The Loudoun Branch of the Manassas Gap Railroad was a planned branch extension of the Manassas Gap Railroad

Manassas Gap Railroad

The Manassas Gap Railroad was an historic intrastate railroad in the Southern United States which ran from Mount Jackson, Virginia to the Orange and Alexandria Railroad at a junction called "Manassas Junction", which later became the city of Manassas, Virginia...

 that was to connect the Orange and Alexandria Railroad

Orange and Alexandria Railroad

The Orange and Alexandria Railroad was an intrastate railroad in Virginia, United States. It extended from Alexandria to Gordonsville, with another section from Charlottesville to Lynchburg...

 to Harpers Ferry and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was one of the oldest railroads in the United States and the first common carrier railroad. It came into being mostly because the city of Baltimore wanted to compete with the newly constructed Erie Canal and another canal being proposed by Pennsylvania, which...

.

Route

The route was to diverge from the O&A near Centerville

Centreville, Virginia

Centreville is an unincorporated community in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Recognized by the U.S. Census Bureau as a Census Designated Place , the community population was 71,135 as of the 2010 census and is approximately west of Washington, DC.-Colonial Period:Beginning in the 1760s,...

 and head west through Loudoun County

Loudoun County, Virginia

Loudoun County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and is part of the Washington Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the county is estimated to be home to 312,311 people, an 84 percent increase over the 2000 figure of 169,599. That increase makes the county the fourth...

, crossing the Catoctin Mountain

Catoctin Mountain

Catoctin Mountain, along with the geologically associated Bull Run Mountains, comprises the easternmost mountain ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are in turn a part of the Appalachian Mountains range...

 along the Goose Creek

Goose Creek (Potomac River)

Goose Creek is a tributary of the Potomac River in Fauquier and Loudoun counties in northern Virginia. It comprises the principal drainage system for the Loudoun Valley.-Course:...

 gap, then turning northward towards the village of Goose Creek (present day Lincoln

Lincoln, Virginia

Lincoln is an historic unincorporated village in the Loudoun Valley of Loudoun County, Virginia, located approximately south of Purcellville. It was established as the community of Goose Creek during the 1750s by Quaker settlers and renamed Lincoln after the president shortly after his...

) and Purcel's Store (present day Purcellville

Purcellville, Virginia

Purcellville is a town in the Loudoun Valley of Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. The population was 3,584 at the 2000 census, but has undergone considerable growth since then. Purcellville is the major population center for western Loudoun and the Loudoun Valley...

) before continuing on into the Between the Hills

Between the Hills

Between the Hills is a small valley in northwest Loudoun County, Virginia, distinct from, but associated with the greater Loudoun Valley.-Geography:...

 valley to the Potomac River

Potomac River

The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...

, which it would cross to reach Harpers Ferry.

Construction and demise

Work started on the line in 1851, the same year as the main line of the Manassas Gap Railroad. The railroad was graded as far as Purcel's Store, including the construction of a tunnel under the Catoctin Mountain along the Goose Creek. Tracks were laid as far as the Old Carolina Road (present day U.S. Route 15

U.S. Route 15

U.S. Route 15 is a -long United States highway, designated along South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. The route is signed north–south, from U.S. Route 17 Alternate in Walterboro, South Carolina to Interstate 86 and NY 17 in Painted Post, New York.US...

).

Construction was halted due to financial troubles of the railroad backers during the Panic of 1857

Panic of 1857

The Panic of 1857 was a financial panic in the United States caused by the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. Indeed, because of the interconnectedness of the world economy by the time of the 1850s, the financial crisis which began in the autumn of 1857 was...

. Any hope of resuming work and completing the line was erased when in 1861 when Confederate

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 troops tore up the tracks as they abandoned Alexandria

Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...

 to establish a line at Manassas Junction.

Today the informed and dedicated historian can still find the railroad bed and tunnel. A well preserved section of roadbed exists between Centreville Road and State Road 28 in Fairfax County, just east of the Sully Plantation historical site.