Ocean City remains

I was down in Ocean City on Sunday and I have a few questions. When you drive out on 51st street there are still rails in place. They are quickly covered up by grass in a backyard. They are seperate from the wooden row that is in front of you and rotting pretty bad right now. Why the two seperate tracks at 51st? Also, the rails end at 20th and Haven. Is there any evidence of the tracks north of 20th and Haven? I was also wondering if any of you guys have been out on the row on the mainland side right before the location of the old bridge? Anything of interest on the mainland side? It was erie seeing the sun set over the old row and the bay, especially over the one metal tower that is still there. Lots of great memories, but now they are covered by the weeds.

mgdemarco2 wrote:I was down in Ocean City on Sunday and I have a few questions. When you drive out on 51st street there are still rails in place. They are quickly covered up by grass in a backyard. They are seperate from the wooden row that is in front of you and rotting pretty bad right now. Why the two seperate tracks at 51st? Also, the rails end at 20th and Haven. Is there any evidence of the tracks north of 20th and Haven? I was also wondering if any of you guys have been out on the row on the mainland side right before the location of the old bridge? Anything of interest on the mainland side? It was erie seeing the sun set over the old row and the bay, especially over the one metal tower that is still there. Lots of great memories, but now they are covered by the weeds.

Well, there was a passing siding at 51st street, listed at 1500 feet...it ran between a switch just east of the still standing signal tower for the Crook Horn Bridge to 50th street. At 50th street, you can still find old ties that are longer in length than the others there...these were for the switch stand and switch rails. I believe the same can be said about the section by the semaphore signal tower.

No, I've never been on the mainland side right by where the bridge stood...you'd need a boat to do that. Not a bad thing to do sometime though...

Now, for the remaining rails. There are no rails remaining north of 20th street...however, up closer to 10th street, you can find spots in the road where cracks are visible...some pieces of rail are still in place under the roadway. Remember, the tracks ran in the middle of Haven Avenue even when service was still going on out there, between 12th street and 10th. Head down there with a metal detector and see...I'd make a safe bet you'll find stuff under there...if you're going to do the metal detector thing, do it in the wintertime as you have less of a chance of getting nailed by a tourist in a minivan...

Take care.

I was in OC last week and noticed that an old cast iron crossbuck was restored and stands in front of the Crossings Motor Inn at 34th Street and Haven Avenue, right behind the WaWa. My guess would be that it came from the 35th Street crossing as I remember more modern crossing apparatus at 34th. I also assume that's where the name of the motel came from, never made the connection before now.

Yes I noticed that too a few weeks ago. Its kind of hidden away.

The set of rails at 51st is not on the old row that was double tracked. When you first leave the pavement at the end of 51st there are still rails in place. They are hard to see because they are moslty buried but you can see them just as the road turns to dirt and there is a little dip. Looking towards 52nd street they are covered by a backyard.

mgdemarco2 wrote:The set of rails at 51st is not on the old row that was double tracked. When you first leave the pavement at the end of 51st there are still rails in place. They are hard to see because they are moslty buried but you can see them just as the road turns to dirt and there is a little dip. Looking towards 52nd street they are covered by a backyard.

Yes, that is the passing siding I was referring to a few posts above. 1500 foot siding, between 50th street and the distant signal for the Crook Horn Bridge (this is the signal that's still standing)...that set of ties in the weeds that are badly rotting in front of you after crossing the siding at 51st was the mainline.

Mike DiMunno