Rails to Dulles Airport

In 1958 the federal government began construction of a new international airport near Chantilly, Virginia. The Washington & Old Dominion Railroad, whose freight business had been on the decline, enjoyed a resurgence of activity. Cement, stone, and other materials arrived from local quarries by rail to this spot and were trucked to the airport site a few miles south of here.<br><br>Dulles International Airport opened 1962. The W&OD limped along for another six years, while a boom in road construction edged out small railroad lines here and throughout the nation. The W&OD ceased operations altogether in August 1968.