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Marty Bernard posted Conrail Virginia Tower, southeast corner of 2nd Street and Virginia Avenue SW, Washington, DC September 1984. Roger Puta photographer Jack Fuller: Tracks to left lead to Washington Union Station. Tracks to right lead to NEC via Benning. [In the opposite direction, the four tracks go to the Long Bridge over the Potomac River.] Frank Reeder Scheer: I visited Virginia tower a few times during 1969-1972. The second trick operator was Donald Lane and told me that 30+ years earlier, there were tenements on the other side of the raised right-of-way. Some of the rooms appeared to be active bordellos with open shades and lights on. Working Second and Third Tricks became preferred bid assignments. William Novak: The poles and catenary structures over the track are the remnants of the old electrified system used by the Pennsylvania Railroad for their GG1’s. [You can clearly see that the Position Signal on the left uses three horizontal yellow lights for Stop instead of a Red Eye (two horizontal red lights).] Marty Bernard shared Paul C. Worley: Was required to be preserved and restored as part of the Virginia Ave tunnel project planning document. Ted Gregory shared |
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| Street View |
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| Frank Reeder Scheer commented on Marty's post The tower is now a private residence. |
Darren Reynolds posted three photos with the comment: "Conrails ( Ex-PRR)
"Virginia Ave." tower
Washington DC"Tim Shanahan shared
Rick Smith: Now known as “CP Virginia”, named so because it sits at 2nd Street SW and Virginia Ave SW, Washington DC.
It was constructed between 1904 and 1906, along with construction of the nearby First Street Tunnel (running north-south from Washington Union Station) and the citywide effort to eliminate at-grade railroad crossings with city streets. Just as with its surviving big brother "K" Tower (located at the K-Street parallel at Union Station terminal), its clay pantile fully-hipped roof remains intact. Its Victorian brick styling has become rare, with both stone water-table courses and flared window jack-arches.
A Pennsy RR original (under the name "VIRGINIA" tower), that governed movements to and from Union Station and the cutoff to Benning Yard in NE DC, it almost got torn down after CSX gained control of the both Union Station lead and the cutoff to Benning. Under the terms of a 2015 Memorandum of Agreement between the city and CSX for the multi-utility Virginia Ave Tunnel project (for the cutoff to Benning Yard), CSX agreed to preserve the tower. Within that same agreement, CSX even took it upon itself to submit the necessary paperwork to add the tower to the National Register of Historic Places and the DC Inventory of Historic Sites, and it agreed to rehabilitate the tower.
Doug Horton: The board from Virginia Ave tower is on display at the CRHS museum in Shippensburg, PA if anyone is ever passing through and wants to see it.
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| 1 "Virginia Ave." tower Washington DC..An Amtrak train is passing south from Union Station.. 1988 Photo by: Esther Fairchild |
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| 2 A special passenger train Passes "Virginia Ave." tower As it go up the freight only branch to "Landover" tower The line to the left goes to Washington's Union Station. Note the operator and the Man working on the signal.. Photo by: Mark Hinsdale May 1986 |
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| Rick Smith commented on the second photo The tracks on the right form the cut-off route to Benning Yard in SE DC. Other than for previous Conrail and presently CSX office car specials, Amtrak has used a portion of this cut-off route on the right across the former PRR lift bridge at the Anacostia River and to Riverdale, MD, where it connects with the Capital Sub MD. Then Amtrak northbound runs either pull onto the east leg of the Capital Sub and back to Union Station, or they the west leg and pull into the station. This generally only has been done as emergency detour runs, such as with recent trackwork performed in the First Street Tunnel, through which the tracks on the left lead directly into Union Station. It's also only necessary if both tunnel tracks need to be blocked from passage. |
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| 3 Looking good!! "Virginia Ave." Tower after Restoration... The machine isn't in the tower ..The model board was Saved.. I'm not sure why or who did the Restoration. Photo by: Michael Brotzman 2019 |
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