04-04-01 CLASSIC PHOTOS: Martinsburg Trip

Back in 2004 I was living in Baltimore without a car and was looking to visit a friend in the Chambersburg, PA area. The closest railheads were in Frederick, MD, served by a new MARC commuter service, and Martinsburg, WV, served on the weekends by Amtrak. So I put together a little trip wherein I would take MARC outbound from Baltimore to Frederick, (something MARC would actually sell you a ticket for) and then catch Amtrak's Capitol Limited back on Sunday from Martinsburg. Of course this allowed me to get photos in both directions that you can view here, along with some guest photos of NA cabin I happened to include , but more on that later.

Here we see MARC GP39H-2 #74 at Washington, DC. As of 2017, these 2300hp M-K rebuilds continue on in MARC service on typically shorter B&O division runs.

Golden Hour at Union Station with MARC Kab Car #7758 and K-Tower in the background.

At the time, the mainstay of the MARC fleet were 19 GP40WH-2's re-manufactured by M-K in 1993. Here #61 sits under the parking deck at Union Station with the front porch door open. Today only #68 remains in service, the fleet having been replaced by MP36PH-3C's.

My train to Frederick was led by Kab Car #7747, seen here at the terminal after sunset.

Martinsburg was once home to a major B&O shoppe complex. Today the shoppes are being converted into a historic attraction that features an 1850's vintage covered roundhouse.

NA Tower (Cabin?) had only been closed by CSX within the last year. Prior to 2000, almost the entire B&O main line was still managed by a series of 8 manned interlocking towers, but by 2004 only 3 remained. NA had been closed later than the two immediately to the west as CSX wanted the State of West Virginia to foot part of the bill for the CTC upgrade between Martinsburg and Brunswick to support the extended MARC service.

As of 2017 NA cabin still stands, although it is in increasingly rough shape. The rail heritage site across the tracks actually hosts the preserved 'R' tower from Cherry Run, WV.

Steam rises from the rails as the electric point heaters do their job to fend off a mild early spring snow event.

Still new CSX SD70MAC #4706 rolls through Martinsburg ahead of Amtrak Train 30. 

Amtrak P42DC #49 arriving on Track 1 with the eastbound Train 30.

Conrail painted power was still quite common, as well as oddball GE -8 units. Here Conrail painted C39-8 #7481 sits in Brunswick yard with WB tower in the background.

Remote control locomotives and road slugs were new concepts back in 2004, although the novelty did not extend as far as the paint scheme. Here CSX GP40-2 #6454 and former GP30 #2211 sit in Brunswick yard still wearing the "Grey Future" paint scheme.

And I'm back where I started (kinda), at Union Station's K Tower. Some ExpressTrak cars sit on the adjacent Track 16 having been pulled off the recently arrived Capitol Limited.

 

Well that's it for this trip back in time. Next week we're back with a current day trip to Dallas and Fort Worth!