Lost Capitol Hill: The Navy Yard Railroad

Railroads on Capitol Hill are something that I have written about before and am sure to return to again. In spite of (or maybe because of?) rail’s current low importance as a method for traveling, there is, to me, no more romantic way of traveling.  I was thus thrilled to find that there was once a railroad within the Navy Yard, another well I have returned to again and again for inspiration.

Both the Washington Navy Yard and railways were of great importance during the Civil War. In spite of this, no tracks connected the Navy Yard to the outside world during this time. During the war, this was not too problematic, as the land side of the yard was used exclusively by those working there, the raw and finished materials were brought in and taken away by water.

In 1883, the decision was made to change how ordnance was to be supplied to the military. After a several-year-long fact-finding mission, the decision was made to turn the Navy Yard, which had become increasingly less important as the Anacostia had silted up, into the primary producer of naval guns in the country.

The main change came in the construction of a large building on the east side of the yard, which necessitated the expansion thereof. At the same time, a rail connection was built into the yard, and the 1903 Baist map of DC shows the results.

Building 104 at the Navy Yard, at the corner of Tingey St and Isaac Hull Ave. The train tracks can be seen in this 1950 picture. (LOC)

The railway split off from the K street Baltimore and Potomac train track at the corner of 5^th and K, SE. It then curved through what was then reservations 15 & 16, and along 6^th street into the Navy Yard at 6^th and M. The B&P track, for its part, continued on another 2 blocks before going underground at 7^th and Virginia, approximately where the tunnel is today.

Inside the Navy Yard, the tracks split and curled around in multiple different directions, allowing rail access to most of the buildings there, as well as a line that went along the quay for direct transfer from rail to ship. In most cases, the line went dentered the building for even greater ease in loading and unloading. The total length of track within its borders was 9.3 miles.

The rails were not fully-featured tracks, but rather built into the road, much like light rail tracks. The roads could thus still be used for normal car traffic.

In 1951, at the height of its use, there were six locomotives permanently in use at the Navy Yard, as well as nine cranes mounted on railroad cards. This was not to last long – by 1962, the Navy Yard was no longer used to build ordnance, and the railroad was thus no longer necessary.

Today, none of the old tracks are visible anywhere at the Navy Yard, which is now completely turned over to other uses.