Long before talk of the Metro coming to Ashburn — or even before the existence of Dulles International Airport — what used to be a town out in the country had it's own stop on the former rail line that ran through: the Washington & Old Dominion Railroad.

Now paved and graveled over by bicycle and horse trails, Ashburn residents are more familiar with its current life as the Washington & Old Dominion Trail Railroad Regional Park, preserved long ago by what it now known as Virginia Dominion Power for future power lines. In some places, it's still clear where the rail beds were built up.

The W&OD stopped functioning as a rail line in 1968, after which Dominion stepped in. Eventually, the power company agreed to turn the land over to the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority; over time the authority created the trail that now reaches from Alexandria to Purcellville. The NVRPA still owns and maintains the trail with assistance from the Friends of the W&OD Trail. The electric lines came to Ashburn's portion of the trail, unlike the pristine tree-canopied sections west of Leesburg.

The trail is grade-separated on most of the major roads it traverses. Among the worst crossings that is soon planned for grade separation is at Belmont Ridge, also in Ashburn. While the crossing at Ashburn Road also remains at grade, it has not proven as frustrating for either drivers or bicycles as Belmont Ridge.

Learn more about the W&OD at the Friends of the Washington & Old Dominion Trail website(http://www.wodfriends.org).

Now more attention is turning to Metro, how much it will cost, how convenient it will be, and whether it ever makes it out to Ashburn. Once the preliminary engineering is complete for the project and turned over to the participating partners, including Loudoun, they will have 90 days to decide whether or not to participate.

Patch recently conducted an unscientific poll (so unscientific, in fact, that voters can apparently vote more than once) about rail. Supporters of rail to Ashburn just barely outnumbered those who either voted end the line at Dulles or forget it completely.

The Loudoun Board of Supervisors will be looking at various aspects of the project, including how to pay for and operate it, whether it generates business development/additional revenues, and whether parking and development have been adequately planned.