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Smiths Switch Road
The image presented here is drawn from the recently republished Rails to the Blue Ridge, by Herbert H. Harwood, Jr., which book is available for purchase through this site.


Normans station, sometime in the 1920's
(from the collection of H. H. Harwood, Jr.)

In 1916 there was a total of 65 stations on the W&OD, to include those at the beginning (Georgetown) and the end of the line (Bluemont). Normans, obviously tiny, was located at the point where the tracks and Smiths Switch Road intersect. The road takes its name from the fact that the Smiths, a fairly prominent family that once grew produce and raised livestock in the vicinity of Ashburn, saw to the construction of a railway siding whose switch the family would throw periodically in order to bring trains to a loading area on the farm itself.


 • The W&OD Trail is owned and operated by the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority •