John Cowgill traces the route of an abandoned railroad that once brought passengers from Washington, D.C. to a summer resort on the Maryland shore. Along the way, he conjures up The Ghost of the Chesapeake Beach Railway

http://thetracksidephotographer.com/202 ... h-railway/

Edd Fuller, Editor
The Trackside Photographer
http://thetracksidephotographer.com/

Nice story. Edd forgot to mention that Otto Mears founded the Chesapeake Beach RY. Ned

This is interesting; I'm surprised any traces of the line can still be found given that the Chesapeake Beach Railway was pretty lightly constructed and quit in 1935. Three miles survived until 1978 as the East Washington Railway and made a modest but steady living delivering coal to an electric power plant, at least until the plant converted to oil. The CB was not one of Otto Mears' better ideas, but Colorado investors controlled the EW right up to the very end.

While abandonment was pending I talked my father into taking me to Seat Pleasant, MD, to see what we could find. The roundhouse (minus turntable) was standing, along with ancient wood combine used as a tool shed and one-half of the parlor car Delores which had been turned into a residence for the line's engineer, who intercepted us and kindly presented me with a copy of the EW's employee timetable. The truncated Delores survives at the Chesapeake Beach Railway Museum and the railroad's last locomotive, a Whitcomb 65-ton centercab, is now owned by the Hocking Valley Scenic.

In my youth one of my lesser-advised adventures was to hike the EW right-of-way shortly after the track was removed, probably 1978. It traversed some of Washington DC's more marginal neighborhoods but although I was the subject of a few stares, nobody bothered me and I was rewarded with a chance to wander around the abandoned roundhouse, scooping up scraps of paper including old waybills and a 1925 Chesapeake Beach passenger tariff.

- Alan Maples

From Rt 301, just south of Upper Marlboro, MD, you can turn east on Maude Savoy Brown Rd. Just before it turns into WSSC Treatment Plant Rd (which is the CBRY ROW), it is possible to climb up the tree covered ramp that led to the bridge where the CBRY crossed over PRR's Pope Creek Branch. Once on the ramp, some digging around will uncover clinkers and bits of wood.

It's very easy to follow the ROW on Google Maps. The ROW was very straight. In some locations, there are short walking paths along the ROW.

At nearby Watkins Region Park, the Merry-Go-Round from the Beach Park is preserved, under cover and operated in the summer.

The Beach Museum has a very nice Facebook page what regularly posts photos of the Park that often include information about the RR.

Bob

Intereseting. On page 34 of the Bollinger and Bauer book The Moffat Road it says "A bargain was secured in ten passenger cars from the Chesapeake Beach Railroad, these were numbered 700 through 708, and 800. Also two fairly new high stepping passengers number 3 and 4 had been purchased". On page 19 of the same book is the Alco builder's photo of Chesapeake Beech 4-4-0 #4, with a long pilot and tall drivers, and then on pages 36-37 are photos of it in work train service while building the Denver, Northwestern and Pacific Railroad (now UP's Moffat Tunnel route). The first caption says "little did she dream that she was destined to leave the cadets in trim dress at Annapolis and go to work on a construction train in the Rockies for David Moffat". One of the other captions says "Chesapeake Beech Engines 3 and 4 were renumbered 390 and 391. Original drivers were so big the engines could hardly take themselves up 4% grade, so the drivers were cut down." The below photo looks a lot like the 4-4-0's that were used in work train service on the Moffat Road in Colorado (which runs about 100' from my parents', previously grandparents and great grandparents' house). (Edit: here is a link to a photo than I can't seem to save, probably from the same engine series: https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4423/3636 ... a58a_b.jpg)

I wonder now if David Moffat wasn't involved in the Chesapeake Beach Railway. I've also always wondered about the "Annapolis" bit, because I have never seen mention about the CB serving Annapolis anywhere else. Were the authors wrong about it serving Annapolis?

Just a detail, but they are "Midshipmen" at Annapolis, not "Cadets".

You are correct - Otto Mears talked David Moffat into investing in the Chesapeake Beach Railway and thanks to the CB's perpetual financial distress, Moffat ended up owning some of the locomotives and cars - which accounts for them being shipped to Colorado. And no, the Chesapeake Beach did not serve Annapolis.

Ames Williams published a thorough history of the Chesapeake Beach Railway in 1975 and addresses Moffat's involvement in detail, including clarifying some of the equipment transactions and other details previously published by others. It is a good read if you can find a copy.

- Alan Maples

There was no service from Annapolis, but there was the graded but untracked route that ran near Chesapeake beach.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore ... t_Railroad

The Baltimore and Drum Point Railroad is a ghost railroad planned to connect eastern Maryland, the city of Baltimore and the port at Drum Point, Maryland. First conceived in 1856 and chartered in 1868, work didn't begin until 1873 but was halted a year later by the Panic of 1873. Work began again in 1888, and by 1891, 25 of the 34 miles had been prepared for tracks, trestles were constructed across the St. Leonard's and Hunting Creeks, locally cut railroad ties were in place and 8000 tons of steel rails were on their way from Pittsburgh. But the project was halted again when citizens of Anne Arundel County successfully sued to cancel the funding. They won on a technicality as the bond issue referendum to finance it was advertised for only 59 days rather than the requisite 60 days.[1]

Other efforts were made to restart the project with the last coming in 1924, but by then four railroads were already operating in the area and were under significant pressure due to the advent of highways and cars.[2]

It is interesting to note that two out of three of the diesel locomotives that were owned by the Chesapeake Beach Railway's successor, the East Washington Railway, have survived into preservation. Whitcomb 65 Ton #102 at the Hocking Valley Scenic Railway as mentioned by Alan, and #101 which was recently donated to the Richmond Railroad Museum. #101 was a GE 45 Tonner and was the first, and only, locomotive bought new by the East Washington Railway.

Even crazier is that the third locomotive, an Ex Washington Terminal Alco RS-1 numbered #103, was still around up until 2013 when it was involved in an accident and scrapped.

Anyway, I've always thought that the Chesapeake Beach Railway and/or the East Washington Railway would be an interesting short line to model. Maybe some day...