by gprimr1
I've always wanted to ride the entire system and I finally did today. I have a few questions/observations. (I noticed there's no forum here for the Baltimore Light/Heavy Rails.)
Questions:
I can't wait to see how they build the east-west light rail and how they overcome the problem of building a light rail underground and getting around the Howard Street Tunnel.
Questions:
- Was the light rail built from the ground up or was the track already in place? I read that the part in the city was built from old streetcar routes. On maps, I see the Timonium light rail listed as Northern Central Railroad. Did they just use the ROW?
- As you go between Falls Road and North Avenue, there are a few feeder tracks that feed factories. They are still connected to the light rail tracks. Are they active at night after the light rail closes?
- At North Avenue, I saw a large number of fuel cars and a Norfork Southern locomotive. These don't use the light rail tracks, do they?
- At Mount Royal station, the light rail parallels a pair of tracks. On one trip, I saw the CSX Coke Express. I'm assuming this is the CSX main line through Baltimore.
- Between Mount Royal and Cultural Center, there is a giant hole in the ground and a large structure built in it. It looks like the same rails that you see from Mount Royal travel under the structure. Was this an old passenger station?
- Around Cherry Hill, the light rail parallels a set of three tracks that look like they are one trainload away from falling apart. They are overgrown, unsignaled except for non-functional B/O style signals but I think I know where they go, the car yards by the 895 tunnel. Are these tracks used by trains?
- Why do they have blue signals that say "derail" on some of the abandoned sidings attached to the light rail? I mean I understand that it means don't go on me, and I read that blue signal means go no further under any circumstances, but why did they say "derail?"
I can't wait to see how they build the east-west light rail and how they overcome the problem of building a light rail underground and getting around the Howard Street Tunnel.