Western Maryland, Georges Creek Junction to Kreigbaum

Map

Map shows 5 railroads existed in the area from the Narrows to the PA state line. The Cumberland and Pennsylvania(red) was the predecessor of all, hauling in Mt. Savage coal and iron while the B&O (blue)was still stalled in Cumberland in the 1840's. B&O eventually completed its Pittsburg and Connellsville RR captive along the east side of Wills, originally leasing track from C&P. The remaining railroads were built to tap into B&O and C&P monopoly on Cumberland Coal. The Georges Creek and Cumberland (green),c. 1880, used one of the routes surveyed originally by B&O in the 1830s to breach Allegheny Front by using Braddock Run. GC&C was created by rival mining companies to Consolidated Coal who dictated traffic of its child, the C&P. The GC&C RR route is visual as it clings to the side of Dans Mountain along eastbound I-68 but it is very elusive to find on maps. About the same time and probably in cooperation with GC&C construction, the Huntingdon and Broad Top Mountain RR (HBTM)(orange) was brought south from Bedford to connect with the GC & C, the C&P and the West Virginia Central and Pittsburg. All of these lines (except B&O and the Pennsylvania portion of HBTM) were eventually controlled by the Western Maryland Railway (yellow). The Georges Creek & Cumberland gave the Gould empire a way west through the Narrows for their transcontinental railroad plan. The GC &C RR connection at the end of the Narrows was out of service in 1927 after WM obtained trackage rights on C&P, making the Georges Creek & Cumberland's steep route up the mountain redundant. The rest of these lines were active up through the 1950's, segments were abandoned piece by piece up until about 1981.

"The 5 railroads existing in the area from the Narrows to the Pennsylvania state line are shown in this map. The Cumberland & Pennsylvania, owned by the Consolidation Coal Co., (red) was the first on the scene, hauling Mt. Savage coal and iron to the B&O (blue), which was still stalled in Cumberland in the 1840s. The B&O eventually completed its line to Connellsville along the east side of Wills Creek, originally leasing track from the C&P. The remaining railroads were built to tap into the B&O and C&P coal monopoly. The Georges Creek & Cumberland> (green) was created by> Consolidation Coal’s rivals. About the same time and probably in cooperation with the construction of the GC&C, the Pennsylvania Railroad in Maryland (orange) was brought south from its connection with the Huntingdon & Broad Top Mountain in Bedford to connect with the GC&C, providing a route for coal from the Cumberland area to the PRR’s mainline and its route to South Amboy. All these lines except the B&O were eventually controlled by the Western Maryland Railway (yellow). The GC&C gave the Gould empire (WM) a way west through the Narrows for its transcontinental railroad plan. The GC&C’s steep route beyond the Narrows became edundant after the WM obtained trackage rights over the C&P and was abandoned in 1939. The rest of these lines were active up through the 1950s, and the various segments were gradually abandoned until 1982. The B&O, now CSXT (blue) and the Western Maryland Scenic (yellow) still survive.
The four lines, B&O, PRRMD, WM (GC&C) and the C&P's Eckhart branch made up the Eckhart Jct. area. The B&O owns the two leftmost tracks of the triple track to the left. The third one is C&P's line from Frostburg via Mt. Savage Jct. The WM crosses the narrower road (US 40> Alt.) on the massive truss bridge to the right. The ex-PRRMD (by this time, WM's State Line branch) connects to the WM by way of the truss bridge and viaduct combination at the top center. The Eckhart branch (C&P) crosses Wills Creek on the four-arch viaduct at the lower center. Barely visible at bottom right, Braddock Run empties into Wills Creek. A road bridge to Locust Grove and the old National Highway (US 40 Alt., right and center) and the new, wide State Route 36 complete the scene. If this photo had been taken 40 years earlier, the GC&C’s mainline to Lonaconing, which paralleled the C&P Eckhart branch, would also have been shown. It probably curved to the right from the line above the truss bridge, ending up parallel to the far side of US 40 Alt. And the Cumberland-Frostburg-Westernport interurban line would have shared US 40 Alt., paralleling the WM right-of-way at the top of the photo.
Jacks goes on to comment I’m not sure about your comment regarding the WM/C&P trackage rights agreement in 1927 causing the abandonment of the> GC&C line to Lonaconing in 1927. Can you cite a source? My 1930 Official Guide reprint shows the line intact as Freight Service Only as well as being shown on the WM map. Also, other sources indicate 1939 for the abandonment of this line.
I guess it can be argued whether the primary reason for the construction of the Pennsylvania Railroad in Maryland/GC&C was to feed the B&O with coal from Southern Pennsylvania or rather, that it allowed competitors to the Consolidation Coal Company a choice of shipping their product via the B&O to Baltimore or the PRR to South Amboy. Your information seems to provide both> sides of the story on different pages.
I’m wondering if you have detailed information about the Cumberland & Westernport Electric Railway. I’d be most interested in its exact route and the date of its abandonment (I’ve read 1925, 1926 and 1927 in different sources). Was the electric line from Cumberland to La Vale part of the C&W’ s route to Frostburg? Also, Eckhart Mines seems to be very close to Frostburg. Would I be correct in assuming that the> Eckhart Mines branch of the C&P never connected with the C&P mainline through Mt. Savage on its> outer end, but perhaps the C&W ran from Eckhart Mines to Frostburg instead?
Do you know if the local newspaper in Cumberland has microfilm of its issues from those years?
Anyway, I hope I’m not asking too much of you. And I do appreciate all the work you’ve put on your website.
Jack May
Montclair, N. J.
December 2006
Thanks Jack!

Georges Creek Junction

Called Georges Creek Junction because of the WM connection with the Georges Creek & Cumberland RR at this point (the GC&C preceded the WM however, and the WM was using their route through the Narrows). Across National Highway and Wills Creek is the extremely busy CSXT line and an abutment for the Pennsylvania in Maryland RR bridge.In the foreground the photo shows an concrete pad that supported a telegraph office and signals at this point on the WM. My father relates an incident he witnessed when an older signal was being removed in the 1950s, the crane operator wound the cable in too far, got the hook holding the signal post into the pulley and the post dropped right down into the middle of busy Route 40. Only by luck did it not smash any of the traffic.
Since up to this point the WM was using the GC & C route, this heavy duty bridge was the beginning of the Connellsville Extention. It crosses Rt. 40, Braddock Run and the Eckhart Branch of C&P.
The idea of the WM line is to evenly gain elevation for a shorter route to the Allegheny summit at Deal. Here at Homewood, the Dakota Street crossing shows that WM is already high above the Wills Creek floodplain. Across the valley, almost vertical layers of sandstone are quarried on the side of Wills Mountain.
Between Homewood and Corriganville, the WM has a stretch of tangent track.
At this point, WM overlooks Mt. Savage Junction on CSXT. Amtrak is crossing Bridge 1 over Jennings Run. Bridge 1 is where the B&O route left C&P on the Pittsburg and Connellsville RR .
At a cut rounding the ridge above Corriganville, a cave was unearthed during construction. Bone Cave contained fossilized bones of extinct prehistoric wildlife.
At this crossing of Getson Road at Kreigbaum, a view is provided of the gap in Allegheny Front and Big Savage Mountain.

September, 1999

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Huntingdon and Broad Top Mountain- Southern Connection with Allegany County Maryland Coal Fields- Photos Fall of 2001

Western Maryland Scenic Railroad