Nostalgia & History > I Give Up...Where Is It?

Shanty with the station sign, tower/block office, B&O signal bridge, fours tracks, hills to the right, valley to the left?  Assuming this is somewhere on the Pittsburgh Division thru Sand Patch?

Baltimore & Ohio 4611, April 1949, William J. McChesney Red Border Kodachrome.

Thank you for any help.

John P. Kohlberg



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/03/25 08:10 by icgspartadistrict.

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Wonderful!
Bob

Summit of the Alleghenies based on another photo I found of an eastbound train at the summit of Altamont, MD. To the east is 17-mile grade running down to Bloomington, MD, and then the line continues on to Cumberland.

The signal bridge, shanty, tower in the background, etc., perfectly match a picture of an EM-1 pulling eastbound coal at that location as shared on the B&O Railroad Museum's Facebook page on May 23, 2020, which they incorrectly labeled as Summit of the Alleghenies on Sand Patch.

I can't credit the photographer, but based on the source I'll attribute this to the B&O Railroad Museum collection. This might have been a company photo, but who knows. (I generally refrain from sharing media from other sources, especially Meta owned sites, as they seem to be a little unscrupulous about supporting/protecting users or others intellectual property rights. I'm making the best effort in this case to credit the photo that was shared publicly by a public museum.)

Edited for location correction per CPR_4000's post below.

 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/03/25 10:14 by broken_link.

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The Sand Patch Summit of the Alleghanies elevation was 2258 ft., so this is not at Sand Patch. Altamont, Md., on the St. Louis line was 2628. That would be AM tower in the OP's photo.

Ah, good catch. Thank you for the correction. I didn't even realize that there were two B&O locations referred to as the "Summit of the Alleghenies," but Altamont on the line from Grafton is a good 400 feet higher than San Patch, and I see that it also shares that title. Again, appreciate the correction.

Someone at the B&O Railroad Museum's media team needs to be educated as well. From their post:
"#TrainTalk: This photo shows the B&O No. 7611, a 2-8-8-4 locomotive, passing the summit of the Alleghenies at the B&O's Sand Patch Grade. Named for its location near Sand Patch, PA, this was a challenging mountain grade along the B&O's route to Pittsburgh. 

Please DONATE today at BORail-Donate.org to preserve the B&O's legacy. When you do, you'll be entered to win an amazing railroad experience!

#BOTrainTalk #MuseumFromHome#GiftsofGratitude #AlleghenyMountains#Pennsylvania #BORailroad"

CPR_4000 Wrote:
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> The Sand Patch Summit of the Alleghanies elevation
> was 2258 ft., so this is not at Sand Patch.
> Altamont, Md., on the St. Louis line was 2628.
> That would be AM tower in the OP's photo.

Looking at Google Earth, it appears that the little tower is still extant.

Actually, I think Sand Patch got its name from all the locomotive sand used going up the grades on both sides.