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The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States. It operated as B&O from 1830 until 1987, when it was merged into the Chessie System; its lines are today controlled by CSX Transportation.
The Western Maryland Railway was an American Class I railroad (1852–1983) that operated in Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It was primarily a coal hauling and freight railroad, with a small passenger train operation.
The Capital Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of Maryland and the District of Columbia. The line runs from near Baltimore, Maryland, southwest to Washington, D.C., along the former Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road (B&O) Washington Branch. The subdivision's Alexandria Extension provides a connection to Virginia and points south.
The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad (WMSR) is a heritage railroad based in Cumberland, Maryland, that operates passenger excursion trains and occasional freight trains using both steam and diesel locomotives over ex-Western Maryland Railway (WM) tracks between Cumberland and Frostburg. The railroad offers coach and first class service, murder mystery excursions, and special seasonal trips.
Oldtown is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Allegany County, Maryland, United States, along the North Branch Potomac River. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 86.
Magnolia is an unincorporated community northeast of Paw Paw in Morgan County in the U.S. state of West Virginia on the Potomac River. Magnolia is located along the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad mainline and east of where the Western Maryland Railway crosses the Potomac, bypassing a series of bends in the river. As a depot and water station on the B&O, Magnolia has been known by a number of names including Magnolia Dale, Magnolia Vale, and sometimes as Water Station Number 12 on the railroad.
The Western Maryland Rail Trail (WMRT) is a 28-mile (45 km) shared-use rail trail in the U.S. state of Maryland that follows the former right-of-way of the Western Maryland Railway (WM) between Fort Frederick State Park and Little Orleans via Hancock, paralleling the C&O Canal and Potomac River. The asphalt-paved trail is suitable for walking, jogging, biking, rollerblading, country skiing, and snowshoeing.
The Old Main Line Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. state of Maryland. The line runs from Relay west to Point of Rocks, and was once the main line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, one of the oldest rail lines in the United States. At its east end, it has junctions with the Capital Subdivision and the Baltimore Terminal Subdivision; its west end has a junction with the Metropolitan Subdivision.
The North Bend Rail Trail is a 72-mile (116 km) rail trail in north-central and western West Virginia in the United States. It is operated by West Virginia State Parks and is part of the American Discovery Trail.
The Mountain Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Maryland and West Virginia. The line runs from Cumberland, Maryland, west to Grafton, West Virginia, along the original Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) main line. It was known as the West End Subdivision until the B&O's absorption into the Chessie System, and included the B&O's original crossing of the Allegheny Mountains. Through CSX traffic to the west from Cumberland now uses the Keystone Subdivision over Sand Patch Grade.
The Keystone Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Maryland and Pennsylvania. The line runs from Cumberland, Maryland, west to McKeesport, Pennsylvania, along a former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) line. The line includes the well-known Sand Patch Grade over the Allegheny Mountains.
The Metropolitan Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in Washington, D.C. and Maryland.The 53-mile line runs from Washington, D.C., northwest to Weverton, Maryland, along the former Metropolitan Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
The CSX Cumberland Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the U.S. states of Maryland and West Virginia. The line runs from Brunswick, Maryland, west to Cumberland, Maryland, along the old Baltimore and Ohio Rail Road (B&O) main line. At its east end, the Cumberland Subdivision becomes the Metropolitan Subdivision; at its west end at Cumberland, Maryland it becomes the Cumberland Terminal Subdivision. It meets the Shenandoah Subdivision at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, and the Lurgan Subdivision in Cherry Run, West Virginia.
Maryland Route 51 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known for most of its length as Oldtown Road, the state highway runs 25.53 miles (41.09 km) from an interchange with Interstate 68 (I-68) in Cumberland south to the West Virginia state line at the Potomac River, where the highway continues east as West Virginia Route 9 toward Paw Paw. Around Cumberland, MD 51 is a major highway that provides a bypass of the South End neighborhood of that city and access to industrial areas along the North Branch Potomac River. South of North Branch, MD 51 is a rural highway connecting small communities along the river in southeastern Allegany County, including Oldtown. Documentation from the Maryland State Highway Administration depict the highway as following an east-west alignment, but all signage indicates a north-south road.
Western Maryland Railroad Right-of-Way, Milepost 126 to Milepost 160 is a historic section of the Western Maryland Railway (WM) in Allegany County, Maryland, and Morgan County, West Virginia. It is an abandoned 34-mile (55 km) section of the right-of-way between milepost 126 at the intersection of the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal and Long Ridge Road, Woodmont, and milepost 160 just west of Maryland Route 51, North Branch. It closely parallels the Potomac River and the C&O Canal, which runs along the north bank of the river, and includes three tunnels. Seven miles of the roadbed are in West Virginia near Paw Paw.
The Cumberland Terminal Subdivision is a railroad line owned and operated by CSX Transportation in the Cumberland, Maryland area. The line centers on the Cumberland rail yard and is a junction with three other subdivisions.
Indigo Tunnel is an abandoned railroad tunnel in Allegany County, Maryland, located about 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Little Orleans. Built by the Western Maryland Railway (WM) in 1904 as part of its Cumberland Extension project from Hagerstown west to Cumberland along the Potomac River valley, which involved construction of four additional tunnels and 23 bridges, Indigo was the WM's longest tunnel. The new rail line opened in 1906. Trains ran through the tunnel until the rail line was abandoned by the newly formed Chessie System in 1975, in favor of the parallel Baltimore and Ohio railroad line on the opposite side of the Potomac River.
Kessler Tunnel is an abandoned railroad tunnel in Allegany County, Maryland, located about 8.5 miles (13.7 km) east-northeast of Oldtown. It was built by the Western Maryland Railway (WM) in 1906. It was constructed with concrete arch portals and the roof has wood planking. The tunnel was named for landowner John Kessler.
Sand Patch Grade is an approximately 100-mile-long (160 km) section of railroad track known for its steep grades and curves through the Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania and western Maryland. Dropping over 1,000 feet (300 m) in about 20 miles (32 km) and with grades as much as 2%, Sand Patch Grade is one of the steepest railroad grades on the East Coast.
References
- "Mountain Subdivision: Eastern Approach." Northern West Virginia's Railroads. Accessed 2010-08-11.
- mtnsub.org. "The Hard Way to Paw Paw: Patterson Creek, WV." Archived 2010-11-19 at the Wayback Machine Railfanning the B&O Around Cumberland, MD. Accessed 2010-08-11.