Foundry Branch Trolley Trestle Ruins – Washington, D.C. - Atlas Obscura
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Foundry Branch Trolley Trestle Ruins

Washington, D.C.

A derelict bit of transportation infrastructure hidden in the woods.  

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Elliot Carter
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An old bicycle has been consumed by a tree on top of one of the piers Elliot Carter
Elliot Carter
View from one of the concrete piers. Do not venture out onto the wooden planking Elliot Carter
Under the bridge, looking west. (2019) exploringwithesch (Atlas Obscura User)
Eastern half of the trestle. (2019) exploringwithesch (Atlas Obscura User)
Under the bridge, looking east. (2019) exploringwithesch (Atlas Obscura User)
Under the bridge, looking west. (2019) exploringwithesch (Atlas Obscura User)
Facing southeast. (2019) exploringwithesch (Atlas Obscura User)
From the ground below, facing southeast. (2019) exploringwithesch (Atlas Obscura User)
Shot looking up at the trestle, facing south. (2019) exploringwithesch (Atlas Obscura User)
Tracks left on the trestle, looking east from the western concrete pier. (2019) exploringwithesch (Atlas Obscura User)
On the western concrete pier, looking east. (2019) exploringwithesch (Atlas Obscura User)
Next to the concert pier of the trestle, looking east. (2019) exploringwithesch (Atlas Obscura User)
Shot of the track that remains and leads up to the trestle. (2019) exploringwithesch (Atlas Obscura User)
Another shot of the tracks remains leading up to the trestle, from the west side of the structure. (2019) exploringwithesch (Atlas Obscura User)
Sitting on west end of the trestle looking east,on the concrete pier. Don’t even attempt to try walking on this bridge. (2019) exploringwithesch (Atlas Obscura User)
This bridge has massive amounts of rust on it, do not attempt to walk on the actual trestle. exploringwithesch (Atlas Obscura User)
Graffiti on the eastern concrete pier. (2019) exploringwithesch (Atlas Obscura User)
East concrete pier and trestle, looking west. (2019) exploringwithesch (Atlas Obscura User)
From the eastern pier looking west down the remaining tracks. (2019) exploringwithesch (Atlas Obscura User)
Another shot from the eastern concrete pier, looking west down the tracks. Notice the bike that has become of a pet of the tree to the left. (2019) exploringwithesch (Atlas Obscura User)
Elliot Carter
Elliot Carter
Elliot Carter
Elliot Carter
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Go for a hike through Glover-Archbold park, just beyond Georgetown University, and you may happen upon this mysterious rusting hulk. The steel pratt-truss bridge floats high overhead and disappears at either end into the camouflage of densely overgrown canopy. On top, a fresh generation of saplings have taken root amidst the rotting 120-year-old timbers.

The bridge is one of the last remaining pieces of the old streetcar system that carried District residents around the city for a century, long before the subway opened. This particular line opened in 1896 and ran from Georgetown into Glen Echo, Maryland, with the 280-foot-long bridge lifting traffic over the valley around the Foundry Branch stream.

The last trolleys ran over the Foundry Branch Trestle in January 1960 and ownership passed to the WMATA subway authority. Over the subsequent decades, the bridge fell into disrepair, and by 2008 the D.C. Preservation League was warning that it is “barely standing with the help of improvised cables.” Following inspections in 2014, the National Park Service and WMATA are currently working to stabilize the trestle and and build a covered walkway underneath in case of falling debris.

Know Before You Go

The trestle is unstable and not fit for climbing; enjoy it from the safety of ground level.

industrial infrastructure transportation bridges parks abandoned ruins
Nearby
Foundry Branch Tunnel
0.08 miles
Ruins of the Columbian Cannon Foundry
0.10 miles
Riggs Library
0.35 miles
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