The Covid caused cancellation of my annual December Chicago trip let me scrambling for content so I turned to some local action along the Northeast Corridor and Maryland areas. For the former I grabbed some photos at the Bowie State MARC station before stopping by the Newark, Delaware Amtrak/SEPTA station where infrastructure improvements are under way. For the latter I made a detour off I-95 to the Conowingo Dam where hundreds of Bald Eagles congregate each fall and then later swung by the CSX Brunswick Yard with its associated interlocking tower and MARC station as part of a Frederick Country brewery tour. Photos from these events can be found here ( mirror ).
Inspired by my previous trip to Odenton, I stopped by the next stop on the MARC Penn Line towards Washington, DC, Bowie State. Those two along with Seabrook were built in the brief period of time when underpass technology was still seen as the best way to achieve ADA compliance as opposed to overpasses that rely on maintenance intensive elevators. During my brief visit I was blessed by Amtrak Train 20, the northbound Crescent with ACS-86 #645 leading.
Moving on to Newark, Delaware, the new station building has been completed along with improvements to the parking area including EV charging.
The new station will support a track overpass style walkway when the project is complete, however for now the opening is blocked off at the top of the stairs.
The new station building has an enclosed waiting area and a green roof.
The old PRR era station has been turned into the Newark History Museum.
DAVIS tower can be viewed along the the alignment for what will become an additional station track. The Newark, DE Station improvement project is intended to support eventual extension of the MARC Penn Line from Perryville.
While hanging out I was treated to a northbound Amtrak Regional with ACS-86 class leader #600.
Heading off I-95 to the Conowingo Dam on the Susquehanna River I stopped by the re-signaled CP-TOME in Port Deposit where an NS manifest freight was tired up on the Rock siding west of town. The NS Port Road Branch is now run under Rule 562 cab signaling without wayside signals except at interlockings.
The Conowingo Dam is the country's largest privately owned hydroelectric facility and the longest concrete slab dam one can drive across. Built in 1928 the dam has 11 power turbines and 50 flood control spillways, the latter of which are only opened in response to intense rainfall.
The 1920's vintage traveling cranes were unfortunately replaced a few years back by newer models.
The dam is a stop on the migration route for Bald Eagles as fish that take a spin through the turbines find themselves an easy meal in the tailrace. This day I counted about 40 eagles hanging around along with a similar number of bird watchers.
Moving down to Brunswick, MD, I made an initial stop at WEVERTON, but found the only thing working was the snow melters.
However a long string of power was parked on the #3 running track completely visible from the road. Units included CSX ES44AC #858, C44-10W #5312, GP38-2 #2767, Road Slug #2359, slug master GP40-2 #6959, ES44AH #3190 and AC4400 #491 in a yellow, blue and grey heritage scheme.
In Brunswick, WB tower was still standing strong and has apparently been tagged by the local history museum for preservation, however the lower floor was left unsecured putting it at extreme risk for arson or squatter related fires.
While the relay room had been stripped, the US&S Electro-Pneumatic interlocking machine and model board were untouched on the operator's floor. The tower was closed in 2013 and is likely in limbo awaiting a move off CSX property, probably to the empty field across the tracks.
Although Brunswick yard now sits largely empty due to declines in coal and manifest traffic, a trio of Evolution series engines, including ES44AH #3035, were hanging out in the engine servicing and storage area.
As I was about to leave a train of empty coal hoppers powered by ES44sAH #861 an #997 emerged from the yard on running #3 track and crossed over onto #1 main track westbound.
My next stop was Point of Rocks where a Clear signal on Track #1 and a Medium Clear on Track #2 hinted that a show was about to begin.
First to arrive was a solid train of autoracks on track #2 with C44-10W #5457 and CM44AC rebuild #7216, likely destined for the Jessup auto terminal via the the Metropolitan Sub. The CSX CM44AC rebuild program is similar to NS's long running AC44C6M program with CSX's core fleet of 600 20+ year old AC4400 locomotives being brought up to modern standards without any of the associated emissions requirements.
Alas the second train cleared on Track 1 never arrived and I decided to throw in the towel. However, after stopping at one additional brewery, the sound of a locomotive horn echoing across the Monocacy valley indicated that the Old Main Line train had finally shown up and I was able to catch it at the Old Main Line Milepost 56 automatic signal adjacent to the Buckeystown Pike grace crossing south of Frederick. Lead engine is ES44AC #3145, with AC4400 #470 behind and another ES44 in the middle for distributed power. Note this section of track is also used by MARC Frederick service trains.
That bring this little DemMar adventure to a close. Next time I head back to New Jersey to re-visit the Pattenburg Tunnel.
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