Railfanning Rehoboth

Is there anywhere to railfan around Rehoboth Beach, DE?

The only railfanning at Rehoboth is leaning on the boardwalk railing and surveying the beach. To see trains, it depends how far from the beach you want to go. Delaware Coast Line operates out to Lewes (beyond the ferry terminal) maybe once a week/as needed to serve the Barcroft (has a new name now) plant. Most regular operation would be coal trains running to the Indian River power plant near Millsboro. Depending where you're coming from, the most power you're going to see would be in Harrington. Then there's the Maryland & Delaware.

To live wild, I saw Delaware Coast Line at the road crossing in Nassau today (8/17) at 1630 on the way back from Lewes. Power was RS36 #2 pulling DCL caboose 1000 (for shoving going east) along with 3 HOKX tanks from SPI Pharma (ex-Barcroft) at the end of the line.

It's that time of the year again! We leave tmorrow. Where's this coal train line? That would be interesting. We're also headed to Baltimore for a day as well.

Is there still a spur that runs down to Rehoboth from the DCL's Lewes Branch? It's shown on some maps, but I've never seen it for myself. Is it still intact, or if not, when was it ripped up? What did it serve?

I live in DE but I dont think there is a line in Rehobeth.

I don't know when the rail line to Rehoboth was pulled up, but when my family went there on vacation in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the line was intact up to the western side of the canal but completely covered with heavy vegetation growth outside of town. Today it's hard to find traces of where the line ran, and I think it's been plowed under where it ran across fields between Lewes and Rehoboth.

I saw a picture of train service to Rehoboth taken in 1900. I also wonder when the rail were taken up? I don't know if anyone knows when service ended to Rehoboth?

The best place to find the answer would be in the book "Rails along the Chesapeake a history of railroading on the Delmarva Peninsula 1827-1978" by John Hayman. It was printed in 1979 and is the best history on Delmarva Peninsula railroading that you'll ever find.