Delmarva's Queen Anne's/Balto, Chesapeake & Atlantic etc

Hi all

New to the Forum, transplant to Delmarva from the western shore and Baltimore. NOT new to railfanning, field researching and preservation, modelling and all that fun. At one point in Dundalk I had quite the scanner bank/antenna farm for monitoring East Balto Class One and Shortline ops. Have always been a big Ma and Pa fan as I have family from Bel Air and spent many days wandering around the old ROW and exploring.

I live in Centreville now and commute pass (over the Bay Bridge every day) the remnants of the Queen Anne's/Baltimore Eastern/Baltimore, Chesapeake and Atlantic RR ROW (and its associated fallen flags to Denton and beyond) that ran from Love Point to Ocean City. With the aid of books and maps and the 'net I've been tracing the remnants of this line...cuts, ties, rails and ROW equipment, trestles and all that. Been doing the same for the active Maryland & Delaware line from Centreville downtown to Masseys, Chestertown, Townsend etc too.

I wanted to see if anyone else here has done any of this and/or has any info or resources to share. I've been quite surprised at some of the rail and interchange remaining around Queen Anne and the picturesque trestles...I know the line to Cordova/Easton is slated as a possible Rails-to-Trails...what a waste. Seems a prime opportunity for some clearing and historic interpretation. I'd spent several days helping clear and maintain ROW at the Ma and Pa Preservation Society at Muddy Forks some years back...distance from Balto keep me from working more often...I'm handy w/a chain saw, herbicide apps and all that and like the outdoor work.

Along those lines I'm hoping to get involved in some hands-on Group or enthusiasts for some restoration/preservation work. Don't know if anyone around here is involved in any projects...

Anyway, nice reading and learning from the Forum; hope to cross paths or get some direction here.

Pat

You might try also posting this on the "Delmarva-Washington D.C." regional board. There seem to be a lot of Delmarva fans active on it.

If you don't have it, you should try to find a copy of John Hayman's "Rails Along the Chesapeake," locally published in 1979. Until something better comes along, which seems unlikely, this is the bible of Eastern Shore railroad history.

Thanks...will 'do

I have a copy of J. Hayman's book and have started to put together the pieces of the puzzle that is Delmarva history...I've got some great ideas and locations for "before and after" pics

What is still visible between Love Pt and Queenstown?

There are what appear to be original trestle supports on the west side of Kent Narrows.

Beyond Kent Narrows the original grade can be seen under/alongside the power lines on eastbound rt 50...all the way to what was Queenstown Junction. The grade consists of soil, ballast/ties visible here and there and overgrown w/brush and marsh reed.

Queenstown Junction is (was) at rt 301/Greenspring Rd (beyond the 50/301 split) and the main bears away from rt 301. Just beyond the curve to the east I can make out a diverging grade (under the brush) for what was the Centreville Branch. The power line easment continues through this area and I hiked it today and took some pics. Via Google Earth/Terraserver topos/Maptech Historical USGS maps and field observation etc I've been able to detect traces of the Centreville Branch right into Town at Millstream Creek. I've visited QA Historical Society and others to unearth additional information for this personal project. The Town of Centreville has issued an initial release of a series of Historical DVDs tracing the history of Town and coverage of the railroads into town from the north AND south is in the works as part of the Town's evolution.

Back down at the main...it eventually somewhat parallels and then crosses rt404 and is visible in many areas, again as original grade and ballast w/ties still visible in places. Original rail remains between rt 404 and at least rt309 including the interchange with the overhead trestle and main to Cordova as well as the twin wooden trestles of Queen Anne as well as the approaches to the swing bridge into Denton (main later operated as Denton Branch).

This and future documentation fits well into my plans for modelling as well as ghosts of the Queen Anne/Baltimore and Eastern etc for my 2nd generation personal website and before the entire remains eventually becomes torn up for a cross-county asphalt trail.

I guess you can tell I find this kind of geeky stuff fascinating and LOTS of fun...love hands on/foot work on whats left of the rails...and venturing back in time. I have some pics to resize for the website...if there is some interest I can repost them here (I did some pics of the Stevensville museum and caboose on another Forum here) though I know some of this Delmarva stuff is pretty obscure in the big scheme of the railfanning world...its "down home' and close to my heart to me

Ooops...duplicate post!. Sorry.

Find an index to TRAINS Magazome for the late 1940s and there is a great article on the lines on the Delmarva Peninsula. I'm pretty sure its by Frank Donovan and I think it's one of the small size TRAINS. He did a lot of branch line travel and most of the branches still had passenger service. There's also a map. I no longer have many of those older TRAINS. The article captures the flavor of what was going on in those days. Motive power, equipment, traffic, etc.