The Bay Coast Railroad, operating on the lower end of the Delmarva Peninsula, has reportedly made its last run. See the article in the Cape Charles Mirror at:

http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/b ... ting-down/

The Delmarva Central Railroad will operate the northernmost 14.8 miles of the line where the remaining customers are clustered. A feature in Railpace's Hot News online states the Buckingham Branch Railroad may pick up the operation of the Norfolk side tracks while an article in Trains News Wire says NS may get it.

The news article features a picture of a six-axle car in Cape Charles that I imagine might be available to interested buyers.

It has been a while since I was at either Cape Charles or the railroad's Little Creek side (near Norfolk), and I don't know enough about the line's rolling stock to say if it's treasure or junk, but I thought I should make others on this forum aware of it before the scrapper arrives to make it a moot point.

Also, the Delaware Coast Line Railroad recently learned that its contract to continue operating over its state-owned track won't be extended beyond the end of the year, and starting in 2019 the Delmarva Central Railroad will have the contract. DCLR President Dan Herholdt says he plans to exit the railroad business and will sell off his locomotives, caboose, etc. A locomotive roster can be found here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delaware_ ... ine_roster

When last discussed here or on Facebook, there were several passenger cars at the cape, along with some non-revenue equipment. It would be great if a recent visitor could give us an update.

As far as I am aware, the numerous passenger cars that were in CC, save for the locally-and-privately-owned twelve-wheel car named "Southern Comfort", were evacuated some time ago to Norfolk or the rail museum at Parksley. The heavyweight was still in CC the last time I saw shared photos of what's left in CC, and if it hasnb't left by now it ain't leaving by rail.

CC used to be where the Tidewater Chapter NRHS stored its passenger cars when they were still actively running/leasing cars. I thought that largely ended with the first NS steam program in 1994.

None of this is a surprise down here on the lower Eastern Shore, especially with the arrival of Delaware Central in 2017, and the end of service on the branch to Cape Henlopen. DelDot wasted no time removing grade crossings and has plans for a new connector road using the ROW in the vicinity of the Delaware Rt 1 overpass.

The only traffic on the Snow Hill Branch is a propane gas transfer facility just south of Millsboro, an easy run for Delmarva Central, who already serves the adjacent power plant (coal). South of the gas facility, the line to Snow Hill is used for tank car storage in the vicinity of Bishopville and Showell.

I wonder what the changes mean for the off and on discussion of a new tourist service in Berlin on the Snow Hill branch, and the annual train ride in Hurlock, MD?

There is a nice section of track preserved in Lewes where the rails bisect the grounds of the adjacent new library and the history museum in the old library.

I will be traveling south on US 13 on Wednesday and will try to get some pictures at Cape Charles.

Wesley

I was under the impression that Selbyville to Snow Hill was operated by the Maryland and Delaware Railroad. Has that changed recently?

Also there should be a quarry in Millsboro if I remember correctly, with a ex-Sou U23B.

Regarding the Snow Hill Branch and the annual train ride in Hurlock (on the branch west from Seaford), these are still part of the Maryland & Delaware Railroad; however, it is rumored that the DCR is interested in snapping up the MDDE’s routes as well, giving it control of all of the lines on the Delmarva Peninsula. We’ll see if that comes to pass.

Here is a map of the DCR and its connections to other railroads:

http://carloadexpress.com/railroads/del ... -railroad/

I believe the quarry locomotive has been replaced by this GP11:

http://www.railpictures.net/photo/631216/

Tim,

Thanks for the correction on the two branch line operators.

Wesley

There are a large number of preservation opportunities in the Delmarva peninsula if these plans come to fruition. Please consider these locomotives if you are in a position to do so.

MDDE Locomotives
-3 Ex-ATSF CF7 Rebuilds
-3 Ex-DL&W RS3s (Rebuilt by Conrail to RS3Ms)
-1 SW8 (Only surviving locomotive from the short-lived Conrail Express program)

DCLR Locomotives
-1 RS32, ex Atlantic and Danville
-2 B23-7s, ex Conrail. (Locomotives are CR 1900 and 1961, both from Conrail's second order).
-1 T6, ex PRR.

Bay Coast Line
-Ex SLSF GP15-1
-Ex PRSL GP38
-2 Ex-IC GP10 rebuilds.

While all these locomotives are exceptional in my view, we all know everything can't be saved. Please consider the list, as the mix of lines represented can serve many institutions along the eastern seaboard.

When I visited the MDDE earlier this year I learned that only one of their CF7s was operational. Reportedly one of the o/s CF7s is in Federalsburg and the other has been sitting in the open in the south side of Selbyville, DE, for several years. It looks pretty rough. The working one is normally stored inside the small enginehouse at Selbyville when not in use. An employee said an out-of-state tourist railroad had expressed interest in the two inoperative locomotives but there's no guarantee anything will come to pass.

Keep in mind that the MDDE hasn't been acquired and that the possibility is only a rumor at this point; however, it's good to have a plan in case it happens and you must act quickly.

I focused just on Cape Charles in my other post, but a reminder that the town of Hurlock, on the MDDE west of their base of operations at Federalsburg, has two ex-N&W open-window passenger cars as well, used for local festival train rides in conjunction with the MDDE.

If--IF--the operation of the MDDE gets assumed by Delmarva Central--and that is a big "if," as I believe that there's another layer of local government ownership of the trackage and contracted "designated operatorship" involved--then the continued operation of these cars may be in question, and someone might want to be in a position to offer a nice alternative to scrapping or whatever.

Yet another thing to be aware of:

The railroad kept a fleet of VERY old flatcars and gondolas at both ends of the car float, in Little Creek and Cape Charles, as idlers to switch the car float. They are the same cars that have been used there for decades, starting with at least the Virginia & Maryland in the 1970s and probably dating back to PRR ownership

I seem to remember a 1924 date stencilled on one gondola.

Who wants vintage freight cars, should they officially be made available? Be proactive and pursue them, or they may get lumped in with scrap rail someday soon...... the RR has too much valuable real estate in CC, which is starting to become an upscale golf resort community........

Photo by John Smolczynski Jr. via Facebook.

Whatever happened to Bay Creek #316 (self-propelled dining car) that was in Cape Charles?

Bay Coast 316 is in Wisconsin.

http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=37328&hilit=316[url][/url]

Wesley

The BCR was known for hosting a Santa train each year along its line on the first Saturday of December, using a geep to pull the privately-owned Fairfax River. The car was reportedly built for the RF&P in 1950 as a two-drawing room/14-roomette car and traveled between New York City and Miami. It was converted into a Maintenance of Way (MoW) car and used in this manner from 1966 to 1980. The Tidewater Chapter NRHS purchased the car in 1984. The current owner, John Bates, bought the car in 1994 and restored it to its former glory.

Unfortunately the Santa train was unable to run in 2017 due to the car’s “wheel issues” and now it’s unlikely the Santa train will ever run again.

If I'm not mistaken, the car’s home is the Eastern Shore Railway Museum, located at 18568 Dunne Avenue, Parksley, VA, almost eight miles south of where the Delmarva Central will go. With the end of BCR operations, it's possible the museum will become rail-isolated.

Why would anyone want to preserve a CF7 or a SW8? Frankly, the only worthy candidates on this list would be the T6 and RS32 and maybe the RS3m which was rebuilt by PC not Conrail.