Backlick Road station
rail station in Springfield, Virginia
Backlick Road station is a Virginia Railway Express (VRE) commuter rail station in Springfield, Virginia. It is served by the Manassas Line. The station has one side platform serving the southern track of the two-track Norfolk Southern Railway Washington District.
History
The station serves a right-of-way first laid down in the 1840s by the Orange and Alexandria Railroad (O&A). During the American Civil War, the O&A's Springfield station, which stood on or near the site of today's facility, was briefly seized by Confederate troops in 1861, recaptured by Union troops, and raided again the following year.
The right-of-way passed via successor railroads to its current owner, Norfolk Southern. Additional trackage rights are held by VRE and Amtrak, whose Cardinal and Crescent trains pass through Backlick Road station but do not stop there.
The current station opened in 1992 as one of the original VRE stations. Planned upgrades include a 290-foot platform extension, lighting improvements, and communication system upgrades to accommodate longer trains and improve rider safety and comfort.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Backlick Road station” is rail station in Springfield, Virginia. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Backlick, Road and station, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “rail station in Springfield, Virginia” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4839690. Authority coordinates are 38.797, -77.184. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1861 and 1992.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Backlick Road station”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Backlick Road station primary sources, Backlick Road station archive and Backlick research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Backlick Road station”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Backlick Road station” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.