ACR X TCASII TA RA CLB TO OCCUPIED ALT HAD LTSS FROM ACR Y. SYS ERROR. EVASIVE ACTION TAKEN CLB. POTENTIAL CONFLICT.

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ACR X WAS TURNED DOWNWIND W OF IAD FOR ILS 19R. WX WAS RPTED 300 OVCST 1 1/2 MI VISIBILITY FOG; WIND 210/6. WHEN TURNED OVER TO FINAL CTLR WE WERE HEADED 360. THE CTLR SOUNDED OVERWORKED. THEY WERE GIVING INSTRUCTION TO ACFT ON HDG AND AIRSPD AND TELLING THEM NOT TO READ BACK THESE INSTRUCTIONS THEN QUICKLY GIVING OTHER ACFT SIMILAR INSTRUCTIONS. WE WERE GIVEN A DSCNT CLRNC FROM 4000 FT TO 3000 FT (MSL) AND BY THE TIME WE HAD DSNDED 100 FT; WE WERE TOLD TO EXPEDITE OUR DSCNT TO 3000 FT. WE DSNDED AT 2500 FPM TO 3000 FT. 5-10 SECONDS LATER TCASII SHOWED TFC AT ABOUT 2 O'CLOCK AT 2 1/2 TO 3 MI AND 1000 FT ABOVE US. FLT VISIBILITY WAS INTERMITTENT IMC ENOUGH AT THIS POINT THAT WE JUST HAPPENED TO SEE THAT THIS TFC WAS A HVY ACFT (DC-8); BUT WE COULD NOT MAKE OUT THE OPERATOR. OUR DSCNT CLRNC (TO EXPEDITE) WAS FURTHER PROOF THAT THE CTLR WAS OVERWORKED AND TRYING TO HANDLE TOO MUCH TFC. WE WERE GIVEN A HDG OF 090 AND 20-40 SECONDS LATER TOLD WE WOULD BE BROUGHT THROUGH THE LOC OF RWY 19R. THEN WE WERE TOLD TO CLB TO 4000 FT. AS WE BEGAN OUR CLB AT ABOUT 1000 FPM FROM 3000 FT TO 4000 FT WE RECEIVED A TA AND TOLD TO 'MONITOR VERT SPD;' THEN IMMEDIATELY GIVEN AN RA AND TOLD TO 'CLB; CLB.' I IMMEDIATELY FIREWALLED THE THROTTLES AND PITCHED THE ACFT FOR MAX CLB. TCASII WAS SHOWING A NEED FOR MORE THAN 2500 FPM CLB. I THEN HEARD THE CTLR SAY TO AN ACR Y TO CLB TO 5000 FT. MY FO TOLD THE CTLR WE WERE LEVELING AT 5000 FT DUE TO A TCASII TA. THEY THEN TOLD US TO CONTINUE ON 090 DEGS AT 5000 FT. THE CTLR EVENTUALLY BROUGHT US BACK TO FINAL. THEY FAILED TO TELL US WE WERE NOW BEING VECTORED TO RWY 19L! WE WERE NOT MADE AWARE OF THIS UNTIL WE WERE GIVEN A VECTOR HDG OF 240 DEGS TO INTERCEPT RWY 19L LOC. WE WERE OUT FAR ENOUGH THAT WE COULD BRIEF WITHOUT NEGATIVELY AFFECTING SAFETY (ABOUT 10-14 MI). THIS CTLR WAS REPLACED BY ANOTHER CTLR AFTER WE INTERCEPTED THE LOC (8-10 MI OUT). AFTER LNDG WE WERE TOLD TO EXPEDITE TO THE NEXT HIGH SPD TURNOFF AS THEY HAD ONE IN POS AND ONE ON SHORT FINAL. THIS FURTHER INDICATED TO ME THIS FACILITY WAS TRYING TO HANDLE TOO MUCH TFC FOR THE AVAILABLE AIRSPACE. SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 261334: WE WERE CLBING AT 1000 FPM FROM 3000 FT TO 4000 FT -- RECEIVED ANOTHER TA AND WERE COMMANDED BY TCASII TO CLB/CLB NOW. TARGET INITIALLY APPEARED AT 1 MI 500 FT HIGH. CLOSEST I SAW ON TCASII WAS PLUS 200 FT AND THEN LEVEL AND DSNDING JUST PRIOR TO ACFT SYMBOL ON TCASII SCOPE; NEVER SAW THE OTHER ACFT. CAPT IMMEDIATELY ON RECEIVING RA CLB WARNING INITIATED A 2000-3000 FPM CLB. LEVELED OFF AT 5000 FT AND WERE TURNED OUTBOUND APPROX 25 MI AND TOLD WE WERE CLRED FOR A 19L APCH. JUST ABOUT THE TIME FIRST TA; 'MONITOR VERT SPD' APPEARED; WE HEARD APCH CTL CLR ANOTHER ACR Y TO 5000 FT. UPON LNDG ON RWY 19L; WE WERE TOLD TO EXPEDITE CLRING RWY FOR TFC BEHIND US. THE WX WAS TOO POOR (IN MY OPINION) TO WORK AS MUCH TFC; AS CLOSE; AS WHAT TOOK PLACE THIS DAY. INITIAL CTLR SOUNDED SOMEWHAT CONFUSED AND RUSHED (BOTH PLTS COMMENTED ON THIS).