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  • NS freight sitting on disused Odenton spur

  • Discussion pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.
Discussion pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Moderator: therock

 #1225994  by RailMike
 
You know that spur off the NEC in Odenton, the one which is one of the last remnants of the WB&A? It hadn't seen a train for a while, I think since the closing of a paper company at the end of the line. Today there's a mixed NS freight sitting on the spur just before the first of the two grade crossings.

[url]http://odenton.patch.com/groups/breakin ... in-odenton[/url]
 #1511514  by RailVet
 
From the Facebook page of the Baltimore Chapter NRHS:

We've received a tip that the extremely short branch off the Northeast Corridor just north of the Odenton MARC depot, which crossed both Telegraph Road and Rt. 175, is in the process of being torn up.

This short industrial spur operated in part over an extremely short (several hundred feet) section of the Washington, Baltimore & Annapolis, originally the Annapolis & Elk Ridge. It then turned north around the edge of a building to serve a plastics plant that had originally been built in the 1940s in and around the WB&A shops and car barn there, which had been abandoned in 1935 with the railroad. The family-owned company was sold in 1961 and changed hands several times. The last owner, Nevamar Corporation, closed its doors in 2004, and the property was sold for residential and commercial development. More on Odenton's rail history at:

https://www.navpooh.com/odenton.html
 #1511633  by RockGp40
 
I'm surprised it has taken this long to have them removed. I saw NS park and later pull a gondola where Nevamar was there a couple years ago to remove some large electrical component. Other than the crews out of time and the occasional MOW equipment parking up near the derailer, that spur hasn't been used for anything.
 #1511692  by RailVet
 
I went over there today and it appears the report of track being lifted is a false alarm. I looked at the spur track, starting at the junction with Amtrak's NEC on the north side of the Odenton MARC station, past all of the public crossings, to where the track crosses Route 175 and I saw absolutely no signs of any track removal effort. The track has tree branches hanging across it and deep weeds obscure it on the north side of Route 175, but I saw no one and no equipment even preparing to remove the tracks.
 #1514193  by TheOneKEA
 
I doubt the spur will be removed - BGE would find it very useful for moving electrical equipment in and out of the substation site. I’ve also observed that the Amtrak MOW department regularly parks their equipment on the spur.
 #1514613  by mmi16
 
RockGp40 wrote: Tue Jun 18, 2019 9:03 pm I'm surprised it has taken this long to have them removed. I saw NS park and later pull a gondola where Nevamar was there a couple years ago to remove some large electrical component. Other than the crews out of time and the occasional MOW equipment parking up near the derailer, that spur hasn't been used for anything.
One thing railroads overlook when the go on the 'remove the spurs' kick - locations are needed to set off bad orders - locations are need to clear up track equipment - so the equipment doesn't have to hold a main track overnight or tram 20 miles to get to the work location.
 #1514887  by TheOneKEA
 
mmi16 wrote: Sat Jul 20, 2019 11:34 pm
RockGp40 wrote: Tue Jun 18, 2019 9:03 pm I'm surprised it has taken this long to have them removed. I saw NS park and later pull a gondola where Nevamar was there a couple years ago to remove some large electrical component. Other than the crews out of time and the occasional MOW equipment parking up near the derailer, that spur hasn't been used for anything.
One thing railroads overlook when the go on the 'remove the spurs' kick - locations are needed to set off bad orders - locations are need to clear up track equipment - so the equipment doesn't have to hold a main track overnight or tram 20 miles to get to the work location.
This is especially important at Odenton because of the MOW yard south of the station. The dispatchers will likely regret the absence of the spur if something coming off the yard lead onto Track 1 breaks down and needs to be pulled back into the yard and they need to get other equipment clear of the track.