Nostalgia & History > Cumberland & Pennsylvania relics, MT. Savage, MD.

1.1901 C&P shops office building
2.1866 stone car shops at left, 1866 machine shop at center behind office building
3. Former car shop
About a half dozen buildings remain from original railroad complex; most are in use by MT. Savage Specialty Refractories (www.mtsavage.com)
This company has a much larger plant in Curwensville, PA.
These pics taken 2/18/2023



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/23 03:39 by bigsavage.

---

---

---

1950's shots as WM/C&P abandoned use of shops, site of Cumberland Glass 1957-1961, vacant after that until MT. Savage Refractories took over the site in the 1980s
1. View looking northwest
2. 1901 office building, power house (still extant) is at left
3. South (west) view of 1866 car shops and machine shops; car shops once extended where freight car is, but burned down in 1939.
 

---

---

---

Concrete bridge @ Woodcock Hollow RD., 1 mile east of MT. Savage.
1918 date indicates WWI -era replacement due to increased weight of loaded coal cars/larger engines.
Track abandoned here in 1954, now used for private driveway.

---

---

---

Great set of photos - It is fascinating what pieces of the past can still be found.
Bob

Very nice look back in time...

Many thanks for posting these photos.  I have attached my relic from the Cumberland & Pennsylvania - the combination builder's and number plate.  My #26 plate is from a 2-8-0 built at their shops.

---

Interesting that there was enough business to require the facilities built back when, but that as time moved on it all became unneeded, abandoned and nearly forgotten. Of course much more support, facilities and manpower wise, was required to operate steam power. The existance of the remaining East Broad Top facilities comes to mind.
I didn't realize the Cumberland and Pennsylvania was important and busy enough to require much in the way of shops none the less they could build a locomotive. Very interesting.
Go

Great photos! I'm always looking for images/historical data of those lines.

Matthew

I wonder how many people riding the WMSR, either general public or visiting railfans, know that they are riding on part of the C&P main line the last 2 miles into Frostburg. Or even that the station they are pulling up to was originally a C&P station, not WM?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/28/23 12:19 by bigsavage.

Thanks for these great shots of industrial archeology.  Many are not aware of the extensive industrial history of the area.  The first iron rail produced in the United States was rolled by the Mount Savage Iron Works in 1844.  Prior to that time, railroads had either used wood or granite "stringers" with a flat iron strap attached, or purchased iron rail from producers in England.  The Mount Savage Iron Works were one of the earliest and largest iron works in the country, starting production in 1839.  The iron works ceased operation in 1870.  The Cumberland & Pennsylvania built its shop complex in the 1860's, and locomotives were built both for C&P and for sale to other railroads.  The first locomotive was built in 1868, and production continued until 1917.  I don't know how many locomotives were built at Mount Savage, but production was limited by the relatively small size of the shop complex.  The C&P also had a roundhouse and yards at Mount Savage, and was quite busy in the first few decades of the 20th Century with traffic associated with the coal, iron and brick industries.  The C&P once served many coal mines in the Georges Creek area between Frostburg and Westernport, providing a steady stream of coal traffic, much of which went to the C&O Canal at Cumberland into the early 20th Century.  Mount Savage also had a foundry and several brick refractories.   

The C&P was owned by the Consolidation Coal Company for much of its history, until the Western Maryland purchased it in 1944.  The C&P continued to operate as a separate entity for a time, but in the early 1950's, the WM fully merged the C&P into the larger WM system.  The track east of Mount Savage was abandoned, as was the tunnel on the old C&P mainline through Frostburg.  The coal traffic from the Georges Creek Valley was re-routed over the WM via Westernport.  WM continued to serve the brick business at Mount Savage and Zihlman at least into the mid-1970's.  I can remember seeing boxcars at the brick works in Zihlman, between Mount Savage and Frostburg.  WM crews came down to Mount Savage via a switchback from the "New Line", the WM's main line between Cumberland and Connellsville, PA that opened in 1912, at a much higher elevation than the C&P line.  The switchback was necessary since the difference in elevation between Frostburg and Mount Savage was around 500 feet.   Although the refractory at Zihlman is still active, rail service ceased long ago, I'm not sure of the exact year.  

For those interested in the history of the area, go to http://www.mountsavagehistoricalsociety.org/  The historical society has a wealth of information about the history of the town and its industries.  

Steve Salamon
Valley City, OH  









 

Thank you from an old Western Maryland Fan for introducing me to new history.

