Baltimore & Ohio

Metropolitan Division

This page will cover the B&O main from Baltimore to Washington, D.C. and west to the small town of 
Point of Rocks, MD. 

    Located on the very west side of Baltimore is Halethorpe, MD.  HX tower is here and controlled
the junction of the Old Main and the Metropolitan Division main to Washington, D.C.  Shown here is an eastbound led by the newest
power on the system at the time, SD-40-2 7608.  November 5, 1978.

    This westbound is headed for the Old Main.  The tracks on the right in the going away image lead to the
Old Main, while trains headed for Washington would have crossed over to the middle of the three tracks.  This is train number 77.
Photo taken on October 8, 1978.

    Early morning train number 171 heading to Washington crossing over at HX.  The headlight is on both ends!
October 13, 1980.

      This sequence shows GP9 6606 running full throttle bringing commuters home to Baltimore
in a rather interesting collection of coaches.  Some former Amtrak cars and some fully lettered Chesapeake & Ohio.  October 22, 1980.

  On one of those dark, cold, snowy, where you should have stayed home days, a cow and calf  EMD switcher set comes west through HX interlocking.  This was the day before the infamous Presidents Day blizzard of 1979.  February 18, 1979.

    West of Halethorpe is Relay, MD.  This the point where the two lines meet and is just at the foot of the very
famous Thomas Viaduct.

  While the Old Main curves sharply to follow the Patapsco River, the Metropolitan line to D.C. crosses the river on the viaduct. 
This was built in 1835 and remains very much in service today. 

  In the early morning hours, a reverse commute train to Baltimore, number 150, crosses the viaduct. October 13, 1980.

    After the parade of commuter trains had passed, this coal train is now free to head toward Curtis Bay.
It is shown here on the reverse curves between Relay and HX.  October 13, 1980.

  GP38 3824 brings a work train west and is about to cross the Thomas Viaduct on August 28, 1976.  BTW, a very polite
Chessie System police officer was with us this day and since we were acting as responsible persons he had no qualms with us taking the
photos. 

  A few moments later this eastbound with a pair of GP40's crosses the viaduct. 

For the page on the Old Main, click here......

  One of the oldest GP40's on the system is assigned to the yard at Jessup, MD.  This mundane shot has a story behind it.  Overhearing the brakeman calling "3690, OK to back up" several times without a reply was a bit odd until I looked closer into the cab.
While you can't tell from this shot, the female engineer was busy combing her hair!  I'm sure the trainmaster would not have been amused
as to the reason for the delay.  August 28, 1976. 

Laurel, Maryland.  October 13, 1980.

  A pair of passenger GP9's sit at the Ivy City terminal in Washington, D.C.  Photo: Gary Madden.

  GP40-2 4117 sits next a GG-1 in the now gone Potomac Yard, Alexandria, VA.  March 2, 1975.

  Freight GP9's also at Potomac Yard.

Not being very familiar with all the close-in locations in the Washington area, I chose to head up the main out of town.

  Kensington, MD.

  Rockville, MD.  This station was living on very borrowed time.  October 13, 1980.

    The Gaithersburg passenger and freight stations.

  Amtrak F40 268 brings train # 32 to a stop in Gaithersburg on October 22, 1980.

  These SD40's are the pusher set assigned to help eastbound trains from Brunswick to Gaithersburg.

  Here is an eastbound train working hard up the grade at Boyds, MD.  Note the small logo on the nose.

  The pushers on the tail end.  October 13, 1980.

    The small, rather historic depot at Barnesville, MD.  October 22, 1980.

  A pair of GP30's brings westbound down the hill through Barnesville. 

  4045 and another GP40 struggle mightily with an eastbound.  The B&O used GP40's on everything.

  A pair of C&O lettered SD-40's serve as pushers for this train.  7580 needs a bath!  October 22, 1980.

    A while later, the pusher set drifts back west toward Brunswick, passing through Dickerson, MD.

  A few years earlier this Amtrak P30CH brings the Cumberland bound 'Blue Ridge' west through Dickerson. 8-29-76.

  This is the historic depot at Point of Rocks, MD.  It is here that the main from Washington, D.C. and the Old Main from
Baltimore join.  In this photo taken on August 29, 1976, the main from Washington is in the foreground, while the Old Main is just
visible to the left.

  A westbound train of hoppers passes by the depot.  The clouds won out on this day.  10-13-1980.

    A trio of blue GP40's running elephant style gets a running start for the climb to Gaithersburg.
Clouds 2, me 0.

  7597 pushes hard against the caboose.  Clouds 3, me 0.

To view the Old Main Line page, click here.........

To continue from Point of Rocks west through Brunswick and on to Harpers Ferry, Click here...........

Back to the B&O main page, click here.