military purposes.

In order to construct this spur line, it was necessary to first cut a right of way through dense woods, then build wooden trestles over the culverts and valleys. The tallest trestle was about 75 feet high over the largest "valley" between about 8th Street and 10th Street, paralleling the present day Gunston Road.

The trestle was filled in during the early 1930s when it began to decay, thus causing the "valley" also to disappear. This project brought out hordes of laborers and mules, with primitive tools by today's standards, to carry out the job. In due time it was completed, as was the two lane concrete road from Gunston Road northward over Route 1 to Alexandria, but in one of the coldest winters in fifty years. Much of present day Route 1 has as its foundation this 1918 roadway built over a dirt road many years old.

When the railroad into camp was finished, with spurs servicing warehouses, etc., the power to pull (and shove) the numerous boxcars, flatcars, daycoaches and Pullmans was provided by huge standard gauge veteran steam engines said to have been used in the construction of the Panama Canal. Two such engines were provided; one active, the other standby. These venerable coal burners were in constant use from 1918 until 1940, when they were replaced by diesels, which continue to be used even today.

As a child growing up at Camp/Fort Humphreys (later renamed Fort Belvoir in 1936), I remember a number of times I was allowed to ride the engine out to Accotink Station and back by the friendly engineers, Army master sergeants. I was especially scared when the engine crossed over the tallest trestle near 9th Street, for it slightly overhung the trestle, giving the impression that it was floating across. Of course, looking down from that height was also scary.

I was also fascinated by the terrific white plumes of steam ten feet long that shot out to each side of the front of the engine when it started forward (or backward!), plus its loud bell and blasting whistle. However, the train never went over 10 15 miles per hour, so it was a pleasant ride. A favorite pastime of some, especially on Sunday afternoons, was to put a handcar on the track and four or six adults would pump their way out to Newington and back, a good afternoon's work. Simple pleasures were the norm in those days of the 1920s.

Thousands of soldier trainees disembarked and embarked at Accotink Station, as their orders designated that point of arrival and departure for several wars from 1918 onward.

It is presumed that this particular railroad will operate for many years to come, bearing as it does much heavy military equipment to and from the post. Its use as a passenger carrier probably came to an end at the close of the Korean War.

Alexandria Gazette, March 5, 1982

Jack Merriken discusses the Camp Humphreys Railway on pp 51-60 of Old Dominion Trolley Too, including some great photos. During the construction of the branch line discussed above the Army constructed a temporary narrow-gauge line from the Potomac River to the main post. Later the Washington Alexandria and Mt. Vernon Railway constructed a branch of its electric trolley line to the Fort. The Army purchased a Brill-Mack railbus for this line. The bus was returned and the line was operated for a time with electric cars. The operation on this extension was short-lived.

Wesley

Thank you very much, Tim. That is good stuff, and you are very kind to transcribe it for me. Much obliged.

Here's an article about the narrow gauge line that operated on the post during the First World War. It includes quite a few photos.

http://www.army.mil/article/47644/forgo ... o-victory/

The article states the line was torn up not long after the war ended; however, I knew someone who was an "Army brat" on the post in the 1930s who said he remembered finding remnants of the line in the woods at that time. He believed these finally disappeared during a scrap metal drive during the Second World War.

Yep. I'd seen that one. Its good background, but my little project involves the standard gauge line. Thanks again for digging for me though--I appreciate everyone's help very much.

Back in the late 60's and early 70's when I was stationed at Wright-Patterson AFB, I would go to Ft Belvoir to witness railcar hump tests on AF equipment. The Army had a hump test chamber that was a flatcar pulled up a variable incline rail then the car was released and rolled into a concrete block stop at different speeds and the equipment examined for damage. This was part of a MIL-SPEC test. As an aside, most military facilities of any size had a pretty intricate rail complex from the WWII era. I remember the W-PAFB setup as well as some of those in NJ.

The best living person to contact would be Dan Seymour in Stafford, VA. Both he and his late father worked on the Fort Belvoir utility railroad and Dan has an amazing number of photographs of equipment on the line, both his own and many taken by official Army photographers. You may reach him at ftbmrr [at] comcast [dot] net

MANY thanks.

I wouldn't doubt it. Nobody was thinking of historical preservation at the time like we do today. One of the greatest non-human tragedies of that timeframe was all the historical artifacts that were scrapped in the name of "the war effort" during WW2. A lot of historical railroad equipment went to the smelter (the Smithsonian even got rid of a lot of their collection including most of their WW1 artillery and tanks) in the name of WW2 scrap drives...