Don Allender

cr7998 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks for these great shots of industrial
> archeology.  Many are not aware of the extensive
> industrial history of the area.  The first iron
> rail produced in the United States was rolled by
> the Mount Savage Iron Works in 1844.  Prior to
> that time, railroads had either used wood or
> granite "stringers" with a flat iron strap
> attached, or purchased iron rail from producers in
> England.  The Mount Savage Iron Works were one of
> the earliest and largest iron works in the
> country, starting production in 1839.  The iron
> works ceased operation in 1870.  The Cumberland &
> Pennsylvania built its shop complex in the 1860's,
> and locomotives were built both for C&P and for
> sale to other railroads.  The first locomotive
> was built in 1868, and production continued until
> 1917.  I don't know how many locomotives were
> built at Mount Savage, but production was limited
> by the relatively small size of the shop
> complex.  The C&P also had a roundhouse and yards
> at Mount Savage, and was quite busy in the first
> few decades of the 20th Century with traffic
> associated with the coal, iron and brick
> industries.  The C&P once served many coal mines
> in the Georges Creek area between Frostburg and
> Westernport, providing a steady stream of coal
> traffic, much of which went to the C&O Canal at
> Cumberland into the early 20th Century.  Mount
> Savage also had a foundry and several brick
> refractories.   
>
> The C&P was owned by the Consolidation Coal
> Company for much of its history, until the Western
> Maryland purchased it in 1944.  The C&P continued
> to operate as a separate entity for a time, but in
> the early 1950's, the WM fully merged the C&P into
> the larger WM system.  The track east of Mount
> Savage was abandoned, as was the tunnel on the old
> C&P mainline through Frostburg.  The coal traffic
> from the Georges Creek Valley was re-routed over
> the WM via Westernport.  WM continued to serve
> the brick business at Mount Savage and Zihlman at
> least into the mid-1970's.  I can remember seeing
> boxcars at the brick works in Zihlman, between
> Mount Savage and Frostburg.  WM crews came down
> to Mount Savage via a switchback from the "New
> Line", the WM's main line between Cumberland and
> Connellsville, PA that opened in 1912, at a much
> higher elevation than the C&P line.  The
> switchback was necessary since the difference in
> elevation between Frostburg and Mount Savage was
> around 500 feet.   Although the refractory at
> Zihlman is still active, rail service ceased long
> ago, I'm not sure of the exact year.  
>
> For those interested in the history of the area,
> go
> to http://www.mountsavagehistoricalsociety.org/ 
> The historical society has a wealth of information
> about the history of the town and its
> industries.  
>
> Steve Salamon
> Valley City, OH  
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>  
A couple of updates:
The Zilhman brick plant is abandoned and looking pretty bad on 2/18/2023.
The Frostburg C&P tunnel was still used until 1972 to service the Neilson Bros. lumberyard on the other side.
Last train to the brickworks in Zihlman and MT. Savage was in 1983. The track was not lifted until the time of the Western MD. Scenic taking over from Showalter's Allegany Central.
Some of the best photo documentation of the C&P trackage in the late 1960s was by Donnie Biggs, and can still be seen on the wmwestsub.us site, which was formerly run by the late Jeremy Cooper.
Mr. Biggs visited the WMRHS last year, and hopefully his photos will find a home there eventually...
Would like to see the remaining structures at MT. Savage preserved, so as to avoid what happened with the H&BTM complex in Saxton, PA.

> A couple of updates:
> The Zilhman brick plant is abandoned and looking
> pretty bad on 2/18/2023.
> The Frostburg C&P tunnel was still used until 1972
> to service the Neilson Bros. lumberyard on the
> other side.
> Last train to the brickworks in Zihlman and MT.
> Savage was in 1983. The track was not lifted until
> the time of the Western MD. Scenic taking over
> from Showalter's Allegany Central.
> Some of the best photo documentation of the C&P
> trackage in the late 1960s was by Donnie Biggs,
> and can still be seen on the wmwestsub.us site,
> which was formerly run by the late Jeremy Cooper.
> Mr. Biggs visited the WMRHS last year, and
> hopefully his photos will find a home there
> eventually...
> Would like to see the remaining structures at MT.
> Savage preserved, so as to avoid what happened
> with the H&BTM complex in Saxton, PA.

Bigsavage - thanks for the updates and corrections.  I was not aware the brick plant at Zihlman had closed.  After WM merged operations on the former C&P into WM operations in the early 1950's, a portion of the old C&P main line was abandoned between Frostburg and Borden.  The remaining coal traffic from the Georges Creek area then moved to Westernport and the connection with WM's Thomas Subdivision.  But as you correctly pointed out, WM crews continued to go through the old C&P tunnel at Frostburg until 1972 to service a customer on the other side of the tunnel.  I had forgotten about that.  Thanks for confirming the date of last rail service to Mount Savage and Zilhman.  

I would guess the remaining structures at Mount Savage are safe, as they are part of the Mount Savage Historical District which encompasses those industrial structures plus some of the original homes of the workers that date back to the 1840's.  

Steve Salamon
Valley City, OH