Perryville MD ROUNDHOUSE

OK... Now that everyone knows where I am moving to... LOL I have many Q's!!! After I noticed the abandoned trackage off the old Port Road to the CSX mainline I was way interested in more!!! Since the name of the road to my "new" development is Roundhouse Rd I have wondered... Was there an old roundhouse here or Turntable? I noticed the REMAX realtor site for Perryville MD actually has RR trackage on the maps. That was quite interesting. I also saw where a line actually hooks up w the Port road beyond the CSX bridge. It came from the NE corridor on the East side and went under to this area...via Roundhouse Rd. Would love a background from anyone who could answer!!!

There was a small enginehouse at ground level west of the present mainline and south of the Port Road fill. Likely you can find it on an old county atlas or topo map. Basically, the alignment and grading of the present mainline and Port Road in Perryville dates to the "new" (1906, as I recall) bridge. The original mainline crossed the river just east of the present bridge (its piers still remain) and landed in Perryville at or close to ground level, where the Port Road joined it. When the grade was raised, the old ground-level Port Road tracks (and roundhouse) remained in service, and the old Port Road track was passed under the new mainline just north of the present station. This track then paralleled the mainline eastward, gradually rising to the new grade.

Yeah, it's hard to visualize from that description, but older maps should help untangle it.

Hey BaltOhio!
Years later! lol Those piers u speak of are for the old automobile bridge from the fifties! Long gone! If there was another alignment of the NEC (ex PRR) across the Susky I would love to know where it existed! Any help here?

IIRC there used to be a vehicle bridge SE of the PRR bridge for Broad St (Philadelphia Road) Shows on the 1942 topo map (http://historical.mytopo.com/getImage.a ... g&state=MD) Was that road bridge using the old PRR piers at that time? Not shown on the 1900 topo map http://historical.mytopo.com/getImage.a ... g&state=MD
The old small enginehouse is shown right along the main ROW in 1877 on http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/ ... erryville/
The Port Road also had a large yard between what is now Front St and River Rd, and the 'duck under' remnants for that is still there along the main ROW at N 39.55741 W 76.07539.

The connection from CSX to the Port Road is a remnant of the B&O's Susquehanna River Bridge construction, early in the 20th Century. In Havre de Grace, there was a similar connection for the duration of the construction, that connection has been totally abandoned for decades, most likely right at the conclusion of the construction.