Proposal for MARC to Run to Hagerstown + Potential Brunswick Line all day service

I came across this recent article proposing for MARC service to run to Western Maryland, especially Hagerstown. It would be nice to link Hagerstown with Washington, DC. Might I add that while not mentioned in the article, other articles

https://www.heraldmailmedia.com/news/an ... ml?redir=0

This article posted below has a paragraph in a letter that mentions the possibility of MARC running all day service on the Brunswick Line. This would be a great idea as it would not only enable travel at any time of the day from Montgomery County to DC. It would enable people to take daytrips to go hiking around Brunswick and maybe even in Harpers Ferry. I like the idea of possibly having a few new stations added in Rockville as that community is huge.
https://dcist.com/story/21/04/12/montgo ... ture-bill/

All transit agencies should be thinking in terms of all day service—city work and home works are going to blend all day long and not just on the traditional morning-in, evening-out schedule

Most transit agencies should definately be thinking in terms of all day/daily service. MARC is no exception and it shouldn't just happen on the Penn Line. The Brunswick Line could use more service and even a few more stops. I'm not saying stop on every corner but having a stop around Randolph Rd is a good idea as this would enable people who live around Randolph Rd and Montrose Ave in Rockville and parts of Potomac not to have to drive to Downtown Rockville or Kensington. There isn't much parking at Kensington Station as well as Garrett Park. Having a MARC Station at Shady Grove might be a good idea as well-lots of people live around there and there are many offices and retail venues.
Now for MARC to run all day service on the Brunswick Line, it would have to be up to CSX too. In the end, CSX owns the Metropolitan Sub and I believe that it's a very busy stretch of track. We have to wonder if it would be possible for CSX to build a third track on the Met Sub. I believe that in many spots, that may be tough. It might work. There are spots where it would be a matter of removing trees. Yes, the Met Sub does pass along many people's backyards.

I'm going to throw a monkey wrench in the works.

Going through OpenStreetMap and Google Maps, I find one rail line that would require a connecting spur to the CSX line west of Duffields that'll go past a national park up to Hagerstown. The monkey wrench? It's not owned by CSX. It's owned by Norfolk Southern. NS.

That's to get to DC.

Now, to get to Baltimore, there's two ways: Take the Old Main Subdivision from St. Denis all the way out to Fredrick or Brunswick (offload I-70)... or take the Hanover subdivision and go through Gettysburg, PA... which gets into Amtrak-level complexity.

Fun.

Why does Harrisburg PA effect a potential train to Hagerstown MD?

STrRedWolf wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 1:08 pm s/Harrisburg/Hagerstown/

Fixed. Thanks. I gotta get back on the train...

At one time there was a B&O line that left the main just past Brunswick to Hagerstown. I think it was torn up before CSX was created. Not sure who owns the right of way now. Might even be a rail trail.

I believe that that right of way from Brunswick to Hagerstown is really nothing. The tracks have been pulled but it sounds like that would be the logical route to restore to Hagerstown. There is no room to extend the Frederick Spur to Hagerstown. There are many buildings located in the direction where the tracks would be extended.

dgvrengineer
At one time there was a B&O line that left the main just past Brunswick to Hagerstown. I think it was torn up before CSX was created. Not sure who owns the right of way now. Might even be a rail trail.

Maryland DOT did not take possession of the right of way like it did with many right of ways on the Eastern Shore after their abandonment.

njtmnrrbuff
I believe that that right of way from Brunswick to Hagerstown is really nothing. The tracks have been pulled but it sounds like that would be the logical route to restore to Hagerstown. There is no room to extend the Frederick Spur to Hagerstown. There are many buildings located in the direction where the tracks would be extended.

I traced to right of way back in the 1980s on my way back to Collage Park from Hagerstown one Saturday afternoon. Most of the right of way was still intact. However the right of way along roughly the south one third has several sharp curves to follow a water level route to the point where it connected to the Metropolitan Subdivision west of Brunswick. The right of way was also close the several structures that existed when the line was still in use.

Sand Box John wrote: ↑Mon May 10, 2021 8:40 am dgvrengineer
At one time there was a B&O line that left the main just past Brunswick to Hagerstown. I think it was torn up before CSX was created. Not sure who owns the right of way now. Might even be a rail trail.

Maryland DOT did not take possession of the right of way like it did with many right of ways on the Eastern Shore after their abandonment.

njtmnrrbuff
I believe that that right of way from Brunswick to Hagerstown is really nothing. The tracks have been pulled but it sounds like that would be the logical route to restore to Hagerstown. There is no room to extend the Frederick Spur to Hagerstown. There are many buildings located in the direction where the tracks would be extended.

I traced to right of way back in the 1980s on my way back to Collage Park from Hagerstown one Saturday afternoon. Most of the right of way was still intact. However the right of way along roughly the south one third has several sharp curves to follow a water level route to the point where it connected to the Metropolitan Subdivision west of Brunswick. The right of way was also close the several structures that existed when the line was still in use.

There were a few really large trestles that were part of the Hagerstown branch, and it was pretty low speed.
I wonder what speed the Maryland Midland could be restored to , since carroll county service was proposed in the past.

dgvrengineer wrote: ↑Sun May 09, 2021 8:00 pm At one time there was a B&O line that left the main just past Brunswick to Hagerstown. I think it was torn up before CSX was created. Not sure who owns the right of way now. Might even be a rail trail.

Part of it in weaverton has the AT running on it.
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/ ... ?2,2556378

Looking at the MD State Rail map (https://mdot.maryland.gov/OPCP/railmap.pdf), I have to believe that they're thinking of coming north from just beyond Brunswick over the inactive line. And CSX is known to be selling off ROW.

Hagerstown, directly intercepting I-70 traffic, is clearly a better "Maryland Transport Policy" terminus than Martinsburg (while a good compromise between Cumberland, Hancock, & Hagerstown)

It looks like about 20 bridges, including two viaducts, for sparce population.
Getting NS on board to build an interchange near Duffield, and going through shepardstown to Hagerstown would be cheaper, and likely faster than ground up rebuilding the branch.
That money would be better spent on southern maryland rail service.

The real question for southern MD service is... how loaded are the commuter buses. Are they loaded enough to justify a few railcars and building the rails?

The same goes for Ocean City/Annapolis service. What is the traffic like?

STrRedWolf
The same goes for Ocean City/Annapolis service. What is the traffic like?

Sand Box John lives on the Eastern Shore and went over the bridge daily for almost 20 years. The points of origin and destination are widely dispersed. For weekend traffic a plurality of the folks are travelling to Ocean City, the rest are going to Saint Michaels, Rehoboth, Bethany, Cape Henlopen. . . By the time one clears Denton on US-50 traffic has thinned by more then one half. For daily commuters it is even more widely dispersed but not as far.