Eastern Railroad Discussion > Making a quick trip to Maryland/W.Va.

Hello, all!

My wife is taking part in a band reunion at her alma mater, Shepherd College (now University), so while she's been in the area much of the week, I'm making a very quick trip down and back this Friday and Saturday -- flying from Detroit to BWI Friday morning, flying back Saturday evening to be able to lead worship on Sunday. While much of our time will be spent doing Shepherd-ish things, I am hoping to grab a bit of time here and there to railfan.

I've been to many spots along the B&O in Maryland (Point of Rocks, Brunswick, Harper's Ferry), but I've not previously been to Shenandoah Jct. and only briefly crossed the N&W at Shepherdstown. So, just wondering if anyone knows whether the N&W signals are still standing at Shepherdstown, and what the train frequency there might be? (I'd love to try and get some shots both at the signals and over the Potomac bridge...) I've seen several nice shots from Shen Jct., and it looks like pretty good frequency there; are there any "heritage" signals still standing in the area, or is everything Safetran now?

Also, we'll be spending the night in Martinsburg. I see the B&O goes through there. Does NA "Tower" or the old roundhouse still stand? (As may be evident, my main photography interest is signaling, towers or other historic structures...)

As always, thanks for any help or advice!
Robbie
Defiance, OH

The ex-N&W signals are still active in Shepherdstown, WV; but probably not by the end of next year. NS runs 10 to 12 trains a day through here each day. There is currently MoW work (removing the CPL signals among other things) at Shenandoah Junction, so the usual flow of traffic is out of sync with trains bunched more than usual to give MoW larger windows. See more on the Recent Images page at:

http://gjptrains.wordpress.com/category/home/

NA Tower still stood in Martinsburg several months ago. The round houses, other shop buildings and the old station are there too. A few years ago there was an attempt to start a museum on the site; but it fizzled out and the site is in a state of suspended animation now.

Gerry



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/14 04:55 by GPutz.

---

Thanks for the insight!

Posted from iPhone