The Potomac & Patuxent Railroad Washington DC We make the Connections!

The Potomac and Patuxent Railroad (P&P) is a modestly successful urban railroad serving a diverse industrial base in southeast Washington, DC. Steam operations are set in May 1947, and diesel operations are set in May 1957. The railroad is intended to be operated "at night" with blue lights overhead, a multitude of layout light sources, and darkened aisles.

The modeled portions of this O scale railroad, shoehorned into a 20' x 16' basement space, represent Shepherd Junction, Twining City, Uniontown, and Port Shepherd. The rail line linking these industrial centers is the Shepherd Branch. Shepherd Junction guards the connection of the Shepherd Branch to the Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) Railroad's Alexandria Branch. Shepherd Junction is also adjacent to Benning Yard that is represented by three staging tracks. The P&P interchanges freight with the B&O and the Pennsylvania Railroads through Benning Yard. A switcher from Benning handles the industrial activity at Shepherd Junction and Twining City. The industries include a coal distributor, team track, freight house, and printer.

Uniontown, at milepost 2.7 on the branch, is served daily by the Uniontown Turn, better known as the U-Turn. Uniontown is a complex industrial area with a bulk oil dealer, furniture plant, grocery supply company, warehouse, and a scrap metal dealer. The B&O has trackage rights to Uniontown to serve a coal-fired power plant.

The branch terminates at Port Shepherd where the P&P serves marine pier 5, a major parts manufacturer, a plumbing supply fabricator, and a marine sand, gravel, and cement facility. The yard at Port Shepherd is undersized which makes switching the port challenging.

Operations are governed by a freight car forwarding system, a simple timetable, train orders, and a fast clock (in the future). Operating practices are patterned after those of the B&O.