Railroutes- Photos
Cumberland, Md
Cumberland is approximately 600 ft elevation. Between the two steeples is Dan's Mountain, at close to 3,000 ft elevation it looms over the closer Haystack Mountain. Dan's Mountain (aka Allegheny Front) is less than 10 miles in a straight line from the end of the B&O in the 1840's. This ridge of the Alleghenies had several good gaps, but more ridges follow.
Looking down from Dans Rock northeast toward laVale and Cumberland, one can sense the difference in elevation of the Alleghenies and the valley and ridge mountains. Landmarks visable at this point include Country Club Mall, Sacred Heart Hospital and the quarries on the side of Wills Mt. On the other side of Haystack Mt.is downtown Cumberland and I68 climbing Martins Mt, past Rocky Gap.
Looking east, this seems almost like a aerial photo. The dark line in the valley is the West End rails of CSXT at Pinto. As the line bends toward Knobley Mt. note the cliffs cut by the North Branch of the Potomac. Across Knobley Mt. at this point is the North Branch again as the river is making a very long, narrow loop up to Cumberland. In 1842, many in the B&O felt that a tunnel should be built here and Cumberland bypassed by the mainline (B&O had been shut out of Pennsylvania at this time, so the West End had to be built). After some argument the main line was routed through Cumberland, but later the tunnel was built as a part of the Patterson Creek Cutoff when coal traffic flooded the West End. In a B&O/Chessie contraction phase the Patterson Creek Cutoff was closed and in classic poor foresight, the right of way was sold to individuals. One man I know bought some for a drain field for his apartment buildings. Now with the Conrail merger, Cumberland is extremely congested and CSXT is rebuilding yard operations in Keyser, but they cannot buy back the Patterson Creek Cutoff.
Narrows
Haystack Mountain was cut in two places, the North Branch of Potomac, used by B&Os West End route and WMs Thomas Sub, and more spectacularly, by the Narrows formed by Wills Creek.
The Narrows was first used by the predecessor of the closely affiliated C&P to get to the Mt. Savage area. B&O used trackage rights. WM bought the Cumberland and Georges Creek to get access to the other side of Wills Creek.
B&Os ultimately chose to follow Wills Creek all the way up to the Eastern Continental Divide at Sand Patch. The still heavily used CSXT route is clearly visible below a perch on the south side of the Narrows.
WMs Connelsville extention route,(todays Western Maryland Scenic Railroad)is harder to trace in the photo. It takes a more direct route by swinging around coves and ridges (notably Helmstetters Curve) on its way through the gap in Allegheny Front made by Jennings Run, slingshotting around Frostburg and sideling up Savage Mountain seen in the distance. The 3000 foot Big Savage tunnel crossed 500 feet below the top of the ridgeline, then the line crossed Laurel Run and continued upgrade to the Flaughtery Creek, a watershed flowing westward. The beauty of this route was that at 24 miles from Cumberland, WM had crossed the continental divide at Deal East End. B&Os route at 24 miles from Cumberland was deep in the Wills Creek valley at Glencoe, 8 very hard uphill miles from the divide at Sand Patch. Another advantage of the WM route compared to B&Os was that WM stuck to the ridges while B&O follows the very steep Wills Creek, which often floods and wipes out the line for days or weeks. Charles Roberts states in Sand Patch that the B&O had surveyed the route eventually taken by WM early in century but lacked the funds to build it.
Potomac Eagle Scenic Railroad, former B&O line in the South Branch Valley
More photos
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